Stumphouse Mountain Bike Park to receive Check from Upstate Conservationists

Representatives from Upstate Forever Land Trust and local affiliate Oconee Forever will present Walhalla Mayor Danny Edwards with a $25,000 check for continued development of the new Stumphouse Mountain Bike Park. The ceremony will take place at 4:30pm today, Aug. 15, at the trailhead for the Palmetto Trail in the Stumphouse Tunnel–Issaqueena Falls complex picnic area. The complex is located north of Walhalla off SC Highway 28. The new funds will be used to match project funding the city received from the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor Grant Program. Construction will expand the state-of-the-art mountain biking and hiking trails in the park. The first four miles opened in May and included 1.5 miles of the mountains-to-sea Palmetto Trail, which anchors the park. Stumphouse Mountain Bike Park is a collaborative project of the City of Walhalla, Oconee County, Upstate Forever, Oconee Forever, Palmetto Conservation Foundation (PCF) and other partners. The city owns the 440-acre property, which is a designated heritage preserve in Oconee County. Upstate Forever holds a permanent conservation easement on the property. Oconee Forever is the local all-volunteer affiliate created from the grass-roots public support to preserve Stumphouse Tunnel and Issaqueena Falls in 2007. PCF owns the Palmetto Trail and provides expert oversight of trail construction at the Bike Park by Benchmark Trails of Greenville, the Palmetto Conservation Corps, and volunteers.