Upper Chinquapin Preserve
Managed by Spartanburg Area Conservancy
59 acres1.1 mi of trail
Blackberry PathMeadow Creek LoopFox Run Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Hilltop
97% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Hilltop
2.1 miles of mapped trail cross Hilltop, 1.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Upper Chinquapin Preserve (1.1 mi). 7 acres are parks and preserves, 2.3 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns · #28 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
26 acres · of 1.8 sq mi of land
Trails
2.1 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
7 ac
2.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
97%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Hilltop?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hilltop have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hilltop is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #28 of 169 in South Carolina. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hilltop’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical SC town 1% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · SC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land2.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (7 acres) · SC 6 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home97% of residents within a half mile of a park · SC 52% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 61%
LessMore
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 84%
Few South Carolina towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Hilltop’s 2% is ahead of 62% of South Carolina towns, while its trails per square mile lead 93% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Upper Chinquapin Preserve, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Glenn Park
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
26 conserved acres
2% of Hilltop’s land. Who manages Hilltop’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits21 ac
County6 ac
Forest Stewardship Easement · 21 acLocal Park · 6 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 21 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Park Local Park | County | 6 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Hilltop
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Hilltop
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
5 named trails
Named trails
Fox Run Trail0.5 mi
Meadow Creek Loop0.5 mi
Blackberry Path0.4 mi
Poplar Branch Loop0.2 mi
Green Fern Path0.1 mi
When to get out
The best walking months in Hilltop: April and May
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.0 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 56 | 64 | 73 | 80 | 86 | 89 | 88 | 82 | 72 | 62 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 4.2 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.4 |
October is the driest month (3.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 4.6 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Hilltop →
Next door
Hilltop and its neighbors
Hilltop has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilltop | 2% | 1.2 | 2 | 97% | B |
| Spartanburg | 3% | 0.5 | 9 | 80% | B |
| Saxon | 1% | 0.3 | 4 | 81% | C |
| Southern Shops | under 1% | 0.1 | under 1 | 21% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hilltop
Where can I hike in Hilltop?
The longest trail networks: Upper Chinquapin Preserve, 1.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hilltop is conserved land?
2% of its land, against a typical 1% for a South Carolina town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Hilltop’s trails?
Upper Chinquapin Preserve and Glenn Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Hilltop?
8,023 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hilltop or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hilltop have?
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #28 of 169 in South Carolina. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Hilltop neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →