Shealy's Pond Heritage Preserve Hike

Located near Lexington SC, this trail is an out and back listed at 1.7 miles…we clocked 2.1. It’s an easy nature trail - I would not quite classify it as a true hike because it didn’t have much elevation gain. I highly recommend using your AllTrails app with this one to map it because it is marked but it has not been maintained well. The trail has a lot of downed trees on the wetland portion and a lot of random cuts with which referring to my app I was able to better navigate as we went. 

This trail was just ok for me. It had some nice aspects. Most importantly, Ellie told me she loved it and, she and Elias played for over an hour at lunch building and exploring. There were lots of trees to climb and the pond was good to explore pond plant life and observe birds and fish! That is always exciting! 

The parking for this trail is a dirt lot pull off on the side of the road. The trail is not highly trafficked and as mentioned before, could use some maintenance with fallen trees and clearing some of the marked parts of the trail as they are becoming a bit overgrown. 

But as was the purpose, this trail provided fun, adventure, exploration, exercise, and quality time in nature as a family!

Horn Creek Trail - Edgefield, SC

 It was another “Friluftsliv Friday!” (Open Air Life for pondering minds of what that means, a beautiful Swedish term.)

The day began rainy but that’s ok because #theresnosuchthingasbadweather (just bad clothes). So with rain gear donned knowing the sun would soon pop out and blue skies would erupt, we hit the trail! 

This time we went to Horn Creek Trail in Edgefield, SC. It is within the Lick Fork Campground and part of the Sumter National Forest. 

The trail is said to be 5.7 miles and there are markers declaring how far you have trekked every half mile. Although, we clocked over 6 miles but we did meander a bit to forage and discover and splash in the creek. This trail is easy to slightly moderate for young hikers as there are a few small points of elevation gain. But anyone can do this - my five year old did it barefoot in a dress. Y’all got this, no problem!  Oh, and you’re following the white trail blazes. 

The trail is a loop so at the trailhead you can choose to begin going either left or right. We began left and I would do it this way again. The markers are in numeric order this way and it seemed to be the most rewarding way to walk in regards to the change in scene. Beginning the trail to the left, you go through pine meadows, woodland, creek side, elevation, then lower down to end your hike still along the creek but more on the forest floor. Very beautiful! It’s quiet in winter and I love a secluded quiet hike. 

There is an option near the end of the hike to veer off to another connected trail - lick fork trail - an additional 1.9 miles that takes you around the lake of the campground. We did not do this as my babies were ready for more food and naps. 

If taking children, bring swimsuits in case of creek splashing, a change of clothes (for comfort for the kids), a bucket and shovel. Pack a pic nic and water - lots of water in summer as it is a longer trail. 

We saw many animal tracks! We paused to identify them. We came across much coyote scat full of hair and bones from its prey that we dissected with a stick and Ellie documented in her “detective ranger notebook” as she calls it. We saw a great Blue Heron and several wild flowers. Ellie and Elias ate lunch about halfway through the hike on a bridge over the creek at a sandy bank. Ellie did some nature journaling here to further document her findings. Elias ate sand and played with sticks. Happy boy!!

The trail was beautiful, interesting, and peaceful! Check it out! We will be back!