recreation
sumter offers Numerous recreational opportunities
w BY RICK CARPENTER If you’re looking for outdoor recreational opportunities in Sumter, your choices are numerous. From mountain biking to tennis to aquatics, Sumter has it all. And even if you just want to hike, you don’t have to go far to enjoy the great outdoors. Dillon Park, just north of U.S. 76 off Wise Drive, offers a variety of outdoor exercise and recreation opportunities including disc golf, both hard and soft surface jogging trails as well as a soft-surface track, softball and soccer fields, a playground and many other options. The soft-surface jogging trail, found at the northwest corner of the park, can double as a hiking or mountain bike trail that covers about six miles and loops back to the park. If you’re a serious mountain biker, Poinsett State Park, at 6660 14 |
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Poinsett Park Road in Wedgewood, offers a series of trails designed for whatever your experience level might be. And if you’re a road biker, the Sumter Chain Gang offers group rides on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from about April through September. The group usually meets at Dillon Park or Alice Drive Baptist Church, 1305 Loring Mill Road. The group has a closed Facebook site where rides are announced, but people new to the community can request information and one of the riders will contact you. The Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter represents one of the city’s crown jewels. At its 400 Theatre Drive location, it offers 24 hardsurface courts and is free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 9 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call the tennis center at (803) 774-3969 or email palmettotennis@sumter-sc.com.