Inside: A list of local parks and playgrounds in the Easley and Pickens, SC areas, with details and tips from local parents.
Looking for parks in Easley? My favorite time of year has arrived, and I am so excited! Spring is working hard to break its way into the Southern summer. Recently my kids and I decided to leave the “big city” to check out the suburbs. We set out on a mission to explore some of the Easley parks and were pleasantly surprised with what we discovered!
We’ve also added some information for you about all parks in Easley and Pickens Counties, even if we haven’t had the opportunity to visit them yet.
Looking for a place to get outdoors near Easley, SC? Check out Nalley Brown Nature Park. Here’s what you can expect when you visit Nalley Brown Nature Park, plus some tips and ideas for things to do in the surrounding area from local mom, Liene.
We are blessed to have a large selection of parks and natural areas in the Upstate in which to enjoy the outdoors, from the state and county parks such as Jones Gap and Caesars Head to our urban public spaces like Lake Conestee Nature Park and the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
But what about those beautiful days when we don’t have the time to travel all the way up to the Blue Ridge but want something different from the same-old, same-old? With the approach of fall, the lure of the outdoors will take families on explorations all over the Upstate, bringing the dilemma – where to go today?
A perfect option for those days when the mountains are a little too far is Nalley Brown Nature Park. Located at 380 Adger Road, this park features almost 3 miles of trail on its 38 acres, and is only 3 miles from downtown Easley!
The park was many years in the making; Catherine Brown Ladnier donated the land in 2001, but over the past two decades the project stalled more than once and it took a push by the then-mayor of Easley Larry Bagwell to finish it before the end of his term.
Things to Do at Nalley Brown Nature Park
Trails and Loops Through Wetlands
The heart of the park is its 2.5 miles of trails; leading through scrub pine and mature hardwoods, the trail network forms two main loops that can be combined for excursions ranging everywhere from a few tenths of a mile to almost three miles. Nalley Trail is the longest trail and forms an outer loop of just under 1 ½ miles long. An inner loop, Brown Trail, is another 0.85 miles, and a wetlands trail connecting the two loops on the west side of the park adds another tenth of a mile with its boardwalk.
Pet Friendly and ADA-Accessible
Definitely bring your furbabies along to enjoy the trails, as dogs are allowed, but be sure to have them leashed for their safety. Finally, an ADA-accessible loop just off the parking area is a mile long.
Small Playground and Picnic Shelters
Adjacent to the parking area visitors will find a small pavilion and a play area with a few tunnels and climbing structures.. If you are interested in renting the shelter at Nalley Brown to enjoy a picnic, you can submit a rental request online with the City of Easley, or apply in person at the Parks and Recreation Department at 111 Walkers Way in Easley.
Please note there are no bathrooms at the park. However, Ingles is about four minutes away by car. They have bathrooms you can use (410 Pelzer Hwy, Easley, SC 29642).
History of the Nalley Brown Nature Park
The history of the property influences the forest we see today. The Nalley and Brown families farmed the property and owned it for around 150 years. From the trail, you’ll see reminders of the old farmstead: abandoned car parts here, old farming supplies there.
Damage from long-ago farming practices still scar the land, heavily eroded ravines show the result of bad farming practices, as well as more recent harm – the dumping of trash into these gullies. On the other hand, the mature beech-oak forest has towering hardwoods over a hundred years old, and the softwood forest has its own charm with the smell of pine and the thick canopy of pine needles.
The wetlands trail brings visitors down to a tributary of Eighteen Mile Creek whose waters eventually flow into Lake Hartwell. Mosses and ferns line the sides of the ravines while the occasional wildflower brings spots of color to the forest floor.
Bring a picnic to enjoy under the beautiful pavilion, or head to Easley afterward; kids love the “Train on Main” scavenger hunt. Adults might enjoy a stop at local grocery and natural market Farmacy to pick up last-minute groceries for dinner. If you are looking to cool off after your hike, check out the Saluda Outdoor Center on your way back to Greenville and go tubing down the Saluda River in Easley.
Nalley Brown Nature Park is a lovely addition to the natural spaces of the Upstate. The trails provide a hiking option close to home for those living west of Greenville. In addition, it’s a way for people to get outdoors in what is becoming an increasingly urban landscape. We hope to see additional improvements (such as restroom facilities and educational signage) in the future and look forward to seeing what the change of the seasons brings to this new park.
This article was originally published on Femme au foyer.
There’s a huge facility that offers indoor rock climbing near Greenville, SC. ProjectROCK, located in Easley, is fun for the whole family, no matter if you’re a beginner or expert rock climber. And it’s home to the highest indoor climbing wall in the country. We checked it out and have all the details why projectROCK is a must-visit for your family!
