A strip of old railroad land on northern Johns Island is one vote away from public money for a walking and biking trail.
Charleston County Council’s Finance Committee on Nov. 5 approved a Lowcountry Land Trust request for $1.05 million in Greenbelt money for the proposed Tupelo Trail, according to the county’s Greenbelt Program. Council will consider final approval Nov. 10, the program said.
The project covers 22.82 acres. The land lies between Humbert Road and Old Pond Road and includes a former CSX rail right-of-way that crosses Main Road and connects with the future Simmons Creek County Park, WCSC Live 5 reported.
“The intent of this is to really create a corridor project where residents can get to walk or bike and connect to these green spaces from their neighborhoods and commercial hubs without hopping in their car to visit these places and help reduce traffic,” Christopher Dubuque, deputy director of the Greenbelt Program, told the station.
The Simmons Creek property is 66 acres and was protected in 2025, according to the Lowcountry Land Trust, which lists it as a future county park managed by the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission.
The county lists the Tupelo Trail as a fee-simple acquisition, meaning full ownership, and marks it “Reimbursement” without explaining the term. Live 5 reported that the trust would buy the land; it’s unclear whether the trust has already done so. The county’s list doesn’t give the land’s total cost. Neither the list nor Live 5’s report gave a cost or timeline for building the trail.
The request is the third-largest of nine that the Finance Committee approved, behind the $10 million Avocet Tract in Adams Run and the $3.07 million Dungannon-Hanahan tract in Hollywood, the county’s list shows.
Two other Johns Island requests are in the same group. The Lowcountry Land Trust is seeking $106,500 for a conservation easement on the 10.76-acre Buncomb Property, and the Conservancy of the Sea Islands is seeking $584,150 to buy 3.33 acres for a field station, a request approved with a condition. With the Tupelo Trail, the three total $1.74 million, the list shows.
