New Hiking Trail Connects Carolinas at Kings Mountain

BLACKSBURG, S.C. – A new hiking trail that had been in the works for 35 years officially opens on Saturday, April 25, connecting the Carolinas at a particularly historic and scenic juncture.
 
The Ridgeline Trail stretches 8.5 miles and connects trails in Kings Mountain State Park and Kings Mountain National Military Park in South Carolina with Crowders Mountain State Park in North Carolina.
 
A hiking trail connecting the two states was part of the original master plan for Crowders Mountain State Park when it opened in 1974. About 2,000 acres was acquired for a ridgeline corridor by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) in 2000.
 
Several hundred volunteers helped build the trail – along with professional staff from both state parks and employees of Long Cane Trails Inc. of Clarks Hill, S.C. – while NCDENR built Boulders Access, the name it has given a ranger contact station, picnic grounds and parking area that serves as a gateway to the new trail.
 
The Ridgeline Trail now connects more than 15,000 acres of parkland serving more than 1.5 million visitors a year in the fast-growing corridor between Charlotte, N.C., and the Greenville-Spartanburg area.
 
Kings Mountain State Park already extended to the state line and about 2.2 miles of the trail is on the South Carolina side, with funding for that coming from a federal Recreation Trail Program grant.
 
A ceremony dedicating the new trail was set for Saturday morning and would be punctuated by an exchange of walking sticks between the two states’ park system directors.
 
“The recreational benefits of this project are obvious, but we’re finding that this type of regional approach and partnership offers great benefits for natural resource conservation as well,” said Lewis Ledford, North Carolina state parks director. “South Carolina has been a supportive and assertive partner as we’ve sought to protect resources and explore common interests along our boundary. This trail and its green corridor will provide for long-term conservation and great outdoor opportunities in one of the most populated regions of the Southeast.”
 
History also is an integral part of hiking the Ridgeline Trail. In addition to providing foot access to Kings Mountain National Military Park, site of a pivotal Revolutionary War battle, and Kings Mountain State Park, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, the trail features interpretive signs at the state line that describe a boundary dispute that took six surveys and more than 70 years of arguments to settle before the line between the two Carolinas colonies was firmly drawn in 1772.
 
“Boundaries such as state lines typically mean a halt to a park experience like hiking on a clearly marked, picturesque trail, but in this case, that state line becomes a focal point, an added attraction for people out enjoying this beautiful new trail,” said Phil Gaines, director of the S.C. State Park Service. “The new Ridgeline Trail is the first of its kind between our two great states, and we’re looking forward to working with our partners in North Carolina on more joint ventures of this very kind along our shared border. We see this as just the beginning.”
 
Marc Rapport
Media Relations Manager
Public Relations & Information
S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism
1205 Pendleton St., Suite 103
Columbia, SC 29201