Stevens Creek/Modoc Trail, Augusta (Modoc), South Carolina

Getting There
From Augusta/I-20, head north on Hwy. 28 to Modoc. Turn left on Hwy. 23, and the trailhead will be on your left in about 1.3 miles.

The Route
No intensive route-finding required here! This trail is a simple out-and-back, about 6-6.5 miles in each direction.

All About the Trail
Known by two names, the Modoc/Stevens Creek trail is classic Sumter National Forest singletrack! After spending two intensive days and covering over 60 miles of trail, I began to recognize some general themes from the singletrack trails in Sumter National Forest. Stevens Creek embodies most of them.

The trail could be considered intermediate at the hardest. While it is decently long, the trail is technically very easy, save for a few stream crossings. The stream crossings are many, and tend to break up what may have been a generally monotonous trail. Well, not monotonous, but after riding 60 miles of leafy singletrack, everything started to look about the same. I’m sure these trails are a heck of a lot more fun to ride in the summer time, when the leaves are ridden in and the dirt is tacky and fast.

What makes this trail so easy and so fun at the same time is that it does not lose or gain much altitude along its length. Instead, it contours along the hillside, maintaining roughly the same elevation above the creek. The turns follow the hills, and the singletrack is beautifully bench-cut. There are many stream crossings, but all but one of the serious ones and many of the small ones are spanned by well-built bridges.  Most of the trails in the Sumter National Forest area provide that “out there” feeling, and Stevens Creek is no exception!

Bottom line: beautiful singletrack above a beautiful creek, deep in the woods of a national forest. It’s a win!

Nearby Trails:
Turkey Creek, Augusta (Plum Branch), South Carolina
Wine Creek, Augusta (Plum Branch), South Carolina
FATS (Forks Area Trail System), Augusta, South Carolina