Itineraries for the Outdoor Enthusiast

½ Day Outdoor Enthusiasts

Begin your day with breakfast at one of Spartanburg’s local favorites, The Skillet.
After your breakfast, hike the Cottonwood Trail, another favorite among the locals. This trail is a 118 acre nature preserve with over 5 miles of trails.
Spartanburg is home to 5 beautiful arboreta that are free and open to the public year round. Visit one or all-Hatcher Garden, Milliken & Company, Spartanburg Community College, the Susan Jacob’s Arboretum at the University of South Carolina Upstate and the Roger Milliken Arboretum at Wofford College.
After exploring the outdoor gardens and trails in Spartanburg, grab a sandwich at Converse Deli.

You’ll need lots of energy for your action packed day, so begin by grabbing breakfast at Broadway Bagels.
Head to Glendale Outdoor Leadership School (GOLS) for a morning of indoor rock climbing, kayaking or mountain biking.
If you still have enough energy before lunch, hike one of our Heritage Preserves (Pacolet River Heritage Preserve, Peters Creek Heritage Preserve, or Glendale Shoals Preserve).
After all this, take a break for lunch by stopping in for lunch at Two Samuels, where you can enjoy your food on their outdoor patio.
After you belly is full, relax on the swings behind the restaurant on the Mary Black Rail Trail. While here you can also enjoy walking, riding, or skating on this smooth mainly tree lined rail-to-trail built on what was once a section the Norfolk Southern rail line. You can even rent a bicycle for the day on the Trail Head and return it there or at the other rack on Morgan Square.
If you return it to Morgan Square, wind down by enjoying local music at Jazz on the Square (Friday evenings April, May, September and October) or at Music on Main (Thursday evenings April-August).
Continue enjoying the fresh air outside on the patio at Hickory Tavern where you can enjoy oysters, crab legs or a burger.

Pick up a coffee at the drive-thru at Bella Latte to start your morning.
Head up I-26 towards Landrum, and take this opportunity to see both Lake Blalock and Lake Bowen, which would require getting off the interstate, but well worth the detour. While at the lakes, you can spend the morning fishing or get back on path to Exit 1.
Head to Brookwood Park in Landrum, where you can exercise at unique stations throughout the park.
Take a break for lunch at one of the great restaurants in downtown Landrum.
Imagine walking through a garden with winding paths, calming music and quaint gift shops nestled within beautiful surroundings with the sound of babbling water. That is what you will find at Motlow Creek Gardens, where twin sisters Rhonda and Sondra offer free landscape seminars and how to classes.
Enjoy dinner at Stone Soup Café, also in Landrum. Here you can enjoy local farmers harvests entwined in the eclectic menu.

Get outside and enjoy the perfect weather here in Spartanburg while playing a round of Disc Golf on one of our local courses (Va-Du-Mar McMillan Park or Edwin M. Griffin Nature Preserve) If traditional golf is more up your alley, play a round on one of our beautiful courses.
If you still have time to squeeze in something else into your day, head to Live Oak Farm, where you can feed the animals and shop in their farm storm for local products from milk to yogurt to beef.
Continue your day outdoors by dining at the Biergarten at Gerhard’s, where you can enjoy traditional German/Austrian dishes and end with their famous hot peppercorn strawberries over ice cream.