I’m always up for a new adventure and wow, my kids and I found one at projectROCK Easley, a massive indoor rock climbing gym. This place is really cool and the story behind how it was designed is perhaps even cooler. I’ll tell you all about it right here plus let you in on special climbing events they host, birthday party options, and why your family should try them out.
Bringing the Outside Indoors
ProjectROCK began out of a dream of a couple who loved rock climbing and lived in South Florida where elevation, and therefore, rock climbing, is non-existent. They had traveled all over the country to rock climb and decided to open their own indoor rock climbing gym that brought the outdoors in.
How did they do that? They designed the gym and climbing routes all based on places they had been, like Wyoming, Tennessee, California, Alabama, and several other amazing spots. The second location of projectROCK opened in Easley last year. It is based on the same concept and as an outdoor lover myself, seeing the different rock formations inside the gym that I recognized from my own travels was really cool.
For example, there is a literal arch the color of sandstone that is based on the famous arches out in Utah. Another climbing wall is based on Devils Tower in Wyoming. The climbing structures are all unique and provide routes for any level of climber and you can quite literally climb your way around the United States.
Another cool fact: projectROCK Easley is home to the highest climbing wall in the country at 84 feet tall.
There are more than 31,000 square feet of climbing activities at the gym plus they have a birthday party room, bouldering room (climbing without ropes), and a smaller kids’ room where kids are clipped to the climbing apparatus instead of using ropes.
Getting Ready to Climb: What to Expect
When you first come to projectROCK and want to climb, you need to take a short belay course ($10), which teaches you how to properly and safely tie knots needed to climb the towers with your partner or kid. I’ve never done this before but had no problems learning how to tie the proper knots and use the safety equipment. This course took about 25 minutes total and once I passed the belay certification course, I had to hide my excitement from my instructor. I was certified in something cool! This was momentarily thrilling. Whenever I had questions afterwards when I was the belay for my daughter, there was staff to help me out.
If you’ve never climbed before, projectROCK offers an intro class for beginners, which consists of all the gear you need, a belay class, and as much time as you want climbing. We’ll get to memberships in a bit. Once you take that class, you’re good to go for climbing!
projectROCK Easley
Day Passes allow you to climb for the day. You can even climb, go get lunch nearby (we recommend Tropical Burger in Easley), and then come back and climb the rest of the day. An individual day pass with gear is $30 and $21 without gear. A youth pass is a little cheaper at $18 without gear and $27 with gear.
Kids need to be at least five years old to climb and they can do so for just $10/day pass in the American Valley room, which is a super cute room with American monuments like the Golden Gate Bridge, Mt. Rushmore, and the Statue of Liberty. This room is great for smaller kids since they just have to clip themselves to the climbing apparatus and no ropes are necessary.
Bouldering and the Big Walls
ProjectROCK offers several options for climbing no matter your ability or adventure level.
You can climb in the bouldering room, which has different routes for different abilities (I was definitely on the lower end of climbing these!) and the floor is padded. These structures aren’t that high because you’re climbing without ropes here.
Look at me climbing!
If you want to climb the big walls, you can do so after you take the belay course and get your gear. There are more than 100 climbing lanes, 18,000+ holds, and 200+ routes at projectROCK. Having never been in a climbing gym before, it was quite the sight to behold. My kids were ecstatic as well. There is just so much to see and do.
Competitive and Rec Climbing
If you’re a competitive climber, projectROCK offers both a competitive and semi-competitive league that meets regularly. The Competitive team is for kids who have competed in the past and are looking to build on their skills and compete on a local and regional level. The Semi-Competitive team is more for those new to climbing and interested in competition. Both of these teams are for ages 7-17 years old.
The Competitive team costs $190 per four-week session and includes:
Membership and gear during the 4-week session
Team Member parents get 50% off a Belay Class
2 Climbing Team Shirts
Discounted rate for Private Coaching Session for team (ask coach)
10% discount in Pro Shop as members
Bring a Buddy Day (1 time per every 2 months as announced per coach)
Parents and siblings receive family membership pricing for their climbing memberships.
The Semi-Competitive league costs $150 per four-week session and includes everything that the Competitive league does. Competition costs are extra. The Competitive and Semi-Competitive league meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 5-7 pm.
