Pickens Recreation Center
Park
45 acres0.5 mi of trail
Town Creek Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Hagood Mill · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Pickens
Pickens has 74 acres of parks, 23 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Pickens Recreation Center (0.5 mi). 52% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4% of Pickens’ land is conserved, about 69 acres.
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns · #41 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
69 acres · of 3.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
74 ac
23 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
52%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.3 mi
2.3 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Pickens?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Pickens have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Pickens is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #41 of 169 in South Carolina. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Pickens’ overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical SC town 1% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · SC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land23 acres of park per 1,000 residents (74 acres) · SC 6 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home52% of residents within a half mile of a park · SC 52% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 54%
LessMore
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 76%
Few South Carolina towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Pickens’ 4% is ahead of 74% of South Carolina towns, while its trails per square mile lead 64% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B. 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 Pickens Recreation Center, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Jaycee Park
Park
16 acres0.1 mi of trail
Town Creek Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
69 conserved acres
4% of Pickens’ land. Who manages Pickens’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city69 ac
Local Recreation Area · 69 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickens Recreation Center Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 40 | Open |
| Pickens Jaycee Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Bruce Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 6 | Restricted |
| Hooper Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 3 | Restricted |
| Playground of Promise Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Pickens
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Pickens
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Town Creek Trail0.6 mi
Biking & sports
2.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
9Baseball
7Soccer
7Tennis
2Basketball
1Volleyball
1Equestrian
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Pickens: April to June
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) | 10.1 | 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 | 79 | 86 | 89 | 87 | 82 | 72 | 63 | 55 |
| Rain (in) | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 5.4 |
October is the driest month (3.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 5.4 inches fall in December, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Pickens →
Questions about parks and trails in Pickens
Where can I hike in Pickens?
The longest trail networks: Pickens Recreation Center, 0.5 miles; Jaycee Park, 0.1 miles; Pickens Doodle Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Pickens is conserved land?
4% 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 Pickens’ trails?
Pickens Recreation Center and Jaycee Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Pickens?
2.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Pickens?
18,556 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Pickens or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 74 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Pickens have?
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #41 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 Pickens 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 →