The Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail is a 19.9-mile (32.0 km) multi-use rail trail in Greenville County, South Carolina, that largely follows the bed of a former railroad that had been nicknamed after the indigenous swamp rabbit. South-to-north the current trail begins at Greenville Technical College, crosses the city of Greenville, proceeds through Falls Park and the campus of Furman University, and ends about a mile north of the Travelers Rest city limits.
Video Swamp Rabbit Trail
History
In 1999 the city of Greenville created the Greenville County Economic Development Corporation to purchase the roadbed of the abandoned Greenville & Northern Railway for dual use as a greenway and light rail passenger line. Although the proposed commuter rail was quickly abandoned, the Greenville News editorially suggested a bike and hiking trail, though admitting the plan to be an "unrealistic dream."Nevertheless, planning for a multi-use trail began in the summer of 2005, and the Swamp Rabbit Trail was already attracting users by January 2008, even before it officially opened in 2010 after considerable "legal entanglements, regulatory roadblocks, financial issues and citizen opposition."
One currently unconnected section runs from Lake Conestee Nature Park to Parkins Mill Road and I-85, and another disconnected section exists in Fountain Inn. Residents of the affluent Parkins Mill neighborhood have opposed a connector from the Lake Conestee section, but Greenville County plans to bridge the gap with underpasses or overpasses.
A 2012 study estimated that more than 350,000 people annually used the trail--two years later, half a million--and that area businesses increased their sales from 30 to 85%. A 2014 study estimated usage had increased to half a million people a year, a quarter of whom were tourists. In 2013, the mayor of Travelers Rest said that the trail had "been phenomenal for the whole county, but more so for us in Travelers Rest. I can't begin to tell you how much of an economic boost it's been to this town." A 2012 Greenville News editorial described the Swamp Rabbit Trail as "one of the most popular assets in Greenville County...proving that when it comes to such trails, if you build them they will come." In 2016, Greenville County Recreation estimated the trail's economic impact on the county to be $7 million per year.
Maps Swamp Rabbit Trail
References
External links
- Trail maps
- Trail of the Month-April 2010: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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