TRAIL NEWS AND INFORMATION
Woodside Trail News 2024-2025
Condition of the Woodside Trails
After the hurricane in September 2024, it has been a difficult time for our Woodside trails. We managed to clean up all the trails by December 2024, a joint project with the WWPOA, the Development Company, and the Woodside Trail Group members. However, the wet, windy weather last spring undid much of that progress, and many trees fell on the trails and their bridges. As of August 2025, we are slowly making progress on reopening the affected trails. A trail summary is shown below:
Oakman Trail Zig-Zag bridge – After the hurricane, and once the Development Company removed the fallen trees from the bridge, the Woodside Trail Group held a work party to restore the broken railings and make other improvements.
Repaired the zig-zag bridge in December 2024
However, in May of 2025, the windy, wet weather brought down 3 more trees onto the bridge, and we need to fix it once again. As of August 2025, the trees are still on the bridge, and they must be removed before the WTG can once more fix the railings. This will be our third time fixing that bridge. Maybe the bridge will run out of trees!! Jim Pierce will follow up with the Development Company to see when the trees can be removed. After that is done, we will organize a work party to fix the railings again.
The zig-zag bridge is hit again!! Picture taken June 2025
Mill Road/Azalea Trails – The WTG organized a work party to clean up the hurricane damage to these trails. We had to reroute around many large trees and remove the smaller trees. We were able to save all the bridges. Work party shown below:
As of August 2025, the Millroad/Azalea trails are, for the most part, okay. They need a bit of branch cut back in places, and the weeds under the power line need cutting back. A WTG work crew will do that once the weather cools. However, in July 2025, there was a major tree fall in the second loop of the azalea trail, and this loop is now impassable. Not sure how we can fix it. It would be a major job to reroute the trail around all the trees, and two of the trees that fell are big! We will put up signs “Trail Closed” until we can determine what to do. All the other trails in this complex are walkable.
Creek Walk – The WWPOA contracted to have this trail cleaned up after the hurricane. Afterwards, thanks to the WWPOA’s generous support for materials, the Woodside Trail Group was able to make improvements to the bridges and the bog trail. We still must replace a few planks on the bog trail, and the WWPOA has given us permission to buy the necessary lumber. We are waiting for cooler weather before doing the work.
Hollow Creek Trail – The hurricane caused major damage to this 5-mile trail, but the Development Company managed to get it reopened by December 2024. Such a major project! Then came the wet, windy spring of 2025, and many more trees came down. As of August 2025, all these trees have been removed, and the trail is walkable again.
This summer, some portions of the trail have been rerouted to accommodate the new “peninsula” community being established near the old trail. The reroute is still a bit spongy underfoot, but it will improve as more and more people use it. We will have a work party this fall to relocate a couple of signposts, black out old blue blazes, and blue blaze the rerouted trail. A portion of the trail near the Bridgewater development was also rerouted to place it closer to Anderson Pond. That rerouted trail will have to be blazed blue.
Hikes held during the period
In addition to all the work to keep the trails open, the Woodside Trail Group managed to hold 6 hikes during the period. Since many trails in Woodside and our nearby hiking areas were closed, we had to improvise for locations. Our organized hikes included hikes in Phinizy Swamp, Hitchcock Woods, the Korn Tract, and the Ten Governors’ trail. Most were attended by 20 to 30 people. Thanks to all our hike leaders!
The WTG hike in Hitchcock Woods, April 2025
Website
Jim Lefebvre did a great job of keeping our website up to date. Members are reminded that all the information on upcoming hikes, pictures, and descriptions of many past hikes, and trail news can be found on the website. You can submit any of your great hike pictures directly to Jim Lefebvre or to me if you want them included on the website. Keep an eye on the website for upcoming hikes.
Email lists
I maintain three separate email lists of members. One contains all the emails and is used to send emails to members. It is very large, and new people join the group every month. So far, in 2025, we have obtained 20 new members. Please help me maintain this list. If you receive this document and have moved from Aiken or no longer want to hike with us, please let me know so I can remove you from the list. A second list contains the names of people who have indicated that they are willing to work on our Woodside trails. This is a very important list that I use to recruit people for work parties. The third list is of people who have led hikes or indicated that they would like to lead hikes. I use this list to recruit hike leaders for our monthly hikes. If you want to be added or removed from either of these latter two lists, let me know.
GET PREPARED FOR A GREAT FALL HIKING SEASON
Woodside Trail Group, Fall 2025 Hiking Program
Butterflies of Audubon’s Silver Bluff Sanctuary
Tanger Trail
When: Saturday, 13 September – 11:00 am
Hike Leader: Susan Potter, 703.501.5489, email: dixieinva@verizon.net
Description: The Tanger Trail is a 2-mile loop that is relatively flat, and in part shade and part sun. We’ll start with a tour of the butterfly garden/meadow near the main buildings, where we will take photos of the butterflies that we see. Then we’ll take the Tanger Trail to look for more butterflies. Hopefully, we’ll continue to see butterflies as we walk the loop.
Susan visited the area on Friday, 29 August at midday (80 degrees & sunny) and saw several common butterflies, which included: Palamedes Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Orange Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary, Duskywing, and a Long-tailed Skipper. Hopefully, these common butterflies will still be active during our hike in about two weeks.
Susan highly recommends taking photos with cell phones. Be quick and as close as possible. Stand quietly, and if the butterfly flies off, stay still, and it may circle back around and land again. Susan will provide color handouts of familiar species of South Carolina Butterflies & Pollinators.
The Nature Center will be open with a volunteer member of the Butterfly Monarchy Club, Linda White. Please be sure to go in and say hi to Linda. Restroom facilities will be available.