American Valley at projectROCK Easley
The Recreation league is for ages 7-16 years old and meets weekly and is a lot more laid back than the Competitive league but just as fun. Kids will learn the basics of climbing and safety from coaches. This league meets on Wednesdays from 5-7 pm or Saturdays at 10 am. The cost for the Recreation league is $100 per 4-week session on weekdays or $150 per 4-week session on weekends and includes:
Discounted Membership Rate Available
Club Member Parents get 50% off Belay Class
10% discount in Pro Shop as members
Discounted rate for Private Coaching Session for team (ask coach)
Bring a Buddy Day (1 time per every 2 months as announced per coach)
Parents and siblings receive family membership pricing for their climbing memberships.
Special Climbing Events: Homeschool Days, Full Moon Climbs, Community Nights
There’s a lot happening at projectROCK and you’re bound to find something engaging for your family.
ProjectROCK has Homeschool Days a couple times a month where kids can climb for two hours for $20 per child. That includes all gear and the belay. You can watch your kids from the beautiful balcony that overlooks the tall climbing walls area. If you have a smaller child, they can climb for just $10 (includes gear) in the American Valley room during Homeschool Days.
ProjectROCK also hosts members-only events like the Full Moon Climb where the gym opens only for members at 10:30 pm and they get to climb in the dark with a headlamp. How cool does that sound?!
If you bookmark the Activities page on the projectROCK website, you can stay updated with the latest happenings.
Birthday Parties and Camps
As soon as I walked into projectROCK, I thought it would be such a cool place to host a birthday party. My kids agreed and have already planned out that they want their birthday party in 2024 at projectROCK.
The gym has a dedicated birthday party room right next to the American Valley climbing room (and a restroom, yay!). Birthday party packages start at $150 for members and $275 for non-members for up to ten climbers for two hours with two guides.
ProjectROCK will also have camps for kids but they have not yet released those details. As soon as they do, we will update our story and add them to our Summer Camp Guide.
Memberships
Like many cool places that you may want to visit again and again, projectROCK offers membership options so you can enjoy lots of climbing. Individual monthly memberships are $70/month for auto pay. They do not include gear, which you can rent for $9. Or you can purchase gear at some point if you really want to make a habit of indoor rock climbing.
ProjectROCK also offers day passes for $30/person, including gear. Or you can go bouldering without gear for a $21 day pass. Day passes for the American Valley climbing room are just $10. That room is perfect for smaller kids as it is auto belay and has shorter walls.
If you’re not sure what you want to do in the long run, you can save a little money by getting a six-visit multi-day pass for $162/with gear. Other passes are available as well. The climbing gym tries to make it easy to climb when you want but not commit to anything long term if you’re not sure what you want to do yet.
Honest Mom Review
Having never gone indoor rock climbing before, this was a real treat. My youngest daughter is totally fearless and couldn’t wait to get climbing so it was right up her alley. She went straight for the big walls once I got my belay certification and we were cleared to climb. It was a lot of fun.
Let me say that the staff was amazing. Again, having never done this before, I didn’t know what to expect and was a little nervous once I saw those climbing walls rising very high up. I’m adventurous but was still a bit apprehensive. Every single staff member was polite and helpful and encouraging. They never made me feel inferior for not knowing what in the world I was doing. You could tell they wanted their guests to have a great time and really enjoy the sport.
Big climbing walls at projectROCK
When I was belaying my daughter on the high walls, a staff member told me he could belay me while I climbed. I was psyched to do so! I chose a route that wasn’t that hard to get some confidence and didn’t do that bad. It was really high up there but oh-so-fun. I appreciated the time he took to make sure I got to have just as much fun as my daughter was.
I would definitely go back to projectROCK (and likely will just due to the persistence of my kids) and learn how to climb more of those walls. I’d love to be able to really get my confidence up to tackle some of the tougher routes!
ProjectROCK Easley is open daily Monday-Friday from 3-10 pm, Saturday 10 am – 10 pm, and Sunday from Noon-8 pm.
If you live in Pickens or Easley, holiday things to do are abundant! There are holiday events, places to see Santa, tree lightings, lots of Christmas parades, shopping events, and much more all happening right in Pickens County. Celebrate the season with some of these Christmas things to do in Easley and Pickens County for the whole family.
Looking for things to do in Easley, SC? Or a new a place to explore? Don’t want to travel too far? We’ve got recommendations no matter your preference when it comes to adventure near Easley.
The town of Easley is just 15 minutes from downtown Greenville, and if you haven’t made time to explore this cute little town, here’s your chance. We’ve separated the recommendations by season, with plans to update them as new and exciting things get completed around town.
If you are looking for biking, walking, and running all in one place, then you have to try out the Doodle Trail! Easley, SC decided to pave a route out of an old train track path, located in Pickens County, while also adding a park for kids to enjoy. If you love exploring Greenville’s Swamp Rabbit Trail or The Mary Black Rail Trail in Spartanburg, you’ll want to check out the Doodle Trail.
