Biking the Swamp Rabbit Tram Trail–Sunday–July 22, 2012

Nancy has done quite a bit of research on the rails to trails website and wherever we go we are always looking for a trail to ride our bicycles. One of the trails near us was the Swamp Rabbit Tram Trail running from Greenville, SC to Travelers Rest, SC,  a distance of 14.5 miles one way.

We got up early and drove the 45 minutes to the trailhead in Greenville. It’s always a little tricky to find a “safe” place to park and leave your car for the day, especially when the neighborhood looks a bit down trodden. Today was no exception. We found a church parking lot near the trail and it had a couple of cars with bike racks already in the lot. As is our normal custom, I put the “club” locking bar on the steering wheel when we park in places that are not familiar to us.

We started the trail south of downtown.  Not only was it a bike trail, but they had the rubber trail for the runners!!

As we got closer to downtown, the runner trail ended.

All along the trail, we went over bridges of all types:o)

The view of downtown Greenville was really lovely.

Folks out enjoying the pretty view and cool waters.

You do have to be careful riding in the downtown section because of all the pedestrians.  When we ride this trail again and we will, we will start at Travelers Rest and just ride to the outskirts of town and back.  However, we would like to just come to downtown Greenville and walk the river trail and visit the zoo!!  Their zoo is rated as one of the best small city zoos in the country!!

As we got north of the city, the trail cleared.

We road along the railroad tracks for a little while.

We enjoyed the ride north of the city more as there was less congestion.  You do cross a couple of roads, but they are well marked and not too busy.  On the way, there are restrooms and we stopped at the ones on the Furman Campus.  It was a great ride all the way to Travelers Rest.

The trail does go a bit further than this sign,

but we turned around here and headed south.

On our way back,

we biked around the Furman Campus!

Pretty stone bridge around the lake.

Beautiful clock tower along the lake.

First time we have seen a Black Swan!!

We pedaled about 28 miles or so doing the round trip, including the side trip through the Furman University campus. We both agreed that the prettiest and most scenic ride was through the campus.

The trail was paved and well maintained. With it being a Sunday morning we encountered tons of walkers, joggers, runners and other cyclists. A State Police motor cycle also passed us. Nice to know they patrol the trail.

On our way back through downtown Greenville we somehow managed to lose the trail;o((  There are a lot of twists and turns!! Finally, we stopped and asked for directions from a local family. Once back on track we became two of the many people who stopped and enjoyed our packed lunch at one of the pavilions. We got back to the car just after noon and the temperature was already 95 degrees. On our drive home, we stopped at a K-Mart and bought two cheap $2.99 blow up rafts that we would use to relax and float in Lake Hartwell this afternoon:o)) Paddling on the rafts gave our pedaling legs a much needed rest!!

What a great day in retirement – a little walk, a nice bike ride, a picnic in the park, a swim in the lake and then cooling off in the motorhome watching the British Open golf tournament.

Life is GOOD :o)))