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Kings Mountain State Park will expand in York County, with nearly 600 acres surrounding the site now under conservation.
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The Open Space Institute owns 589 acres surrounding the park in northwestern York County, near Clover. The New York City nonprofit will hold the site for several years before transferring it to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Open Space Institute bought the majority of the property in June for $4.9 million, The Herald reported this summer.
Wednesday’s announcement of the park expansion continues Open Space Institute’s work to protect 50 acres around the park two years ago. Kings Mountain State Park is nearly 6,900 acres. It’s connected to the 4,000-acre Kings Mountain National Military Park.
Kings Mountain is the fifth-largest state park in South Carolina. It’s the largest of four in the Rock Hill region, alongside Andrew Jackson, Chester and Landsford Canal state parks. The additional acreage going under conservation is more than any of those other state parks have in total.
Expanding the Kings Mountain park protects the environment while also giving people a way to enjoy it, said Open Space Institute’s Chief Land Protection Officer Nate Berry.
“We are enhancing access to nature while preserving intact green corridors, wetlands and wildlife habitat in a part of the Southeast experiencing rapid growth,” Berry said.
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Kings Mountain State Park
The property is roughly 40 miles west of Charlotte. It’s also close to one of the region’s larger cities in Gastonia, North Carolina. The rural land includes forests, pastures, wetlands and streams. It will allow for hiking, fishing, paddling and wildlife viewing once incorporated into the park.
“This acquisition is a tremendous addition to Kings Mountain State Park and an important investment for the future of outdoor recreation in South Carolina,” said state tourism department Director Duane Parrish.
Most of the property was identified as a high priority conservation area by the South Carolina Conservation Bank, a group that protects natural areas in certain parts of the state to offset road or other construction that has environmental impact elsewhere.
Kings Mountain has been a scenic visitor attraction for nearly a century since the state park opened, providing information on the 1780 battle often regarded as a turning point in the Revolutionary War.
Open Space Institute was founded in 1974 and opened its Southeast office in Charleston in 2014. The group has partnered to protect more than 210,000 acres across the Southeast, most of it open to the public.
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