A new park has opened
near Easley, giving us another option for those days when the mountains are a
little too far; Nalley Brown Nature Park. Located at 380 Adger Road, this
recently-opened park features almost 3 miles of trail on its 38 acres, and is only
3 miles from downtown Easley!
The park opened last
fall, and is many years in the making; Catherine Brown Ladnier donated the land
in 2001, but over the past two decades the project stalled more than once and
it took a push by the then-mayor of Easley Larry Bagwell to finish it before
the end of his term.
Adjacent to the
parking area visitors will find a small pavilion, and a play area with a few
tunnels and climbing structures (keep in mind there are currently no
restrooms). However, the heart of the park is its 2.5 miles of trails; leading
through scrub pine and mature hardwoods, the trail network forms two main loops
that can be combined for excursions ranging everywhere from a few tenths of a
mile to almost three miles. Nalley Trail is the longest trail, and forms an
outer loop of just under 1 ½ miles long. An inner loop, Brown Trail, is another
0.85 miles, and a wetlands trail connecting the two loops on the west side of
the park adds another tenth of a mile with its boardwalk. Finally, an ADA
accessible loop just off the parking area is a tenth of a mile long.
The history of the
property bears influence on the forest we see today. The Nalley and Brown
families farmed the property and owned it for around 150 years, and from the
trail you’ll see reminders of the old farmstead: abandoned car parts here, old
farming supplies there. Damage from long-ago farming practices still scar the
land, heavily eroded ravines showing the result of bad farming practices, as
well as more recent harm – the dumping of trash into these gullies. On the
other hand, the mature beech-oak forest has towering hardwoods over a hundred
years old, and the softwoods forest has its own charm with the smell of pine
and the thick canopy of pine needles. The wetlands trail brings visitors down
to a tributary of Eighteenmile Creek whose waters eventually flow into Lake
Hartwell, and mosses and ferns line the sides of the ravines while the
occasional wildflower bring spots of color to the forest floor. Bring a picnic
to enjoy under the beautiful pavilion, or head to Easley afterwards; kids love
the “Train on Main” scavenger hunt,
and adults might enjoy a stop at Ninja Warrior Coffee House to refuel and local grocery and natural market Farmacy to pick up last-minute groceries for dinner.
Nalley Brown Nature
Park is a welcome addition to the natural spaces of the Upstate, providing a
hiking option close to home for those living west of Greenville as well as a
way for people to get outdoors in what is becoming an increasingly-urban
landscape. We hope to see additional improvements (such as restroom facilities
and educational signage) in the near future, and look forward to seeing what
the change of the seasons brings in this new park.
