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Let’s ride!
With more than 2,100 acres of forests, fields, lakes and trails, Fort Mill’s iconic Anne Springs Close Greenway is available to area residents who want to hike, bike, ride horses, explore historic buildings or go fishing on the grounds of the private nature preserve.
Photo by Amy Trainum
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Her plan is working
Anne Springs Close, a lifelong environmentalist, still enjoys visiting the greenway that her family donated as a public recreation area near Fort Mill. “My vision was a place for families to come and get back to nature,” says Close. “I didn’t realize it was going to attract as many people as it has and become a destination, but I’m delighted.”
Photo by Amy Trainum
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Your adventure starts here
Many journeys through the park now begin at Greenway Gateway, a 6,300-square-foot visitors center where guests learn what the Greenway has to offer through interactive map displays. There’s also a cafe that is open daily, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Photo by Amy Trainum
It’s hard to believe that almost 25 years ago, someone had the foresight to preserve thousands of acres of land in Fort Mill to protect it from the urban sprawl that would start to encroach on the area from Charlotte decades later.
Hard to believe, that is, until you meet Anne Springs Close, the visionary namesake behind the 2,100-acre Anne Springs Close Greenway.
“Development was eating up all the farmland and the forest between Charlotte and Fort Mill. Forests were being cut down and the fields were being paved over,” she says. “My dream was to save some of it, so that my children and grandchildren, and everybody else, would have a place where they could experience being in the woods.”
Close, an ardent environmentalist, has led a fascinating life that’s taken her all over the world. It has included a seemingly endless list of extraordinary adventures, such as a ride on the Hindenburg (before its fateful last journey), carrying the Olympic torch in 1996, and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, not once, but three times.
Even now, at the age of 94, Close’s adventurous spirit and profound love for nature are infectious. She beams when she talks about being outdoors, and about her childhood spent in these very forests, fields and lakes learning firsthand the positive impact nature can have on someone’s life.
Thanks to her determination, along with the help of her eight children who all donated inherited family land to create the park, Close’s vision of saving natural space in the fast-growing Fort Mill area is a thriving reality. The park opened in 1995 with two main goals: preserving the natural habitat and making it accessible for people to enjoy.
The expansive nature preserve is almost two-and-a-half times the size of New York’s famous Central Park, and from the beginning, the greenway has been thoughtfully designed to protect and maintain the natural surroundings, explains the Greenway’s Director of Communications and Guest Services, Elizabeth Bowers.
“What’s unique with our conserved land, is that we want people to come and enjoy it. It’s not something that’s just to maintain greenspace,” she says. “We want people to appreciate it and experience it. It is a preserve, but it’s meant for the public’s enjoyment.”
And, there are plenty of ways to enjoy it. The list of outdoor amenities and activities offered on the property is unmatched, making it easy to understand why it’s become a regional destination for people who want to disconnect from urban life and get outdoors.
“We provide an excuse for people to put their phones down and just enjoy being outside and not worrying about the rest of the noise in their lives for a while,” Bowers says.
Visitors can easily spend an entire day exploring the unspoiled land on the almost 40 miles of running and mountain biking trails, or they can opt to navigate the property on horseback along the Greenway’s 12 miles of equestrian trails.
Each of these well-worn trails leads to points of interest like the beloved swinging bridge, historic cabins that date back to the 1800s, and the 28-acre Lake Haigler, where anglers can cast lines with only the ambient sounds of frogs croaking and the wind rustling through the reeds in the background. This sort of peaceful stillness—a rarity nowadays with the constant construction in the area—can be found almost anywhere on the Greenway. And, it’s this peacefulness that brings visitors like Tega Cay resident Sue Hapner, who has been visiting the Greenway for more than a decade, back time and time again.
“It’s a treasure that offers a getting-back-to-nature feel and calmness in life,” Hapner says while taking a break from a hike along one of the trails that’s shaded by a thick tree canopy.
Many journeys through the park now begin at Greenway Gateway, a 6,300-square-foot visitors center that serves as a sort of front door to the property. Guests can get acclimated with the property, ask questions, and discover all the Greenway has to offer through interactive map displays, explains John Gordon, the executive director of the Greenway.
“We’ve found that 2,100 acres can be kind of intimidating for people. So, they want a little bit of hand-holding at the beginning, and this allows us to do that,” he says.
Along with the interactive maps and a small retail space, the center is also home to the Gateway Canteen, a cafe that makes almost everything in-house using locally sourced ingredients. The menu features a variety of items ranging from coffee, wine, and local craft brews to Cuban sandwiches and lettuce wraps. There are also several menu options targeting kids, including hot dogs and grilled cheese. The cafe is open daily, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, giving visitors even more of a reason to spend time at the Greenway.
Close frequently can be found walking along the Greenway's hiking trails or grabbing a bite to eat at the canteen, and while you can tell she’s extremely proud of what the property has become, she’s too humble to accept the doting compliments from visitors who make a point to approach her and thank her for providing such a unique destination.
“My vision originally was a place for families to come and get back to nature,” says Close, who admits the Greenway has surpassed anything she had ever hoped for two decades ago. “I didn’t realize it was going to attract as many people as it has and become a destination, but I’m delighted.”
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Get There
The Anne Springs Close Greenway Lake Haigler entrance is located off of the U.S. Hwy. 21 Bypass at 2573 Lake Haigler Drive in Fort Mill.
Hours: Open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to sunset. The Greenway is closed on Christmas Day. The Greenway Gateway is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Gateway Canteen is open Monday through Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: $5 for non-members; free for children under the age of four; free for members.
Yearly memberships are $49 for individuals and $99 for families.
Details: For more information, visit ascgreenway.org or call (803) 547-4575.
More Info: Along with the many outdoor amenities, the preserve also hosts a myriad of organized recreational activities that range from yoga classes and guided hikes to an introduction to kayaking class and biking clinics. The Greenway’s annual events are also a big draw, and include an Earth Day Celebration, Fall Frolic and summer concert series.