Beaufort County will join City of Beaufort and Friends of Spanish Moss Trail in celebrating the grand opening of the newest section of the trail: the Downtown Connection. There will also be a celebration for the new Kids In Parks national designation. 

The public is invited and the event is free.

Both celebrations will be Thursday, February 12, beginning at 11 a.m., and will be held at the Spanish Moss Trailhead Depot Building, 2751 Depot Road (map).

Guest speakers will include County Council Chair Alice Howard (District 4), Dean Moss, Executive Director of Friends of Spanish Moss Trail, and Phil Cromer, Mayor of City of Beaufort.

The opening of the new Downtown Beaufort Connector will link the Spanish Moss Trail's Depot Trailhead, down Depot Road, to Ribaut Road. This is funded in part by the 2018 Penny Sales Tax. This new wide path will allow Trail users and downtown Beaufort patrons to easily go between the heart of the Trail and Beaufort's historic Bay Street's scenic waterfront, shopping, museums and restaurants. 

The event will also celebrate the new national distinction of becoming a Kids in Parks TRACK Trail – a nation-wide designation by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation funded in our state by the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation. This TRACK Trail will start at the Depot Trailhead with a large kiosk and children’s activity brochures along an 1.8-mile out-and-back section of the Trail.

This Spanish Moss Trail TRACK Trail will start at the Depot Trailhead, with a large kiosk and children’s activity brochures, and extend along the Trail toward Port Royal for about a mile.

For more information, visit the Spanish Moss Trail website.

For more information on the project, read the media release here.

Learn more about Kids In Parks.