Wannamaker North Trail

I love that I can rate a trail on Unilocal– what a great way to help others who are new in town, visiting, or just looking for somewhere to run, find a good place :).
If you’re training for a trail run, Wannamaker North is the place to go for race-​specific training. The entire trail is close to 7 miles if you run the whole thing, so it’s quite the workout. It’s pretty technical and even has a few hills (not real hills, but about as hilly as you will get in Charleston). There is a box where you drop $ 1 before you use the trails and you are on the honor system.
My only gripe is that the trail is always closed. Some of us have wanted to run it again, but there’s really no way to know if it’s open or not without making the drive. One of my friends lives nearby and keeps us updated on the status. Also, I would not recommend going alone because there are lots of twists, turns, or you could fall. If you do go alone, definitely take your phone and let someone know where you’re going just in case!

Very fun trail in goose creek, SC. It’s pretty rooty, so having a FS is definitley needed. I would recommend going in the evening time during the summer. It gets very hot and sticky in the low country. The north trail has 4 different trails to ride all ranging from beginner to advanced riders. The red trail is my favorite because of the ridge section. I had to take it a little slow the first time to get the gist of it. The second time through was a lot of fun and fast! After an hour and a half of riding in 104 degrees, I decided to find and ride the orange route in the back of the trail. Probably not the best idea as I was already exhausted. Still, I made it through (barely). The orange trail is mostly flat with a couple of intermittent jumps. It’s also full of Mosquitos and horseflies. So make sure you bring some «Off» bug spray. All in all, very fun trail and a great workout that’ll keep you alert.
P. s. I recommend buying some bike shorts/​underwear with good padding so your «junk» doesn’t get beat up. Just sayin…

Nobody thinks Goose Creek when it comes for various needs in life in the Chas. Sc. area. This trail is probably the easiest to get too with plenty of free parking. Some quality restaurants in the area. Not to mention my clients can buy a 4 br house under 200k with 900 a year in tax’s.
It’s not all about Mt P and Daniel Island !! Visit and see the rest of Chas. Sc tri cty area.

My husband and I had no idea what we were getting into but we had so much fun! Our plan was to go on a nice bike ride and enjoy the weather. We wanted to try a new place and chose Wannamaker North Trail. Wow were we surprised at the narrow path, roots, small very manageable hills and curves, trees in your face all of a sudden. It was amazing! We had so much fun we’ve already planned to find a similar trail for next weekend!

Hands down best single track trail in the Charleston area. For an avid trail runner, this trail has it all, except elevation of course. It’s around an 8-​mile loop with some rad rolling jumps/​technical area to keep you alert. Best time to go, after October when it cools down and the bugs don’t devour you. A big THANK YOU to the County and the builders for providing such a great venue to use, abuse, and ultimately put a smile on our faces.

The North Trail is a good 7 – 8 mile loop with a moderately rated «ridge section». The trail itself is a good mix of technical and flat speedy areas, but the majority is on the tech side. The roots here will absolutely destroy any momentum you have going, except for a handful of areas that I could count, so it’s a constant dodge (of either trees or roots). The trail is tight, many times bar-​hitting-​tree-​tight, and can get pretty narrow up on the ridge, and if you aren’t careful you could be taking a dip in the creek back there! Overall, the trail is laid out nicely, there are a handful of small jumps that can be hit for some trail pumping, but most of them are just «conveniently» placed where you are having to power up them to get out of a creek or uphill, so no real chance for speed there.
There are plenty of markers that keep you on track, as well as numerous exit signs (possibly every mile stretch) that let you bow out and let you go home and cry to mama, your GF that loves you, or your baby sister that can ride better than you. (Really, it’s not that bad.)
The trail is situated on the back side of Wannamaker County Park, but the trail head is off of Westview Blvd, from Goose Creek, so you have to drive around from the entrance of Wannamaker Park (as I do not think there is a way to cut through Wannamaker to the trail head).

I love the Wannamaker North Trail… when it’s open.
It is downright awesome and one may say essential to have this beauty of a trail within the greater Charleston area. The trail itself is an 8 mile loop with undulating ups and downs, a ridge portion, and beautiful scenery as it winds its way through towering oak trees. The trail is very well maintained and clearly a labor of love brought into this world by its founders.
As such, the trail is pretty tightly regulated and thus shut down fairly regularly whenever it rains. This can be frustrating when one plans on getting in some trail miles (which is difficult to do in the Lowcountry!) only to find that the trail has been benched for the day. However, this is a necessary evil in order to keep the trail in tip top shape for all to enjoy! Also, it seems as though the website is religiously updated to let the public know if and when the trail is closed (thank you for that!).
I cannot speak to the mountain biking here as I have yet to lug my bike up to Goose Creek, but I can say that the trail running afforded by the Wannamaker North is pretty solid. Clearly, 8 miles is a very respectable loop and great when hoping to avoid the tedium of point to point runs. Furthermore, there are plenty of exit points along the trail should you prefer to complete a run (or bike ride) totaling a distance that is not a clean multiple of 8. The ridge portion is probably the most challenging part of the trail, but overall the trail offers a largely flat (though with gentle ups and downs) terrain.
It is great to see the county holding more and more events here to showcase how great of a trail it is!
Don’t forget – there is a $ 1 admission fee (which is a steal!) that’s done on the honor system (ie, drop your dollar in a box by the gate) unless you have a Gold Pass (which gets you in for free!).
Even if you have to cough up $ 1, this trail is worth it!