Those are just a few discoveries awaiting explorers of the Nation Ford Greenway trail head when it opens next Thursday afternoon. Anne Springs Close will lead the inaugural walk, so wear hiking boots.

The rolling 2-mile-plus trail head near Nation Ford High School was five years in the making, but in the next decade, it is expected to link up with 31 miles of trails circling Fort Mill along the creek and the Catawba River. Baxter Village plans a more than 2-mile trail to the Nation Ford Greenway, and Celanese also has agreed to easements along the river, said Jeff Updike, executive director of the Nation Ford Land Trust, which helped acquire the land.

Named for the historic Nation Ford Trail that joined regions north and south 200 years ago, it eventually will connect to the Anne Springs Close, Sugar Creek and Mecklenburg County greenways. A proposed pedestrian bridge across the river is expected to tie it into the Rock Hill parks system, and Tega Cay access will be at the Lake Wylie Dam.

"We've been trying to get this first segment going," Updike said. "Now, people will demand more. We should have several announcements throughout the year."

The Nation Ford Land Trust, along with the Trust for Public Land and Crescent Resources -- developer of the Springfield community -- and area government agencies joined forces on the project.

Crescent is donating the land, which lies along a sewer easement, and built trail bridges, including a suspension bridge over the creek near the Springfield golf course. There will be various accesses to the trail from the Springfield community, as well as at the trail head along A.O. Jones Boulevard where Crescent prepared a parking area.

"Most of the home lots are not near the trail," said Kevin Munson, a Crescent assistant project manager. "There is several hundred feet of woods between the trail and homes."

Picnic tables in plans

Lying along a hardwood flood plain, the trail's woods provide a nesting area for deer, whose hoof tracks are visible along the trail even when wildlife is not bounding across it from the creek. Eventually, the trail will boast rest areas with benches, picnic tables and vantage points for bird-watching, Updike said.

The trail also will furnish an outdoor classroom for students at neighboring Fort Mill schools, said Janet Steele, Nation Ford Greenway coordinator. Steele, who has a master's degree in forestry, points out the wooded area along the creek will help keep the water clean, as well as provide a natural habitat.

Paved handicapped-access paths also will be located on the Nation Ford trail adjacent to the York County Culture & Heritage Commission's planned museum at I-77 and Sutton Road, Steele said.

"So many landowners along the route have worked to pull this trail together," he said.

The trail will be open from sunrise to sunset, and bikes and hikers are welcome to use the new greenway.

One caveat: It can be muddy after a good rain in some spots, so plan accordingly.