Frequently Asked Questions

The Saluda Grade is a planned rail trail following the unused Saluda Grade rail line for approximately 31.5 miles through Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. The planned trail passes through downtown Inman, Gramling, Campobello, Landrum, Tryon, and Saluda as well as the picturesque Piedmont countryside, the Pacolet River gorge with its plunging waterfalls, and the spectacular scenery around the Green River.

Converting this inactive rail line into a vibrant trail corridor will have numerous benefits for local communities. It will expand access to outdoor recreation, leading to a wide range of health benefits. It will also serve as an economic engine to attract tourists, strengthen local businesses, and grow the local tax base. It will make our communities better places to live, with more economic opportunity and more ways to explore the beautiful countryside and charming small towns. 

The planned rail trail will run from Inman, SC to Zirconia, NC. The route spans 31.5 miles, including approximately 15.5 miles in South Carolina and 16 miles in North Carolina.

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The Saluda Grade Railroad was built in the 1870s and operated for over a century. It holds a special place in history as the steepest standard-gauge mainline railroad in the United States. To link Spartanburg and Asheville, trains crossed the dramatic Blue Ridge Escarpment with its treacherous grade (as high as 5%). The line was owned and operated by Norfolk Southern from 1982 until June 2025 when the Saluda Grade Trails Conservancy purchased it for a rail trail. The last trains ran on this line in 2001.

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While the Saluda Grade rail line is famously steep, the dramatic grade is only in a small section of the line where it crosses from the Piedmont to the mountains. Much of the route is level or moderate in its grade.

The Saluda Grade Trail will be created through a federal “railbanking” program that converts an inactive rail corridor to a trail until the route is needed again for rail transportation. Although it is possible that the route could be used as a rail line again, it has been inactive for over 20 years and the rails are inoperable. Norfolk Southern Railroad sold the corridor for a rail trail in June 2025 and there are no plans to use this line for trains in the foreseeable future. 

Many unused rail lines across the United States have found new life as popular rail trails, bringing vitality to rural communities. In the Southeast, some beloved rail trails include the 22-mile Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail and the 34-mile Virginia Creeper Trail. In addition, the much-anticipated 19-mile Ecusta Trail will link Hendersonville to Brevard. 

We envision the Saluda Grade as a multiuse path that will beckon people outdoors for walking, running, biking, adaptive mobility, and other compatible modes of recreation and travel. The exact activities allowed on the trail will be determined by the organizations or government bodies managing the trail. It may be possible to include an equestrian path in the design, depending on public input and available funding. While some of the line is not financially feasible to return to rail service, there is interest in the possibility of creating a tourist rail line alongside the trail on a portion of the route.

There is potential for future connector trails that would link the Saluda Grade to other major regional trail systems, forming a regional network that includes the Ecusta Trail, Hellbender Trail system, Palmetto Trail, Swamp Rabbit Trail, and The Daniel Morgan Trail System in Spartanburg.

We don’t yet have answers to detailed questions about trail design. We will work closely with towns and counties along the route and seek public input in order to design the best possible trail for our communities. 

This graphic shows the timeline for a rail-trail project. In securing the right-of-way (ROW) as of June 2025, we have completed just the first step. The next step in the process is design. However, as part of an extensive planning study, we did gather detailed information on various trail design options. You can access the full study here and a summary of the results here. 

The Saluda Grade Trail can strengthen our local economies in many ways, from the jobs involved in trail construction to the businesses that will flourish along the route.  

An economic impact study completed in 2024 found that during the construction phase, there would be a major boost to the local economy, including a $43.5 million increase in goods and services annually. During this phase, compensation to workers due to the trail would total $62-81 million. 

The study found that the total economic impact during the first twelve years (a two-year construction period plus the first 10 years of trail use) would amount to $20 million annually. That’s a $240 million benefit in the first twelve years alone and the trail will continue to benefit our communities far into the future.  

Even before the trail is built, employers have chosen to locate their business along the Saluda Grade corridor. Among them, a leading manufacturer of bike parts chose to locate a multimillion dollar factory in Spartanburg and cited the proximity to the Saluda Grade Trail as a major deciding factor.   

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Rail trails have a powerful track record as drivers of economic growth for small towns and rural communities. For example, the Virginia Creeper Trail attracts 112,000 out-of-town visitors every year and 54,000 of those visitors spend at least one night. The Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville County, SC, saw 530,000 visitors in 2014, of whom almost a quarter came from outside the Upstate Area.

Trails are safe and appealing places for walking, running, biking, adaptive mobility, and playing outdoors. Trails are especially helpful in increasing physical activity in rural areas with fewer parks or sidewalks and among groups at higher risk of inactivity. Exercise—especially in nature—also has a positive effect on mental and emotional wellbeing. In fact, one study showed that every $1 spent on greenways leads to $3 in health care savings!

This 31.5-mile linear park would help connect protected natural areas, such as the Greenville Watershed, Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve, Green River Game Lands, Norman Wilder Forest, Melrose Falls, and Pearsons Falls. It would create an unbroken migration corridor supporting birds and other wildlife. People can also use the trail for alternative transportation, meaning less traffic, cleaner air, and climate benefits. And they can connect with nature, which leads to a stronger personal ethic of environmental stewardship. 

Rail trails provide a desirable amenity for nearby properties, with correlated increase in property values. The National Association of Realtors states, “living near trails and greenways will likely raise your property value an average of 3-5%.”

There is no evidence that rail trails increase crime. Numerous studies have shown that rail trails do not make any measurable difference in public safety. A 2021 report by the U.S. Department of Transportation states, “[I]n general, trails are unlikely to experience security and safety issues significantly different from the surrounding area.”  

In fact, trails often reduce the opportunity for crime, compared to a vacant rail corridor. When you legitimize the use of the corridor, illegitimate use decreases. 

A 2021 article on the local impacts of the Swamp Rabbit Trail confirms that most incidents along that trail are minor. The article quotes police officer, Mike Jenkins: “Generally, what you see are people who are out walking, bicycling, jogging, pushing strollers and sight-seeing. My question to you is whether they would be more likely to increase crime or deter it... You have witnesses and reporters everywhere.”