Hickory Knob is located just ouside of McCormick, SC. It is a 7 mile loop trail that for the most part hugs the shore of Lake Thurmond.
With the facilities available in this park including cabins, golf course, lake and conference center with an all you can eat buffet, this will be the place to ride in SC.
DESCRIPTION:
Seven miles of beautifully handbuilt singletrack.
The trail is very fast but has numerous logs to cross and two cool rock outcroppings
that are each fun and challenging. Once on the ride, the lake appears after about
a mile or so. You will follow the lake onto 12 points for the next five miles.
Then it's one mile back to the barn. Not much climbing, I'd guess less than 300 feet
on the entire loop. You will cross hundreds of drainages, none of which are bridged.
So while it is fast it also keeps you on yours toes with dips, logs, rocks and tight
tree sections.
**UPDATE**
There is now a 1.7 mile loop across the road from the barn. It offers a nice middle-ring climb followed by a fun downhill. The trail is 42" wide now, but will be 24-30" singletrack in a few months. It has more of a sustained climb than anywhere on the Lake Loop. Keep in mind that we are still under 500 feet above sea level, so don't get too excited. It should make a great time trial loop or just enough riding if another loop on the Lake is too much. Ride in either direction.
There is also a 2.5 mile out/back from the Lodge to the Skeet Range. It is a fairly flat - yet fast open and flowing trail that is wide enough to pass at just about any point. It has no difficult features and should be the easy family trail that the State Parks wanted. On the other hand, you can really fly on this thing. It has enough curves to keep you honest and is really fun to ride for all abilities. Be careful, you can really go fast on this and the trees will hurt if you hit one of them!
