1
Harbison State Forest
Park
2,136 acres33.2 mi of trail
Firebreak TrailMidlands Mountain TrailStewardship TrailLost CreekSpider Woman II Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Columbia
Columbia, SC parks, trails & bike paths
About 3% of Columbia is conserved land, roughly 2,766 acres. There are about 400 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Harbison State Forest (33.2 mi), Owens Field Park (1.5 mi), and Gamecock Park (1.3 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Columbia, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Columbia outdoors
Conserved land
3%
2,766 of 90,742 acres
Trails
400 mi
2.8 mi per sq mi · 38 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
46
20 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
38.3 mi
17.5 mi lanes · 14.4 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Owens Field Park
Managed by City of Columbia
81 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dogs allowedMapped in OpenStreetMap
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Gamecock Park
Park
31 acres1.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Southeast Park
Park
53 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
3 Rivers Greenway
Park
66 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
6
Granby Park
Park
27 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
Rosewood Park
Park
7 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
8
Martin Luther King Jr. Park
Park
12 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
All 46 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 46 parks & preserves
Harbison State Forest2,136 acres · 33.2 mi of trail
Owens Field Park81 acres · 1.5 mi of trail · City of Columbia
Gamecock Park31 acres · 1.3 mi of trail
Southeast Park53 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
3 Rivers Greenway66 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Granby Park27 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Rosewood Park7 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Martin Luther King Jr. Park12 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Drew Park9 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Riverfront Park91 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Columbia
Showing 1–10 of 50 playgrounds
Gorilla Tower
Madison Station Playground
Rosewood Park PlaygroundIn Rosewood Park
Unnamed playground in Pacific Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Hollywood Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Edisto Discovery Park
Unnamed playground in Edisto Discovery Park
Unnamed playground in Edisto Discovery Park
64 more unnamed playgrounds are mapped in Columbia.
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 28.7 miHorses 2.0 miUnpaved 37.6 mi
Showing 1–10 of 18 trails
- Firebreak Trail4.5 mi
- Stewardship Trail4.2 mi
- Midlands Mountain Trail4.2 mi
- Lost Creek3.4 mi
- Spider Woman II Trail3.0 mi
- Eagle Trail1.6 mi
- Palmetto Trail: Fort Jackson Passage1.5 mi
- Discovery Trail1.4 mi
- Crooked Pine Trail1.3 mi
- Firebreak Connector Trail1.1 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Showing 1–10 of 21 places
Bells PondBoyden Arbor PondCIU LakelakeCarolina Patriots of the American Revolution FountainClark PondCobbs PondreservoirCoopers LakelakeDavis PondpondDupre PondreservoirInchon Lakereservoir
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
2,766 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 93 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 1 of 58 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes17.5 mi
- Off-road bike paths14.4 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes6.4 mi
- Palmetto Trail: Fort Jackson Passage (bike route)12.7 mi
- Midlands Mountain Trail (bike route)5.1 mi
- Firebreak Trail (bike route)4.5 mi
- Stwardship Trail (bike route)4.3 mi
- Spider Woman II Trail (bike route)3.9 mi
- Lost Creek Trail (bike route)3.2 mi
- Eagle Trail (bike route)1.7 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis139
- Basketball94
- Baseball54
- Soccer20
- Football17
- Beach volleyball14
- Softball12
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Columbia
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
State Resource Management Area 2,132 acLocal Park 480 acUnknown Easement 93 acLocal Recreation Area 59 acLocal Historic or Cultural Area 3 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harbison State ForestState Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 2,132 | Restricted |
| Canal FrontLocal Park | Town or city | 75 | Open |
| Owens Field ParkLocal Park | County | 63 | Open |
| South East ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 62 | Open |
| Riverfront ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 60 | Open |
| Earlewood ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 41 | Open |
| Granby ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 22 | Open |
| Finlay ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Maxcy Gregg Park and PoolLocal Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| James E. Clyburn Golf CenterLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 14 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Showing 1–10 of 105 places
"Chesnut Cottage"Plaque
"Commissioners' Oak"Plaque
"Diamond Hill"Plaque
"The Spirit of the American Doughboy "In Memorial Park · Plaque
1001 Gervais StreetPlaque
100th Inf DivisionPlaque
102nd CavalryPlaque
106th Inf DivisionPlaque
108th DivisionPlaque
1896 Power PlantPlaque
Nearby
Columbia and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | 3% | 400.4 mi | 46 |
| St. Andrews | 1% | 0.5 mi | 2 |
| Forest Acres | 0.9% | 0.7 mi | 6 |
| Dentsville | 0.5% | 1.2 mi | 2 |
| Olympia | 1.1% | 0.8 mi | 1 |
| West Columbia | 1.1% | 1.5 mi | 6 |
| Seven Oaks | 7.2% | 7.4 mi | 3 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Columbia's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 63.2-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.