Do you want to get outside and be more active but don’t know where to begin? It’s not always easy to stay energized about maintaining an active lifestyle when you’re stuck doing the same activities in the same places. Fortunately, there are plenty of outdoor activities in South Carolina where you can go to get your heart rate up and discover something new in the process.
Finding the right type of physical activity for you and doing it in a new scenic location—these are some of the best ways to be and stay active! When you’re truly enjoying yourself during physical activity, you won’t notice just how much exercise you’re getting. As a result, you’ll probably push yourself further than you would have if you were doing the same activity indoors or at the gym.
That’s right, fitness folks! Workouts don’t need to feel like work. In order to help you strike the perfect balance between enjoyment and exercise, let’s take a look at a few outdoor activities in South Carolina our team likes.
Hiking the Palmetto Trail
The best way to take in any beautiful place is on foot. On the Palmetto Trail, you’ll be able to soak up all the scenic grandeur of South Carolina—from the mountains and the lakes to the cities and the small towns—all on your own two feet, or on a bicycle seat if that’s your preference.
On 350 miles out of the planned 500-mile-long cross-state trail, the foundation designated 26 different passages. These passages range in length from 1.3 to nearly 50 miles. Hikers and backpackers can enjoy the entire trail, and certain areas are open to mountain biking and even horseback riding, too.
Whether you’re looking for a breezy day trip or a challenging thru-hike, the Palmetto Trail is a great place to get your heart rate going. Who knows, maybe someday you’ll be able to say you covered all 500 miles of the trial, from Walhalla to Awendaw!
Cycling on Highway 11
Some fitness fans prefer fast-paced activity. If that’s you, check out Highway 11, also known as the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway. If you cycle along this road, you can see up to eight of South Carolina’s beautiful state parks in just one day. (You might have to plan a separate trip back to each park so you don’t miss any exciting natural landmarks.) Dust off that bike and hit the road!
Birdwatching in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge
Remember when we said that if you make physical fitness fun you may not notice just how much exercise you’re getting? Well, if you’re a lover of wildlife, then birdwatching may just be that “fun” workout you need.
South Carolina has a wide array of parks and wildlife refuges where you can go to catch a glimpse of rare and endangered bird species, with Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge being among the most popular. Go there intending to find plovers and pelicans and leave with a new record step count on your fitness band.
ESMMSC Executive Meg Stanley and Manager of Policy & Advocacy Phil Ford volunteer during a food distribution in Fairfield County.
Somewhere, someplace, somehow, an Eat Smart Move More South Carolina (ESMMSC) staff member is guiding a coalition, a partner, a HYPE team, or a partner through a project or process that will lead to a better outcome. It’s called technical assistance, and it’s just one of the driving forces behind the work of the organization. Technical assistance can be many non-financial forms of help like connecting coalitions to funding, sharing information, providing training, consulting on projects, and leadership coaching. That’s what ESMMSC staff do, even during a pandemic.
“Our staff immediately saw the problems people would be facing with food access, especially the children who depended on school food. It’s the one place hungry children can rely on for a sure meal,” said Meg Stanley, executive director at ESMMSC. “We couldn’t imagine having hundreds of thousands of children sitting at home without healthy meals.”
ESMMSC convened as many statewide and local partners (over 100) to address the emergency food insecurity issues caused by COVID-19. Resources were pulled together, emergency preparedness strategies were shared, and a webpage of resources and food distribution sites across the state was published. All of this coordination, brainstorming, and action happened within two weeks with website updates and food insecurity calls continuing in the months to come.
ESMMSC partnered with Healthy Learners and SC PASOS to create Spanish language versions of the food distribution information located on the ESMMSC website.
“When Healthy Learners approached us about translating the food distribution portion of the website for the Latinx community, we said yes without hesitation,” said Stanley. “We completely embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion, and so it made absolute sense to partner on the translation and distribute the information to the Latinx community.”
As the coronavirus lingered over the following months, ESMMSC applied for and was awarded a grant from the OneSC Fund to provide mini-grants to communities in immediate need of assistance in addressing hunger. Forty communities received funding to purchase healthy foods and personal protective equipment.
“We did not turn our backs on those rapid response grant applicants that were not funded,” said Stanley. “We connected them to other funders and other community organizations and encouraged them to pull their resources together. We were not going to leave them wondering what to do next.”
In addition to connecting the applicants to other resources, ESMMSC staff had the opportunity to provide more technical assistance to communities:
Assisted in securing grant funds from another source for food distributions.
Connected state legislators to local coalitions interested in hosting food distributions.
Volunteered at many food distribution events.
Connected a restaurant in need of donating food to a local Council on Aging.
Requested Healthy Blue donate bags for food distributions. And they did!
Shared stories of local coalitions’ food distribution efforts and how they made them safe for everyone.
“While the coronavirus has been stressful and long, it has brought out the good in people. We’ve witnessed an outpouring of love for those in need from our partners, our community members, and our elected officials,” said Stanley. “Our partners and our staff did a fantastic job leading, connecting, and making things happen in a time of crisis. We’re not out of the woods. Food insecurity remains a priority for us and our partners.”
If you are interested in learning more about how to incorporate racial equity into HEAL community work, we have compiled a list of resources for you. This is not exhaustive by any means but meant to be a place to start. If you are interested in discussing further, we would love to speak with you. Contact us.
Tools & Trainings to Use in Coalition Work:
The Welcome Table. The staff of Wholespire participated in this process. You can read about our experience here.
Race Equity and Inclusion Partnership. This a group of local and state agencies, community organizations and nonprofits, and others who are working to incorporate REI into organizational practice.
Do you want to get outside and be more active but don’t know where to begin? It’s not always easy to stay energized about maintaining an active lifestyle when you’re stuck doing the same activities in the same places. Fortunately, there are plenty of outdoor activities in South Carolina where you can go to get your heart rate up and discover something new in the process.
