South Carolina · National Battlefield trail

Auto-loop Stop 3

in South Carolina · centroid 38 mi from Greenville

January 17, 1781 A decisive American victory fought in less than one hour. The British soldiers arrived at the Cow Pens about dawn. The right flank of the British army formed in this general area with the rest of the troops stretching across the Green River Road.

Ahead, in the distance, Morgan's army awaited.

Trail type
National Battlefield trail
Centroid nearest city
Greenville, SC · 38 mi · ~1.1 hr drive
Centroid coords
35.1346°, -81.8093°

About Cowpens National Battlefield

National Battlefield

This trail is inside Cowpens National Battlefield, a national battlefield managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.

Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/auto-loop-stop-3.htm

Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/cowp/index.htm

Plan your hike

Practical notes

Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.

Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.

When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.

If you've hiked Auto-loop Stop 3 and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.

Stay nearby

Affiliate · disclosed
Driving in? The nearest documented metro is Greenville, SC — 38 miles away (~1.1 hr drive). See accommodation in Greenville on Booking.com → RoamFound earns a small commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you. How we handle affiliate links.

Other trails within 50 miles

12 nearby

Sources

Public data + curation

Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.