Saluda Riverwalk

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

In Partnership with

City of Columbia Parks and Greenways


Saluda Riverwalk trail map marking  points of interest along the riverwalk. The parking area, ranger station, and a restroom are located at 650 Candi Ln, Columbia, SC (between Red Pier and Portage @ Millrace Rapid river features). There is a 1.25 mile trail upstream from parking, and a 1.75 mile trail downstream from parking. There is also a restroom before the first river feature furthest to the west. West to East, the river features are 1. Ocean Boulevard, 2. Maytag, 3. Oh Brother Rapid, 4. Stacey's Ledge, 5. Red Pier, 6. Portage @ Millrace Rapid, 7. Millrace Rapid, 8. Flip Flop Eddy, 9. Flat rock, 10. Pop Up Hole, 11.Shannon Rapid, 12. Boyd Island. Between features 10 and 11 sits the Rivertanks Zoo.

Park Information

Park Hours: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

To contact ranger on duty call: 803-397-6556

Park Rules:

  • No alcohol.
  • No grills or fires.
  • Dogs must be always on leash, and pet waste must be bagged and placed in the trash.
  • No motorized vehicles on trails.
  • No fishing from the boardwalk or bridges.
  • No camping.
  • No trespassing on inland side of trail.

About the Park

  • Saluda Riverwalk was formally established as a city park June 2021. Even before this park was formally established, it has been a recreational playground for several years. This is a perfect location for kayakers and tubers to paddle and float along the river.
  • Along the trail you will walk underneath a bridge connecting the Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens. This bridge is not the first Saluda River bridge. The original Saluda River bridge was built in 1819. However, it was burned down in 1865 by retreating confederate soldiers as an attempt to slow down the advancing union soldiers. Remains of the original bridge and pier foundations are still visible today.
Winding view of Saluda riverwalk boardwalk with many visitors enjoying the view

Fishing the Saluda

Fishing is allowed at the park, and SCDNR works to keep the Saluda River stocked. Due to the cold water that flows here, this river is a great home for trout, smallmouth bass, and catfish!

To purchase a fishing license, visit Go Outdoors SC


Fauna

Large bird with head resting back, long neck in an S-curve, oval-shaped body, and long thin legs standing in a body of water.

Great Blue Heron

  • Description: Grayish-blue with a long neck and orangish-yellow bill.
  • Diet: Highly adaptable. Mostly eats fish, but will also eat small birds, frogs, or even turtles.
  • Lifespan: 15 years
  • Habitat: Near swamps, ponds, lakes, and inlets. Freshwater and saltwater habitats.
Mostly blue bird with spikey mohawk-like head sitting on a branch.

Belted Kingfisher

  • Description: Small, blue-gray body, with white chest and band of blue and rusty orange.
  • Diet: Small fish, lizards, frogs, and sometimes small mammals.
  • Lifespan: 14 years
  • Habitat: Near any waterside habitat including both fresh and saltwater bodies.
Otter in river, poking its head up from the water.

Otter

  • Description: Typically, all brown bodies.
  • Diet: Otters are known to eat almost any animal matter found in aquatic systems including crayfish, crabs, mollusks, fish, turtles, and waterfowl.
  • Lifespan: Around 9 or more years.
  • Habitat: In South Carolina, otters are found in each of our major river drainages but are most abundant in the coastal marshes and blackwater swamps.
Snake coiled on brown leaves, almost camoflaged, with head slightly raised.

Copperhead Snake

  • Description: Coppery colored body with chestnut brown crossbands. Arrowheadshaped head, and between 2- and 3-feet in length.
  • Diet: Small to medium sized animals like rodents, birds, and even other snakes.
  • Lifespan: 18 years.
  • Habitat: In South Carolina, they are found in both dry, wooded areas and lowlands near water.

Flora

Red and orange star-shaped leaves

Sweetgum

  • Star shaped leaves with a sweet fragrance when crushed.
  • Seeds are spikey ball-shaped fruits.
  • The bark was used by Native American people as medicine.
Pale tree trunk with peeling bark and a smooth surface underneath.

River Birch

  • Egg-shaped leaves with double serrated margins.
  • Young river birches will shed their outer bark in papery curls, while older river birch trunks will develop scaly bark.
  • Wild river birch will grow near outer banks of streams and rivers.
Large green leaves with multiple points. Fuzzy green balls hang from nearby stems.

American Sycamore

  • Exfoliating bark that peels off revealing various hues of gray and white.
  • Leaves are large and rounder than the River Birch, with five lobes, each ending in a point.
  • Seeds are like the sweet gum, as there are also round spiky balls of fruit.
White flowers with pointed petals growing among long thin green blades of grass in the middle of a river.

Rocky Shoals Spider Lily

  • Inhabits shoals and rapids in piedmont streams.
  • This species is white with a yellow center, with spear shaped exterior petals stretching outward.
  • Native to South Carolina; however, it is rare. Development practices of humans have caused the number of these flowers to reduce drastically.

Contact SCDNR Community Engagement

Contact SCDNR Community Engagement at 803-734-3729, en Español al 803-734-9885. For email inquiries or to sign up for our newsletter, contact us at: informacion@dnr.sc.gov.






The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, color, national origin, religion, disability or age. Direct inquiries to the Office of Human Resources, P.0. Box 167, Columbia, S.C. 29202.


Download the printable version of the brochure (PDF)