In July, one longtime Anderson resident told WSPA that she walks the new trail behind Linley Park four to five times a week. She called it "clean," "well set up" and "close to home." She was walking it months before it was officially open. The City of Anderson set the ribbon cutting for Saturday, Oct. 24, as the starting line for a one-mile Halloween fun run that went from the Anderson Recreation Center at 1107 N. Murray Ave. to the first Electric City Food Truck Festival at Linley Park, 1815 Park Dr.
The city's event page calls it the "new community trail." City Council documents use a longer name, the Whitner Creek Greenway, and that name explains where the path is going. The trail is the first built piece of a creekside route through the west side of the city, and the next piece already has a designer, a budget and a likely downtown street.
What the Ribbon Made Official
The city's January 2026 council packet breaks the greenway into segments. Construction was finished through Linley Park from Boundary Street on the north down to Mauldin Street. A second segment, from Mauldin Street to the Recreation Center at Piedmont Avenue, was under construction then. By July, WSPA was reporting that the extension through the wetlands to the Recreation Center was finished and in use.
| Segment | Endpoints | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Linley Park | Boundary Street to Mauldin Street | Complete |
| Wetlands extension | Mauldin Street to the Recreation Center at Piedmont Avenue | Built; ribbon cutting set for Oct. 24, 2026 |
| Downtown extension | Bleckley Street along Whitner Creek to Tribble Street, then downtown | In design |
Together, the two finished segments make up what the council packet called the "soon-to-be 1.5-mile section" of the greenway. The Recreation Center's posted schedule covers the building, not the trail: 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Why the Path Follows the Creek
The full Whitner Creek Greenway is planned to run 2.6 miles along the creek. When it's done, it will tie together five public places, from north to south:
- Linley Park
- The Anderson Recreation Center
- Bea Thompson Park
- The Westside Community Center
- Southwood Park
The creek runs where it does for geographic reasons, and that gives the city a corridor already in place. In a July interview with WSPA, Mayor Terence Roberts said building in town is harder than building on an old rail line: "You got to navigate streets and homes as opposed if it's in a rural setting on a railroad track." He added, "Nothing is parallel to the railroad track, so it's a little more challenging to do an urban bike/pedestrian trail." A creek gives a city trail what an abandoned railbed gives a rural one: a continuous strip of land that streets and homes mostly don't cross.
The city also put money into the creek itself. The Linley Park renovation restored 1,400 feet of Whitner Creek, along with the park's new facilities.
What's at the North End Now
Linley Park is the greenway's most developed stop, and it reopened in its current form on June 27, 2025, WSPA reported. The city's project page puts the renovation at $13.4 million, paid for with federal grants and reinvested Hospitality Tax revenue. The park now has:
- An all-abilities playground with rubberized surfacing and built-in shade
- A 1,200-square-foot pavilion
- Two restroom buildings
- Parking, pedestrian crosswalks and a roundabout
The road beside the park has changed too. The Anderson Observer described a road diet that narrows the four-lane road along Linley Park to two travel lanes with turn lanes. One of the freed lanes becomes a protected path for walkers, cyclists and parents with strollers, running from Bleckley to Clemson Boulevard near Harbor Freight. As of the Observer's June report, crews were still working overnight, and the bike and pedestrian lanes were already in use before the project was formally finished.
Bleckley Street also marks the south side of the Recreation Center, and that's where the next greenway segment is designed to begin.
The Downtown Piece Has a Designer and a Likely Street
In August 2025, the city advertised for firms to design the greenway's next stretch. That stretch runs from the south side of the Recreation Center at Bleckley Street, along Whitner Creek to Tribble Street, and then into downtown Anderson. It also includes safety improvements at the Tribble Street and Murray Avenue intersection. Eight firms sent proposals, and city staff picked Bolton & Menk. According to the minutes of its January 2026 meeting, City Council voted 8-0 to approve the design and construction administration contract, and a Bolton & Menk representative told council the firm planned to finish plans by the end of the year.
Staff also asked the firm to price a second job. The route would most likely reach downtown by way of Orr Street, which the council packet calls "one of the few remaining unimproved streets in Downtown Anderson." So staff requested a redesign of Orr Street's sidewalks and right-of-way from Textile Point across Main Street to McDuffie Street.
| Design work | Not-to-exceed fee |
|---|---|
| Whitner Creek Greenway extension | $222,300 |
| Orr Street streetscape | $161,700 |
| Total | $384,000 |
The money comes from the city's Hospitality Fund. Pairing the greenway with the Orr Street streetscape tells you how the city plans to finish it. The off-street trail is meant to arrive at a rebuilt downtown street rather than end at a curb. Assistant City Manager Andrew Strickland described the goal to WSPA in April:
"You could really get it, park downtown, and go from downtown to the rec center to Linley Park. Or, vice versa without ever having to step foot on the road."
Strickland also said then that the city would hold two public meetings to present route alternatives. One downtown employee told WSPA he hoped the trail would come down Earle Street, where an existing sidewalk already leads toward a bridge. No final downtown alignment has been announced. In July, city officials told WSPA the next phase is expected to start sometime in 2027.
Where the Greenway Fits in a 15-Mile Loop
The Whitner Creek Greenway is the western leg of a much larger plan. The East-West Parkway multi-use path forms the northern leg of what the city describes as a roughly 15-mile loop around the city limits. The idea goes back to Anderson's 2014 Bicycle and Pedestrian Connectivity Plan and its 2017 Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
As of August 2026, the city's transportation page lists three trail projects as funded and moving toward construction: East-West Parkway Extension 1 to the AnMed Health campus, East-West Parkway Extension 2 to the Civic Center, and the Whitner Creek Greenway. The page gives no construction dates for any of them. In the same July WSPA report, the mayor said the city wants to connect the trail to the Anderson Civic Center as part of that loop.
Seen against that plan, the 1.5 miles behind Linley Park is the first fully walkable sample of the west side's leg. Like the finished part, the rest of the greenway is planned to run off the road and along Whitner Creek, linking the parks and community centers on its route.
Two More Stops Toward Downtown
While the downtown connection is still being designed, two nearby city projects are worth a visit. At Cater's Lake, the city's 100-year-old lakeside park, the lake has been dredged back to its proper depth, the stormwater controls have been redesigned and a new ornamental bridge has gone in. The Anderson Observer reported that a small wildlife habitat by the water picked up the name "Goose Island" after a local elementary student suggested it. A cut-through street there is now a cul-de-sac.
Downtown, at the end the greenway is aiming for, the city's Ice in the Park rink opens at Carolina Wren Park, 111 E. Whitner St., on Nov. 30 and runs through Jan. 3. It is closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
If you'd like to know how a project like the Whitner Creek Greenway affects the homes along its route, from the Linley Park end to the Orr Street blocks it is designed to reach, Philip Kalchthaler keeps up with these city plans as they move from council packets to construction and will walk you through what they mean for a specific property. Reach Out Today.
