Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail (Palmetto Trail)

South Carolina

4 Reviews

The Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail is just a short segment of what will eventually become the 12-mile Hub City Connector, which itself will be part of the larger Palmetto Trail, a proposed 425-mile trail across South Carolina.

The paved Mary Black Rail Trail is flat and passes through part of Spartanburg's industrial neighborhood. You can access the trail from some of Spartanburg's community plazas: on East Henry St near Ricky's Drive-In, on Forest Avenue and at Country Club Road. The trail is built on what was once a section the Norfolk Southern rail line. The line was built in 1849 and originally called the Spartanburg-Union Railroad.

Parking and Trail Access

From Exit 21 on I-26 in Spartanburg, drive east on E. O. Ezell Blvd. (US 29) to North Church St. (US 221/SR 56/9). Turn right onto North Church St. then left onto East Henry St. The trail begins at the junction of East Henry St. and Union St.

beautiful urban trail

January 2021 kappamega_tl

With few easy road crossing- the trail takes one past some beautiful old architecture buildings Easy parking and not very crowded. Walking on this trail is more fulfilling then biking.

Hard to find if you are not from Spartanburg

June 2019 dave100242000

It would be nice if you could just find an address for the start point so you could just put it in your gps. The trail is paved and flat. It’s also pretty narrow and usually busy. The trail is nice for walking, but it’s kind of tight for riding bikes.

flat trails

February 2014 jagriffith

The trails are great and just flat. Round trip is only almost 4 miles to riding. They are great for younger riders to build confidence before hilly trails.

Popular trail

August 2008 mninbrwn

This is a popular trail in the downtown area of Spartanburg. Trail is flat and straight. This is only part of a longer trail that is planned and hopefully due to its popularity will spur the rest to be completed. Wide enough for two-way traffic, expect to see some bikes while you are there, we are a bike town afterall.