Paris Mountain State Park will soon grow by 65 acres and get a new entrance, thanks to local and state funding finalized Dec. 18.
The Greenville County Historic and Natural Resources Trust board approved $500,000 toward the purchase of two parcels during the board’s Dec. 16 meeting.
The South Carolina Conservation Bank board followed two days later in approving $2.4 million toward the purchase of land that will enlarge the park to a total of almost 1,900 acres.
The expansion plan was publicly announced Nov. 18 during a Greenville County Council finance committee meeting.
The two parcels, one 56.4 acres and the other 9 acres, border the northeast edge of the state park. The larger parcel has frontage on State Park Road. The parcels include a home and a two-acre lake. Ownership would be transferred in 2025 to the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, which operates all state parks.
The new property would expand the existing trail network and add another access point with parking.
Read more about Paris Mountain State Park
Of the $2.4 million committed to the purchase by the state Conservation Bank, the bank anticipates being reimbursed $1 million through a federal grant from the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund, according to bank director Raleigh West.
The number of visitors to Paris Mountain State Park has more than quadrupled since the pandemic, and this would be the second major expansion to the park in the past years.
