Upstate Greenways and Trails Alliance is building a cyclist- and pedestrian-friendly future
Greenville has the bronze. So do Columbia, Rock Hill, Spartanburg, and Myrtle Beach. Our state is in pretty good company at that level, with towns like Asheville and Savannah also rated bronze by the League of American Bicyclists among its selection of Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFCs).
But can Greenville snag the silver, sharing the podium with similar-sized cities like Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Bozeman, Montana? The gold, like Bloomington, Indiana, and Palo Alto, California? Or even the platinum, like ultra-BFC Madison, Wisconsin?
“I think anything’s possible,” says Matthew Hudson-Flege, executive director of the Upstate Greenways and Trails Alliance (UGATA), which seeks to rapidly expand and improve the greenways and trails network of Upstate South Carolina. “We’re builders and doers, so instead of just talking about more trails, we literally and figuratively get our hands dirty to make them happen.”
Since its founding in 2019, UGATA has had its hands in nearly 30 projects in Greenville County, planning and creating new trails for pedestrians and cyclists and enhancing resources like the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail. By 2030, the nonprofit aims to have added over 100 miles to the county’s existing trail network.
“We realized that there was a desire and need for more greenways like the Swamp Rabbit Trail, to go more places in our community,” says Mary Beth Galbreath, who co-founded UGATA with her husband, Nathan Galbreath. “A lot of people supported that, but nobody was focused on it. We wanted to make an alliance bringing all that positive energy and demand together and set toward the work of getting those things built.”
UGATA has found its niche in identifying projects that have a good chance of being constructed, then doing the “behind the scenes, sometimes not-so-pretty work” of getting them shovel-ready, reports Mary Beth: securing access, starting the design process, estimating costs, and raising funds through government grants and public-private partnerships. Three full-time trail builders on staff advance projects further, doing the groundwork of flagging and clearing rough soft-surface trails that can be finished with paving materials.
Related: Trail Running in the Carolinas: Best Parks, Tips, and Beginner Routes
Upstate Greenways and Trails Alliance impact
The nonprofit’s impact is evident throughout the Upstate, starting with the Orange Line extension to the Swamp Rabbit Trail in 2019. Its work has been instrumental in connecting Greenville’s Nicholtown community to the trail, replacing a bridge in Cleveland Park, and creating trails in Spartanburg, Anderson, and Pickens counties. Many of the projects are pieces of an overarching goal: a contiguous trail traversing Greenville County, connecting Travelers Rest in the north to Fountain Inn 30 miles south. In 2025, UGATA raised or leveraged more than $14 million for trails and greenways in the Upstate.
Where greenways go, revitalization often follows, as it did when the Swamp Rabbit Trail reached Travelers Rest. And although recreational use of the trail catalyzed that success, UGATA has more in mind.
“We are working to move the needle to build an actual network of infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists to be able to do daily things like commuting and shopping,” Mary Beth says. “That’s obviously doing a lot of things, like keeping cars off the road, lessening congestion in parking lots, and improving health.”
One hundred new miles of trail within 10 years may seem aspirational, but, as Hudson-Flege likes to say, anything’s possible.
“What it will take is a sort of change in culture and priorities,” he says. “In South Carolina, public right of way is seen as roads for cars, and it’s all about vehicle traffic. The more people that are able to walk and ride their bikes to get around, the more you’re building momentum for that culture. We’re far off from there, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
Golden Goals
Currently, UGATA is working with Seamon Whiteside Engineering to design and permit a 3.5-mile multi-use trail to connect Simpsonville’s Heritage Park to the existing Swamp Rabbit Trail spur in Fountain Inn. This trail will provide bike and pedestrian connectivity for Bryson Elementary, Fountain Inn High School, and several surrounding neighborhoods. The long-term goal: connecting all the municipalities of the Golden Strip.
