Next Dorchester County park is over 300 acres, includes kayaks, dog parks and disc golf

SUMMERVILLE — Dorchester County’s efforts to preserve green space continue with a new park that will be over 300 acres.

Off Miles Jamison Road and behind Eugene Sires Elementary School, Pine Trace Natural Area is described by County Councilman Jay Byars as an “urban forest.” The $10 million park will include a 6-acre pond where guests can kayak, paddleboard and fish; several picnic shelters and walking trails; dog parks; a playground; and an 18-hole disc golf course.

There are also plans to include campgrounds and a BMX bike course after the park opens.

Byars said County Council is committed to continuing to preserving green space, especially after the 1 percent sales tax passed in November. That tax included $35 million for green space.

“God’s not making any more land,” Byars said. “We’re going to try to buy what we can and protect some of it.”

Austin Zuniga, parks and recreation director, said the county has had a vision for Pine Trace since the land was purchased in 2011, even before they had a department in place. The Dorchester County Parks and Recreation Department was created in 2014 when the county hired one person to oversee the project and has since grown to have six employees.

Byars emphasized the size of the property, adding that the county bought the land from the town of Summerville, which had planned on the land becoming around 780 residential units.

Zuniga added that there are no other patches of woods like Pine Trace and considers himself lucky to see the park come to fruition.

“This is the last oasis of woods in the Summerville area,” Zuniga said. “It could have been another few hundred homes.”

- Post And Courier