Pleasant Ridge Park

In far less enlightened times, Pleasant Ridge Park was built as the African American counterpart to the whites-only Paris Mountain State Park in the 1940s. Thankfully, all of us now have the ability to enjoy both and we all absolutely should. Today the park is the home of a roller coaster of a six-mile mountain bike and hiking loop, a mountain lake which might be the closest place to Greenville to snag a cold water-loving mountain trout, and hiking trails that feature the remains of long-abandoned mountain moonshine operations. Even better, the Pleasant Ridge Camp and Retreat Center is home to a program that offers camping and outdoor experiences for youth and adults with special needs and other disabilities as well as children battling cancer.