Bikes, Boots, & Boats: Biking the Peak to Prosperity Rail Trail, SC

Dates Biked: February 28, 2021
Trail type: Rail trail, gravel/sand/dirt
Official length: 10.7
Total miles tracked: 21.92
Best Features: Peaceful surroundings.
Worst Features: Surface can get rugged, not much parking at the Alston end, a very sketchy bridge
Wildlife spotted: Not much. Some turtles and one snake.
Vegetation: Pines, hardwoods
Associated Websites: Peak to Prosperity Passage
Primary Author: James

"Honey, want to make a 200 mile detour to ride a trail in the middle of nowhere?" "Heck yeah!"

Back in February, Cheryl and I were in Myrtle Beach for the weekend. We planned to stop by the Lewis Ocean Bay Preserve on our drive home to do some riding there. This was only a couple of miles off the path we'd follow home, an easy detour. However, we'd biked it a few times already (see our review here). As an alternative, I proposed we instead make a three hour detour to reach a trail we'd never ridden before, the Peak to Prosperity Passage. This is part of South Carolina's Palmetto Trail system, which runs across the state linking the mountains to the sea. Cheryl was all in, since neither of us can resist a fresh trail to explore.

A peaceful ride through the country, save for ten seconds of terror on the "Bridge o' Doom."

Most of the other bridges have safety features like handrails and a sufficient number of boards to cover the entire surface.

It turned out to to be well worth the drive. The trail runs from the town of Peak to the town of Prosperity (more or less), but the easternmost trailhead is actually across the river from Peak in Alston. We were there on a Sunday, and the tiny parking lot was overflowing. Despite numerous warning signs not to park along the roadside, we joined a few dozen other cars parking along the gravel road leading to the trail head. Keep in mind this was February, and it was fairly late in the afternoon when we made it there. I imagine this trailhead is even more crowded in warmer months, so if we do the ride again, we'd probably go to trailhead in the town of Pomaria at the midpoint of the trail. Plenty of parking there, plus a trailside convenience store, which would be handy for an after ride refreshment. As far as starting from the Prosperity end, this isn't an option. The trail just dead ends, reverting back into actual railroad tracks pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It may be possible to hike further, but biking isn't a good option.

Prosperity is down these impassable rails. Feel free to craft your own metaphor.

Pomaria has the best trailhead on the route, but do they get any credit in the trail name? Such an injustice.

Ironically, Peak is actually the lowest part of the trail. If you start from that end, you'll be biking uphill pretty much nonstop for 10 miles. It's by no means a steep uphill; this is a rail trail after all. Still, we definitely felt it after the first few miles. On the return journey, the downhill grade isn't as helpful as it could be since much of the trail surface is a bit soft, zapping momentum. In a thirty yard stretch you might encounter mud, sand, coarse gravel and pine straw, none of which are great for coasting. This is definitely not a trail for a road bike. Wide, grippy treads are a must.

Though some of the locals navigate the trail on skinny treads.

Especially as you near Prosperity, you'll come to regards sections like this as the good surface.

Beware of sand traps! There aren't many of them, but they will bring you to an instant stop if you aren't careful.

Enough griping! This is a fantastic trail, well worth the effort of driving to it. It's got big trestle bridges with breathtaking views, miles of rural tranquility, and the twenty mile out and back ride is an almost perfect distance for an off-pavement ride, long enough to justify driving to reach the trail, but not so long that you're wondering why you're putting yourself through the ordeal of riding so far on bumpy terrain.

The bridge over the Broad.

An abandoned building in Pomaria.

Since the sun sets so early in February, we made it back to the bridge over the Broad River just as the sun was going down, providing us with a picturesque ending to the day. If you're in South Carolina anytime soon, check it out!