A fun aspect of working at TravelersRestHere.com is meeting other people who love TR too. You fans of our small town flood Instagram and Facebook with your fantastic photos and your wonderful experiences enjoying all that Travelers Rest has to offer. It’s a privilege to scroll through social media and to bond over our mutual affection for this place we call home.
Recently we fell in love with some photos shared by one of our Instagram followers Deb Nigh. She and her husband David have recently moved to our side of town and now live near Paris Mountain. Give them a day off together and you’ll probably find them on a trail run or a kayak excursion, followed by a run to refuel with crepes or pizza.
The Nighs have spent a great deal of time running and hiking the trails at Paris Mountain. Deb wrote this article about enjoying the trails in our own backyard and we are pleased to share it with you.
Keep writing and taking photos of TR and sharing them, friends. We love watching our town flourish and thrive through your eyes.
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Written by Guest Contributor Deb Nigh
It is easy to underrate the beauty of a place you see regularly because you’re used to it or to oversell it because it’s a dear old friend and your love adds value to it that others might not perceive. This has been my dilemma in writing about Paris Mountain State Park, the spot in our own backyard where we get outside most frequently. A wild place, no matter how small, will always contain surprises and even longtime neighbors can be strangers to us. So here is an introduction (or reintroduction for many in the Upstate) to one of our favorite places.
Paris Mountain is a solitary peak (or monadnock) roughly six miles north of downtown Greenville. The 1,540 acre state park is traversed by 9 trails covering around 15 miles. When you enter the pristine moss and tree-lined drive, you are transported quickly from the bustling ever-expanding city below to a peaceful natural playground. Hiking, camping, trail running and mountain biking are probably the most popular activities available, but there are also opportunities to fish in the four park lakes or swim and boat during the summer.
I love the fact that the foliage, the upper lakes, the loudly tumbling streams and certain steep rocky places make you really feel like you’re high in the mountains, very far away from civilization. This is a park where you can bag a mountain run on technical single track trails with well over a thousand feet of elevation gain or take a short leisurely walk around the lake before starting your picnic. We have been amazed to see how different activities in the same place can completely change our perspective. There are trails on Paris Mountain that we have run countless times only to hike them and catch views we’ve never seen–glimpses of a lake far below or the trail weaving above our heads. No matter which activity you choose, you can wrap it up and be back in town within 10 or 15 minutes (plenty of time left for pizza). It’s amazing!
We have had the opportunity to explore nearly every nook and cranny of this park. While Paris Mountain may not be as expansive as the ranges of mountains farther north, it offers great variety, ever-changing beauty and fantastic accessibility. Get out and enjoy it today!
