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South Carolina trails · Foothills Trail

Foothills Trail

A 5.6-mile out-and-back in South Carolina, with 1,012 ft of climbing. Reaches Emory Gap and other pass/summit/viewpoint destinations.

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Length
5.6 mi
Elevation gain
1,012 ft
Difficulty
Hard
Max grade
25%
Steepest mile
+594 ft
Tread at ≥10% grade
2.1 mi
Shape
out-and-back
Surface
Dirt

Elevation profile

2,476 – 3,489 ft12345

The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 881 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

3-D terrain view of Foothills Trail

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Getting there

Foothills Trail access — parking nearby. About 1 h 11 min drive (40 mi) from Clemson. 35.06445, -82.77592 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 7:10 a.m., the sun rises at 7:36 a.m. and sets at 6:57 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:23 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 22 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 11.2-mile round trip takes roughly 5 h 09 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:45 p.m. — 6 h 12 min before sunset.

Nearby trails