Anyone who travels the East Coast corridor along I-95 has seen them. The deeper you get into Virginia headed south the thicker they become – and through North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia they are everywhere. Those small dirt roads just beyond the guardrail. As adventure cyclists it is easy to imagine jumping the embankment and taking off down one of those roads.

I recently spent three days on the other side of the guardrail and down the embankment on the Palmetto Trail in South Carolina.

The Palmetto Trail is 500 miles of hiking and cycling alongside mountain ranges, through forests and towns and across swamps stretching from the mountains to the sea across South Carolina. With over 350 miles of the 500 complete the trail is the state’s longest pedestrian and bicycle trail and largest trail construction project.

It’s 26 passages range from 1.3 to 47 miles with varying levels of difficulty.

“Backcountry. Rails-to-Trail. Greenways. City sidewalks. Urban bikeways. Steps of the State Capitol. Bridle. Nothing motorized.” – Palmetto Conservation website

Growing up in the 80’s the Dukes of Hazzard television program was all the rage. It was full of fast cars, short-shorts, whimsically corrupt elected officials and dirt roads. Just behind the short-shorts the thing I remember the most was the dirt roads.

For 3 days in South Carolina I was transported back in time to the early 1980’s. At every turn I anticipated the General Lee sliding around the corner spitting red dust with Roscoe P. Coltrane and Boss Hogg not far behind.

Over the 3 days on my Specialized AWOL I rode approximately 120 miles – 40 miles on day one, 60 on day two, and 20 on day 3. I was on the Santee Passage, the Eutaw Springs Passage and the Lake Moultrie Passage traveling west to east from Santee to Lake Moultrie.

After arriving around 5pm on Monday evening I set up camp in Santee State Park – which appears to be a destination itself offering easy access to Lake Marion and miles of mountain biking and hiking trails. I chatted with more than a few of my neighbors and spent some time with my next tent neighbor Brad. A self-described “wandering hippie” Brad is a serial park hopper spending a couple of weeks in a park before following the warm weather north by a few miles. He shared some already cut firewood, a couple of much needed adult beverages after 7 hours in the car, and some nice local intel on routes and maps.

Tuesday morning was launch day for the trip. I packed and repacked bags pulling out unnecessary items – I always bring too much and I know as soon as I left that jacket at home the weather would dictate needing it.

I arranged parking at the City of Santee Town Hall for the time I would be on the trail. After a quick visit to offer my thanks I hit the trail! First stop was a short 12 mile round trip that would bring me right back by Town Hall across the old 301 bridge to the Santee National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge is the home to Fort Watson – the first British fort in South Carolina to fall – and a ceremonial Native American burial mound.

I stopped in both directions on the bridge to chat with local fisherman to determine what they were catching – supposedly nothing, but I just don’t think it was in their nature to share that information.

Abandoned roadways and infrastructure fascinate me and this bridge did not disappoint. Just the right balance of creepy overgrown asphalt and roadway with faded road striping from days long past.

A quick return push through Santee and then I encountered that sign we all crave and makes us smile – Pavement Ends. From this point forward I found myself on dirt, sand and gravel with the occasional return to paved roads.

This is when I also realized a fact – outside of Santee there was nothing here. Sand. Dirt. Gravel. Trees. Nothing much else. Note: make sure you pack your water or be prepared to filter some less than savory, swampy liquid. I had fortunately anticipated this and packed plenty of water. I was carrying about 3 liters of water and refilled my bottles at every opportunity.

My original intent was to set camp at the Gardensgate Plantation but due to some issues with the trail markings (or lack thereof) I found myself bypassing the campsite and heading to a commercial campground – Rocks Pond Campground – right on the shore of Lake Marion. After a full day in the sun and dirt a shower was in my future. That’s not so bad.

And speaking of weather – I was lucky enough to have 3 days of sunshine, mid-80’s temperatures and overnight lows around 60. Perfect weather for bikepacking and tent sleeping.

Day 2. There is a line from and old Jimmy Buffett song about how things never seem to work out the way you had them planned. Prophecy for Day 2.

