Persimmon Trail

Dogs Unknown

Features Fall Colors · Lake

Trail runners will want to park at the Seven Oaks Preserve trailhead down the road and include the Persimmon Trail in their run.
carolinathreadtrailmap.org/…

The Persimmon Trail is on the grounds of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, but is accessible from the parking lot without the need to enter the visitor's pavilion. This means that you might not be asked to pay the entrance fee for the Garden, though I recommended it, since the Botanical Garden is a lovely place.

The half-mile loop descends through the forest, turns right and crosses a stream over a small bridge. Turn left at the sign for the Carolina Thread Trail connector and go along the hillside. At the top of a rise, you reach a pond, where a sign explains the Botanical Garden's geothermal heating and cooling system. Turn left away from the pond and enter the forest again, going downhill until you meet the entrance trail again and turn right.

There are two connectors to the Carolina Thread Trail, in fact. Cross the parking lot and the entrance road to find another trail that offers the opportunity to make a larger loop around the Botanical Garden grounds.

Find a map here: dsbg.org/wp-content/uploads…, or ask at the Visitors Pavilion.

A number of signs point out local flora along the trail, including the eponymous Persimmon tree (Diospyros virginiana)