COLUMBIA, S.C. — If you enjoy kayaking, canoeing on the Saluda River in Columbia, your trip out to the water will now be a whole lot easier.
The Columbia Parks and Recreation Department opened a new entry access point on the Saluda Riverwalk just off I-126 in Columbia.
"Today is the commitment we made when we put in the boardwalk to make an access point on the river. It’s taken us a couple years to get it all done but I think that we have kept our promise of giving a very good access point for people that use the Saluda River for activities,” Columbia Council Member Edward McDowell said.
The new access point is connected to the current River Walk trail and will give less experienced river users an easier path onto the river.
“If you’ve been here before you climbed over a bunch of boulders to try and get into the river and tube and access and now we have access that’s easy for everybody to get into the river. Not only folks that are here that are tubing or kayaking through a guide services but the general public having much more access to the river and that’s what we want,” Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann said
From planning, to budget, to construction, this project took over ten years from start to finish, but is now open and ready for those to take full advantage of.
Mayor Rickenmann says that there are three more access points in the works right now.