Everything started out fine – perfect day, early start – and I stayed on course for the most part. There was one section of trail I had to work hard to find and I knew it would be a challenge. I must have passed the turn for the double track surrounding the quarry 3 or 4 times. I eventually took a chance and rolled down what looked more like a driveway. My instincts proved correct and I was rewarded with an isolated wooded roll of about a mile through some gorgeous South Carolina forest.

Everything was going great until the trail turned and I kept straight. In fairness to me the trail was little more than a footpath while the gorgeous double track stretched out in front of me. After another round of back and forth and a few turns onto dead end trails I found my way back on track. The cows and horses in the field where I popped out were as surprised as I was when we discovered each other.

After a couple of miles of pavement I encountered a rare site in the wilds of South Carolina. A convenience store. And it sold the staple of the south – Krispy Krunchy Chicken! The doughnut of fried meat. And it was good. A couple of cold cokes, fried chicken and potatoes had me feeling human again after wandering around in the woods.

Little did I know what was still to come.

Sand. I firmly believe that sand is not a good road surface. And the worst part? The beach-like road ended in a dead end requiring me to backtrack and do it all again.

Pavement begins – a welcome relief after an hour or so in the sand trap feeling like Arnold Palmer during a bunker nightmare from which there is no escape.

Crossing the Diversion Canal that connects Lake Marion to Lake Moultrie I felt back on track. And then…

Gravel. Not the kind of gravel we all love – but instead giant boulder-like gravel causing the roadway to resemble the lunar surface of the moon. Which of course results in…a flat. It was a slow leak so I instead of swapping the tube it was easy enough to add some air during stops.

The end of the gravel was in sight…and it was replaced by…wait for it…more sand. It wasn’t that the sand was impassable, it was just some pretty slow grinding.

I was rewarded with a half loop through a waterfowl management area. It was literally a bird explosion. Ducks. Ospreys. Eagles. Herons. Egrets. It was worth all the troubles and adventures of the day.

Then the sandy trail firmed up and became more of a trail. The promised passage of solid pack – across the bridge to head down the eastern side of Lake Moultrie.

Full stop – the trail signage pointed me across a guardrail just across a bridge and down a steep embankment. No work around was found so the bike was unpacked and across the guardrail and down the hill we all went – gracefully at least.

After passing through several small towns lacking any convenience or grocery stores I began to worry about water. And with signage not being too reliable in this section of trail I decided to look for a commercial campground. After consulting some maps and making some phone calls I determined my best course of action would be to hop on the highway and head back to Rocks Pond Campground. A 61 mile loop bringing me right back to where I started the day.

Sometimes life works out that way.

Day 3 was uneventful compared to Day 2. But I was afforded the opportunity to meet several people during the day.

I met Adam who was trying to find his way to work. I was able to help out with my cell phone and reach his employer to secure him a ride to work.

Next I met Mike. Mike was out collecting cans from along the roadway for recycling cash. He was enterprising and helping out with a South Carolina problem – roadside trash. I talked to Mike for a while.

Then there was John. John had been on his beach cruiser bike for a while looking for a particular marina he had heard was hiring. Like me the day before, John had ridden by the entrance to his location several times and I was glad I was again able to help out with my phone.

My next encounter wasn’t so pleasant. His name was Ray. Ray is a pit bull. I discovered the hard way that when a rather large pit bull decides to clamp down on your rear pannier forward progress is considerably slowed. Ray lost interest in me eventually thank goodness and barked his was back towards his home.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. I did find traffic very respectful of my presence on the roadway which was a nice surprise.

Some tips if you decide to take on this trip.

Water – bring plenty, never pass an opportunity to fill up especially during the warmer months. Watch the road surface – I got pretty good at determining when the surface of the road was about to get loose causing the front end of your bike to get squirrelly. When the road is soft, don’t clip in. At least I didn’t learn that one the hard way. Campgrounds are a good option – plan ahead and accordingly.

Some gear from this trip that performed well.

Big Agnes Air Core Ultra Insulation sleeping pad Banjo Brothers frame bag Gitup Git2 action camera

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