Duncan Park's Lake Trail Is Getting Its East Side, and the Old Trail May Close While It's Built

At the south end of Duncan Park Lake, Parkview Drive curves along the water. Today that stretch is a road. Under a newly approved city plan, it becomes the starting point of about a mile of new paved trail. That trail runs up the park's eastern edge to the gravel path near the amphitheater, the piece the lake loop has been missing.

Spartanburg City Council approved the work on Sept. 14, 2026. Community First Developers LLC has the contract, and the cost is around $950,000. That makes it the biggest single step in three years of steady upgrades across the 102.5-acre park. It's also the step most likely to change how you use the park this winter. A city staff report says the existing trail could close for safety during construction, and that the work will likely take around 90 days depending on weather.

So what you get is a better loop, and what it probably costs you is a season of detours.

Walking the New Route, South to North

The project packs several pieces into one contract. Here they are in the order you'd meet them walking north from the lake's south shore, based on the Post and Courier's report on the council vote and PAL's notes from its September information session:

1. A sidewalk on the lake side of Parkview Drive, so the south shore stops being road shoulder.
2. Two new three-way stops on Parkview. One goes where Parkview meets Carolyn Drive and West Park Drive, and the other at South Park Drive and Parkview. PAL says both are meant to slow traffic and protect people walking and biking.
3. About a mile of new paved trail on or near the roads along the eastern edge of the park, heading north toward the amphitheater.
4. A raised boardwalk off North Park Drive, so walkers and cyclists can skip the Rivermont Drive intersection. PAL describes the spot as a sharp curve where Rivermont Drive meets North Park Drive.
5. A half-mile of existing gravel trail, newly paved. That includes the gravel path along the tree line behind Veterans' Point Memorial Park, which PAL says will be surfaced for easier access.

The boardwalk, the stop signs and the Parkview sidewalk all serve one purpose, which is getting walkers away from traffic at the park's tightest road spots. Federal pandemic-era funds set aside for park improvements cover a bit over half the cost. A federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant pays the rest, and the local nonprofit Play. Advocate. Live Well., better known as PAL, helped secure it.

Why This Piece Came Last

This loop has been on the neighborhood's wish list longer than most of what's already finished. PAL ran a survey in February 2023. More than 90% of the 180 Duncan Park residents and stakeholders who took part rated the perimeter trail "Very Important" or "Important." PAL held a session on March 19, and a later online survey drew 166 responses. Ninety-seven percent favored paving the trail and 90% favored calming traffic on Parkview, with broad agreement on protecting the trees, the natural terrain and the lake shore.

Other pieces of PAL's Duncan Park Revisioning Plan went in first:

• November 2023: The city announced a $580,190 parks-and-trails package. It covered roughly 2,300 feet of new asphalt trail, resurfacing about 3,600 feet of existing Duncan Park trail, and upgrades to the youth fields' concession and restroom areas.
• 2024: The lake reopened for non-motorized boating and catch-and-release fishing. PAL added a kayak-rental stand by the water and paved a trail from there to Union Street.
• Aug. 1, 2024: The kayak and canoe launch opened, according to the city.
• Since then: PAL lists invasive-species removal and trail enhancements as finished, along with an open kayak-storage shelter and ADA dock. Renovations to the two youth baseball fields are still listed as planned.

Every one of those projects added something without taking anything away. The perimeter trail is different, because it rebuilds the path people are already walking.

Councilmember Jamie Fulmer, whose district includes much of the park, put it this way at the Sept. 14 meeting: "It's exciting to see the neighborhood, the Duncan Park area, get more and more excited about the improvements." PAL Executive Director Laura Ringo described the goal as "safe, context-appropriate recreation opportunities."

The Calendar Math

As of Oct. 10, 2026, no one has announced a construction start date, a closure date or a detour plan. That makes the 90-day estimate the most useful number available, so here's how it plays out.

If crews had started the week after the vote, a 90-day job would wrap up around mid-December. Nearly four weeks have passed since the vote with no announcement, so that early finish is already off the table. A start in late October would push the finish to late January. A November start would run into February, and weather can stretch any of these. The cold months, in other words, are the likeliest window for any closure.

Two events already on the calendar fall before any announced start:

• Saturday, Oct. 24: PAL's "Do the DAN: Jr. PAL Invasion" at the Duncan Park Watershed Ecology Education Station.
• Saturday, Oct. 31: The Run Walk Wag 5K at Duncan Park, listed on the City of Spartanburg calendar for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Construction stays on the trail and its road edges, so the lake itself remains available. Under the city's posted rules, fishing is catch-and-release only and boating is non-motorized, from sunrise to sunset, with life jackets required and no swimming. The park also has tennis and pickleball courts, a playground, mountain-bike trails and an outdoor amphitheater sized for events of 100 to 1,000 people. Historic Duncan Park Stadium, which dates to 1926, is home field for the Spartanburg Post 28 Hellcats. Their season runs in summer, so the stands will be quiet through any winter closure.

If the Lake Trail Closes, Where the Miles Go

The Duncan Park trail is part of The Dan, the local trail network PAL maps on its trail segments page. That gives you nearby options if the lake path closes:

Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail: 1.9 city-owned miles between South Pine Street and Union Street, with access at East Henry Street and Country Club Road. PAL lists it as part of both The Dan and the Palmetto Trail.

Cottonwood Trail: 1.8 miles at the Edwin M. Griffin Nature Preserve, accessed off Beechwood Drive. The Spartanburg Area Conservancy manages the preserve's trails and has finished restoring the 550-foot Cottonwood Trail boardwalk.

River Birch Trail: A paved route built by PAL, with access points from Sydnor Road to East Main Street and the Drayton Mills Trails.

The rail trail ends at Union Street, and in 2024 PAL paved a connection from the Duncan Park kayak stand to Union Street. No source has said whether that connector stays open during construction. PAL takes questions at [email protected], and its Trails Development Director, Leigh MacDonald, has described the work as "continuing to increase access to new areas of the park."

Once the work is done, the new eastern mile, the boardwalk around the Rivermont curve and the paved path behind Veterans' Point will give the lake trail a full perimeter route, which neighbors put at the top of their list in 2023.

Preston spent years running projects like this one. Even after the crews leave, the details neighbors care about most can keep shifting, like a new stop sign on your corner or a paved path at the end of your street. If you live near Duncan Park and want to know how a finished loop could affect what your home is worth, Team Inglee is glad to walk through it with you. Request Your Free Home Valuation, and we'll put real local numbers to it.