Six Mile's Bryson Children's Nature Walk Opens Nov. 5. The Boardwalk Is Ready Before the Rest of It.

A boardwalk now crosses the pond on the 63 acres behind the Bryson sign at 565 N. Main St. The site holds a network of beaver ponds and the headwaters of Six Mile Creek, and according to Upstate Forever's 2023 announcement, the Town of Six Mile owns and manages the land. Mayor James Atkinson described the tract in an Upstate Forever magazine essay. It sits next to Six Mile Elementary School, borders SC Highway 137, includes wetlands, and looks out toward Six Mile Mountain.

The public opening is a week from today. The Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting a ribbon cutting at the Bryson Children's Nature Walk on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 11 a.m. The Town asks everyone to stay away until after the ceremony because construction is still going on. The more useful detail is what kind of park opens that morning. This one is being finished as donations arrive, so part of it will still be under construction when the ribbon is cut.

What's finished, what's underway, what hasn't started

In August, the Town announced that two major pieces were complete, the boardwalk and the pond overlook. In its own words, "the project is far from finished." Here's the status as of October, from the Town's project page:

Complete

• Boardwalk
• Pond overlook

At various stages of completion

• 1.5-mile educational nature trail
• Children's vegetable gardens
• Children's Outdoor Learning Center, also called the Center for Environmental and Agricultural Education
• Parking area
• SCDOT entrance apron

Not yet begun

• Front entrance drive
• Some trail fencing for looks, safety and compliance

The same page calls Nov. 5 a tentative date, "pending completion of major site features." The Town also lists two end times for the ceremony: noon on its homepage and 1 p.m. on the project page. Plan on 11 a.m. and watch the Town's site for any change.

The pieces confirmed complete are on the walking route, the boardwalk and the pond overlook. The 1.5-mile trail leading to them is still listed as in progress. Much of what's left is the part designed for children: the gardens, the Learning Center, and the agricultural history displays the Town marks as "in process."

Why it gets built in pieces

The order comes from the funding. The Town says the whole site has been built "with grants and donations and no town funds at all." When there's no line in the town budget for a project, each feature gets built once someone has paid for it.

The land arrived well before any of the money. In his essay, Mayor Atkinson wrote that Conrad Ardell Bryson, a lifelong Six Mile resident, died in 2003 and left an estate made up mostly of this undeveloped 63-acre tract. The Bryson estate donated the land to the Town, and in 2023 it was placed under a conservation easement with Upstate Forever. Upstate Forever's announcement says the Upstate Land Conservation Fund supported the project. The easement rules out future development of the property.

After that, the building money came in small pieces. The Journal reported that Town Council voted unanimously to commit a 5% match, or $1,250, for a $25,000 grant from the Municipal Association of South Carolina's Problem Solver Impact Fund. Even that match was to come from "grant or donated funds as a Bryson-related project." In 2024, WSNW reported that donations could be made to the "Town of Six Mile FBO Bryson Children's Nature Walk," and that Upstate Forever advises the Town on grant opportunities as well as long-term management.

That's also why the schedule is long. Speaking at a March ceremony at the site, Atkinson told the Pickens County Courier, "This has been a 10-year project." The Town counts it as ten years in the making, with four of those years spent fundraising and building.

Volunteers have filled some gaps too. That March ceremony honored the late naturalist Dennis Chastain. The Journal's coverage, republished by the Town, quotes Atkinson saying Chastain and his wife Jane "spent an entire day identifying native plants on this tract," and that this work "made the educational signage possible." Chastain also made many of the plant signs and trail instruction signs along the main path.

So when you walk the trail after Nov. 5, you'll be reading signs that one couple made. The empty garden beds and the unbuilt Learning Center are the parts that haven't been paid for yet. The Town's donation page is open, and the Town says the money goes toward finishing construction and maintaining the site "for perpetuity."

The rules that set the terms of a visit

The site is a nature preserve with a trail through it, not a ballfield park like Ponderosa, and the posted rules show the difference. All of these come from the Town's trail rules:

1. Hours run from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. With days getting shorter in November, weekday evening walks will get squeezed.
2. No mountain bikes. The rules count them as motorized vehicles here, so the trail is for walking only. Horses, camping, hunting, fires and fireworks are also banned.
3. Leave the snacks in the car. The rules say not to bring food on a hike because bears have a strong sense of smell and sometimes approach hikers carrying food aggressively.
4. Cell service could be limited or nonexistent. Tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back.
5. Stay on the trail. The rules warn that cutting across switchbacks erodes the hillside.
6. Plan for ticks. Walk in the middle of the trail, use repellent, tuck your pants into your socks, and do a tick check afterward.

The rules also list who keeps an eye on the site. Upstate Forever monitors easement compliance, and the SC Department of Natural Resources and the Pickens County Sheriff's Department monitor the property as well.

Families who want to get involved can adopt a garden plot once the beds are ready, though the plots run on a calendar. Spring plots are assigned in April and winter plots in September, and children get first priority. Conservation-related businesses and organizations can ask to adopt a plot too, preferably planting native, edible or pollinator-friendly species, and they may post a sign no larger than 3 by 6 inches. This fall's assignment window closed in September, so April is the next chance.

Tonight, the walk is still closed and Main Street is open

This post comes out on the night of Trick or Treat on Main Street, Thursday, Oct. 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. Main Street closes to traffic, and local businesses, churches and organizations set up tables to hand out candy along the sidewalks. Groups that want a table can still sign up through the Town.

For the next week, while the gate on North Main stays closed, the town's gathering spots are a short way south on the same street:

• Red White & Brew Coffee Co., 102 S. Main St., in the old fire station next to Town Hall. It's open 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends, according to its site. The Town is also advertising a possible commercial rental in the space above it.
• Casa Lago Italian Kitchen, 139 S. Main St., has been open since November 2025 and posts hours of 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. It's closed Monday. Casa Lago says it was voted Best Italian Restaurant in the Pickens County Courier Reader's Choice Awards.

The ribbon cutting falls on a Thursday morning. Red White & Brew opens at 6:30 a.m. that day, and Casa Lago opens for lunch at 11:30 a.m., half an hour after the ceremony starts.

The calendar after the ribbon

The opening also lands in the middle of some town business. At its Aug. 13 meeting, Town Council approved a resolution and the first reading of an ordinance to annex into town limits the part of the Bryson site that sits outside them. A second reading was on the Sept. 10 agenda.

You can follow the work on the entrance drive, gardens and Learning Center through the Town's Bryson news feed, where the August boardwalk milestone was first posted.

When 63 acres beside Highway 137 are protected from development for good, that affects the whole area around the town, including Six Mile homes themselves. If you're curious how being close to new green space and an active downtown factors into your home's value, Thomas & Crain Real Estate is glad to talk it through. Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll show you what's driving prices on your part of Six Mile this fall.