P.S. If you have a PASTPORT, courtesy of Aiken County Historical Museum – bring it with you so you can get it STAMPED at #15 Audubon’s Silver Bluff Center and Sanctuary.
Meeting Place: 4542 Silver Bluff Road, Jackson, SC 29831 (large picnic pavilion)
Lunch: Participants may bring a picnic lunch to eat at the large picnic pavilion with tables. During this time, there will be a discussion about the different types of butterflies observed and photographed. Please take any lunch trash with you as you depart.
Distance: 2 miles of hiking and a walkabout through the butterfly garden/meadow.
Terrain: Relatively flat with part sun and part shade. Butterflies like the sun!
Bring: Good sneakers or hiking boots, walking stick [if needed], bug repellent, water, snack, picnic lunch if staying.
— Rain Cancels —
Generations Park Aiken
Joint hike with Aiken Senior Life Services
When: Saturday, October 18, at 8:45 AM for a 9:00 AM departure
Hike Leader: Cheryl Murga Phone 732-278-4837 Email hike4lifeasls@gmail.com
Description: Join Cheryl as she leads the Aiken Senior Life Services Hike Club & The Woodside Trail Group on an easy 3.4-mile hike. The 30-acre green space offers natural wooded and greenway networked trails. Dogs allowed on leash- please avoid using retractable leashes!
Meeting Place: 700 Mack Henry Hollow Drive (Off Columbia Highway N.) Aiken, SC. Departure will be at the far parking lot in front of the bathroom facilities. Latitude: 33.60147525189691 Longitude: -81.69868305680662
Distance: 3.4 miles
Terrain: Sandy, mostly flat trail with slight elevation changes
Bring: Good sneakers, water, a snack, maybe a walking stick.
— Rain Cancels –
Silver Bluff Audubon/Quail Trail
When: Saturday, November 15 at 10 am
Hike Leader: Andrew Grainger email: argrainger53@gmail.com Phone:803.640.0916
Description: If you like nature and want to see and hear birds and see beautiful hardwood trees along the trail, this is the hike for you. Come take a walk with us on the Quail Trail. Approximately half a mile along the trail, you will encounter a 100-acre field managed for grassland birds. The bluff overlooking the Savannah River provides a scenic view, worth checking out. Continue along the trail for a quarter mile, and you’ll be on the shore of the Savannah River, surrounded by tall bottomland hardwoods. From there, we will complete the loop back to the parking lot.
Meeting Place: Meet at the Audubon parking lot at 10 am. Please note that the gates may be closed before 10 am!
Meeting time: 10 am at the Audubon Center
Distance: 3.4 miles
Terrain: Mostly flat except for a short section that leads down to the river
Bring: Water, good sneakers or hiking boots, a snack, a walking stick, binoculars. It’s a great birding location!
— Rain Cancels –
Saluda Riverwalk
When:12/13/25 9:30 am
Hike Leader: Debby Smist, Email: debsmist@gmail.com, Phone: 413-204-8146
Description: A beautiful walk along the Saluda River in Columbia. We will walk on concrete paths and boardwalks past rapids and end up at the Sanctuary at Boyd Island, where the Saluda and Broad Rivers converge to form the Congaree. This island is filled with metal sculptures of native plants and animals.
Meeting Place: Parking lot for Saluda Riverwalk at 650 Candi Ln in Columbia. Takes a little over an hour from Woodside.
Distance: 3.5 – 4 miles. Out and back path so you can turn around if you want a shorter walk.
Terrain: Flat.
After Hike Activity: Debby recommends heading to Main Street, Columbia to the Soda City Market. Rated top Farmers Market in America by USA Today! Lots of fresh produce, crafts, and food trucks. Nice place for lunch! Open until 1:00 pm.
— Rain Cancels —
Sixth Annual Clear the Cobwebs Hike
Dedicated to the late Ron Jones
When: Thursday, Jan 1, 2026, at 1.45 pm for a 2.00 pm start
Hike Leader: Jim Pierce; 803-634-0513; jbpierce649@outlook.com
Description: This hike is dedicated to Ron Jones. He was the long-time trail captain for the Oakman Trail. As such, he walked the trail frequently, picked up debris, and used his chainsaw to remove bigger impediments. He worked tirelessly to keep the trail in shape for all Woodside hikers. We all miss him! So, let’s all come out to honor Ron and to clear your New’s Eve cobwebs on our 6th annual “Clear the Cobwebs” hike. We will take an easy-going 2-mile jaunt around Woodside’s Oakman Trail. This would also be a great hike to introduce any New Year’s visitors to one of Woodside’s most pleasant walks. After the hike, we will all stop to toast the New Year. Suitable beverages will be provided and, as in past years, I hope we will have many cookie donations from those participating in the hike. There is a big picnic table located where we will stop for these celebrations. Dogs on a leash are welcome, but you must supply your own doggy snacks! Put this outing on your calendar now!
Meeting Place: We will meet in the “parking area” just off the road leading to the Reserve Club golf maintenance shed. This is very close to the junction of West Pleasant Colony, East Pleasant Colony, and Woodside Plantation Drive. Signs point the way. If you find parking tight, you can also park along the maintenance road. If you bring cookies, you might want to arrive early and take them to the picnic table, and begin your hike there.
Distance: About 2 miles
Terrain: A couple of ups and downs, but mainly flat, easy walking.
Bring: Water and wear good sneakers or boots. Perhaps a walking stick. If it rains before the hike, the trail may have wet sections. Cookies to share would be welcome.
— Rain Cancels —