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About 30 miles northwest of Columbia, the Peak to Prosperity Passage offers a scenic, shaded route along the right-of-way of a former Norfolk Southern Railroad corridor. Popular with dog walkers, hikers, and birdwatchers, the trail provides ample opportunities for wildlife sightings and beautiful views from its 20 numbered, historic converted trestles—including 17 wooden-decked trestles spanning the meandering Crims Creek.
While the rail trail is flat, the natural surface would make for a rough ride for road bicycles, so mountain bikes are recommended. Users must also traverse wooden stairs to access several of the trestles.
Heading west from the Alston Trailhead in Fairfield County, trail users can find parking, picnic tables, a picnic shelter, a campsite—including a grill and fire pit—and access to the Broad River for canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. Four other campsites are also located along the Peak to Prosperity Passage, but the Alston site is the only one with parking.
From the Alston Trailhead, the trail immediately crosses the 1,100-foot Broad River trestle. Originally constructed in 1848 and opened to rail traffic in 1851, the bridge was flooded and rebuilt before being burned down during the Civil War. The current steel structure was built in 1904. The trestle is the crown jewel of the trail, providing spectacular views of the water, bald eagles, and turtles.
Across the river in Newberry County, the rail-trail skirts the town of Peak and cuts an easy swath through Piedmont forests, across the town of Pomaria, and toward Prosperity. At 6.5 miles, near the center of the route, a trailhead, parking, a water fountain, and a grocery store are available in Pomaria. In 2 miles, the trail crosses Koon Trestle Road, where trail users can find a small parking lot before the Koon Trestle. Roughly 500 feet beyond the trestle is a campsite and picnic area. Another 1.2 miles after that is a trailhead and parking area just after Kibler’s Bridge Road (the last parking area for the trail). Trail users may continue another 1.1¿miles southwest to the trail’s western terminus, which is a dead end near Eptings Pond, before making the journey back.
Connections
The Peak to Prosperity Passage is one of 31 passages making up the developing Palmetto Trail, which will span 500 continuous miles once complete.
Trail History
The area surrounding the trail was home to many German immigrants in the 1730s and is known as the Dutch Fork of South Carolina.
The first 6.5 miles of the passage opened in 2009 after two volunteers, Charles Weber and Furman Miller, cleared and decked eight trestles.
The Peak to Prosperity Passage runs between State Rd. S-20-35 (Alston), which offers parking, and a dead end near Eptings Pond (Prosperity).
Parking is also available at:
See TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
Rucked it up and back yesterday, full trail. Super clean, easy trail. No incline. Minimal views, good for getting in your miles. Rocks were a pain in the a**. Definitely need some trail friendly shoes. Feet got beat up pretty good. Some campsites along small streams. 6/10. Good for getting time on feet. Won’t be back except for straight forward mileage. Bikes would be solid for stacking miles on a simple trail.
Just want to let runners know this trail has a very irregular surface with rocks and grassy patches. I don’t recommend it for running.
I regularly ride the Trail for training. Once you clear the walkers at the trailheads you can complete efforts with no stops. Several sections have big, loose rock so you’ll want to let some air out.
Did the whole thing yesterday (and of course back). It’s in great shape. Some rocky stretches that is akin to riding in a gravel road. But those are infrequent and temporary. A couple dead spots in a couple trellises but a very nice ride and other than the first terrain after leaving the eastern parking it’s flat.
9/12/22 -- Downed trees are now taken care of.
Trail is blocked by downed trees about a mile west of Hwy 176.
We rode from Pomaria behind Wilsons grocery to Peak and back about 13 miles. Mostly small gravel a few spots still have larger gravel. Flat and very peaceful. Some tresses need some new boards but this is a very nice trail.
I absolutely love the trail. Mile by mile it is an escape from my busy life. I enjoy spotting birds, including large birds like owls, herons and hawks. Watching turtles on crowded logs while the otters swim and play. And if you like snakes watch closely and you will occasionally find them sunning alongside the trail. I’ve invested in rain gear just so I can see the forest come to life with small streams and waterfalls leading to the busy creeks and feeding the river. And so much more to see!
Awesome old rail bed trail!
What I like about this trail is that it passes through a heavily wooded area passing over streams and rivers. Very scenic. Also i have never seen more than a few other people when I’ve been there. There are two easy road crossings. Unfortunately one of the bridges has no side rails and some of the boards are in need of repair so use caution when crossing. The trail is somewhat rocky but much improved o er what it used to be.
This week I ran from the parking area near I-26 to Route 176 in Pomaria and returned to my starting point. This was 3 miles each way so I know it was a small portion of the overall trail. The trail feels secluded and peaceful once you get away from the interstate. I saw several deer and only one other user of the trail. After lots of rain this week the trail was well drained. As a previous reviewer mentioned, the surface is made of chunky rocks which is very bumpy for runners and cyclists. I rolled my ankle twice but fortunately no sprains. My biggest concern is that the trestle boards are in poor condition. I saw several that were broken through that could cause a pedestrian or cyclist to get hurt. I felt a couple boards crunch under me and I'm not a big person. One of the trestles I crossed used man-made boards and it seemed to be in the best condition. The next time they re-surface the trail I hope they use a finer aggregate which would make it more safer for everyone.
Great trail for mtn. bike newbies. Trail conditions are good. Get there early for best parking, trail is very popular with day hikers & runners.
Great trail to learn to ride your mountain bike. Trails conditions good to very good.
Great place to walk the dogs and enjoy a good day out in the woods...
I like this trail. This is a place I would like to take my family. It has a lot of views specially the little river area where you can go down stairs and set by the water.
The parking area at Alston is up a steep, DEEPLY rutted hill. This needs a lot of work. The trail is pretty, but covered with rather large rocks instead of gravel. We tried this trail with our hybrid bikes and turned back after less than a mile. It's more of a walking trail. Not sure it would even be fun with a mountain bike.
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