Biking the Swamp Rabbit Trail, Greenville, SC to Travelers Rest, SC

 

• Date Biked: April 16, 2021
• Posted Mileage 22 (not all currently connected)
• Total miles Tracked: 32.46
• Type of Trail:  Paved rail trail
• Conveniences:  Restrooms, picnic tables, decent trail maps
• Best Features:  Excellent trail towns at each end, fantastic design, numerous restaurants
• Worst Features:  A little tricky to navigate
• Wildlife spotted: Deer, woodchuck. Sadly lacking in actual rabbits! 
• Vegetation:  Wildflowers, tended flower beds, hardwoods, pines
• Associated Website: https://www.greenvillesc.gov/316/Swamp-Rabbit-Trail-Interactive-Map
• Primary Author: James

In my last post about the Little Tennessee Greenway, I talked about viewing a greenway or rail trail as a long, skinny, public park rather than simply as a road that lets bikers move between destinations. There is probably no trail we've ever ridden that merges these two ideas better than the Swamp Rabbit Trail. This trail runs from the heart of downtown Greenville into the center of Travelers Rest, a journey of a little over a dozen miles. In each downtown you'll find restaurants, breweries, and ice cream parlors located next to the trail. Along the way, great effort has been made to make the ride beautiful. 

My ordinary pattern in blogging about a trail is to write paragraphs first, then stick a few photos in between. But, mile after mile, the Swamp Rabbit is designed to delight the eye. So, for this blog, I'm uploading pics in a more or less random fashion and commenting as needed. It's going to be a little rambling... but if you want a trail to ramble along, it's difficult to beat the Swamp Rabbit. 

Falls Park on the Reedy is in the heart of Greenville, carefully landscaped and full of sculptures. 

A short distance out of downtown there are exercise stations, so you can ride your real bike to work out on a stationary bike. 

The trail leads through a Cancer Survivors Park. 

Central to the Cancer Survivors Park is this pavilion with a roof that draws your gaze skyward. 

Returning at night is a treat. 

Technically adjacent to the Swamp Rabbit, the highlight of downtown Greenville is Reedy Falls and Liberty Bridge, a curved suspension bridge that offers an unrivaled view. 

The sculptures aren't limited to downtown. This one is about midway between Greenville and Travelers Rest. 

As might be expected from the name, Travelers Rest is an inviting place stop and enjoy trailside shops and restaurants. Grab some ice cream at Pink Mama!

The Swamp Rabbit himself greets you in Travelers Rest. 

In town on business and didn't bring a bike? No problem! This trail has nearly as many rental options as the Virginia Creeper Trail. 

Tributes to the trail's railroad origins are abundant.

The Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery is a popular stop along the trail. Great food!

Downtown Greenville.

The Medusa Tree. 

Butterfly arch at the Cancer Survivor Garden.

I bet this place is pretty at night...

Yep!

Swamp Rabbit gives you wings! 

Southernside Brewing, trailside.

All of downtown Greenville is sculpted by light at night.

It's tricky to tell from this picture, but the cowcatcher is a brick pizza oven. 

The Whistle Stop Cafe, where you can get fried green tomatoes as a pizza topping. 

Across the road from the Whistle Stop is the Swamp Rabbit Brewery Taproom.  

The Swamp Rabbit is very close to a perfect rail trail. It packs in more visual delights per linear mile than any other trail we can think of. There are a few busy road crossing, but all have crossing lights. From the center of Greenville to downtown Travelers Rest, the trail is flat and in very good shape. The few places it wasn't in good shape were due to ongoing construction to get the trail into even better shape. The only difficulty is that, once you reach downtown Greenville, you start encountering side trails and it can get slightly tricky figuring out which path to follow. Especially once you're past the Medusa Tree, Google Maps will show bike trails that are actually foot trails full of steps. Also, once you're past the cancer garden, there are a few challenging hills. Nothing too difficult, but definitely no longer railroad bed flatness. Finally, the trail markers seem to be aspirational, hinting at a much longer length than what's actually available as a continuous off road ride. Tacking on side trails, our out and back journey was a little over 30 miles, which is fine. That's a nice full day of riding, especially if you're stopping every other mile for photos and giving into the temptations of trailside ice cream and cafes. If you haven't ridden this trail yet, get there at once!