Just about everyone has heard of Augusta, Ga., home of the Masters golf tournament.
But just across the Savannah River from Augusta is a quaint little town called North Augusta, South Carolina. (You just know there is an advertising slogan in there somewhere.)
Just on the northwestern edge of the area known as Thoroughbred Country, North Augusta was founded in 1906 in roughly the same area where the earlier towns of Campbell Town and Hamburg briefly flourished before being bypassed by progress.
One key to North Augusta's success was the Thirteenth Street/Georgia Avenue bridge across the Savannah River that provided a new route into the area.
Once home to tobacco and fur traders, the city is now known more for connection to the golf mecca across the river and its neighbor to the south, the former nuclear weapons complex known as the Savannah River Site.
But throughout the area's history, the one constant has been the river that separates South Carolina from Georgia.
The North Augusta Greeneway - named not because of the greenery you will see along the way but for former North Augusta Mayor Thomas W. Greene - runs alongside the river for several of its seven miles.
The paved recreation trail was built, in part, in an old railroad bed and is part of the South Carolina State Trails Program. There is a 180-foot bridge over S.C. Highway 230 and a 90-foot flatbed railcar donated by TTX-Hamburg Division serves as a bridge across Crystal Creek.
It is a wonderful place for day-trippers looking for a place to hike, bike or just take in some scenery. The trail is fully handicap accessible. There is plenty of parking at several locations along the trail and about midway through is Riverview Park with an activities center, soccer fields and other amenities.
North Augusta: A Little North of the Masters
