Between tonight and December 12, most of Easley's fall and holiday calendar happens at two addresses. One is 514 Fleetwood Drive, the Doodle Park trailhead. The other is 111 Walkers Way, the J.B. "Red" Owens complex, where the Brushy Creek Greenway starts and the Holiday Market sets up. Main Street gets the two biggest single nights. The places in between those nights, and much of what the city improved in the fiscal year that ended this summer, sit at the two trailheads.
Three Nights, Two Towns, One Trail
Halloween week starts at the far end of the Doodle Trail. Easley and Pickens share the trail, and both towns scheduled events on back-to-back nights:
- Thursday, October 29, in Pickens. Doodle Park After Dark shows Hocus Pocus at Pickens Doodle Park, 409 E. Cedar Rock Street. The City of Pickens lists food and drinks starting at 7 p.m.
- Friday, October 30, in Easley. Treats on the Street runs 5 to 8 p.m. downtown. It's free and has candy, carnival games and live entertainment.
- Saturday, October 31, in Pickens. Trick or Treat Down Main Street runs 4 to 7 p.m. on Pickens Main Street, between Ann and Catherine streets.
So the event moves between the two towns each night, and the trail connects both ends. Pickens calls its trailhead park Pickens Doodle Park. Easley's trailhead is Doodle Park, so the two towns' trailheads have nearly the same name. Before you head out Thursday, make sure the GPS is set to the Pickens address and not Fleetwood Drive.
The Easley Trailhead Got New Signs and a Restored Train
Doodle Park, at 514 Fleetwood Drive, is built around two renovated train cars that the city describes as a reminder of the community's history. The site also has a playground for ages 5 to 12, outdoor fitness equipment, picnic tables, restrooms and two shelters you can rent.
The park got some of the year's attention. The City of Easley's FY 2025–2026 Year in Review lists new entrance signage and train restoration at Doodle Park among its completed park projects. If the trailhead looks sharper than it did last fall, that's why.
The trail opened Memorial Day Weekend 2015. It's open dawn to dusk for biking, walking, running and rollerblading, and on late-October evenings dusk comes early. The two cities give different lengths. Easley's trail page says 8.5 miles from Easley to Pickens. The City of Pickens says 7.5 miles. Whichever number is right, a one-way trip between trailheads is a real outing, not a quick loop. If you plan to ride to Thursday's movie and back, start early.
Walkers Way Won the Statewide Award
Easley's other trailhead is on the opposite side of the city, and right now it's the more decorated one. The Brushy Creek Greenway Trail starts at the J.B. "Red" Owens Recreation Complex, 111 Walkers Way. The city describes phase one as a paved, one-mile stretch between the complex and Pearson Road.
That mile won the South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association's 2025 Parks Excellence award in the under-30,000 category. It was one of three SCRPA awards the Easley Parks and Recreation department took home in the fiscal year. The other two were Young Professional of the Year for Christman Short and Athletic Department of the Year.
The complex also has an 18-hole disc golf course, which pairs well with a greenway walk on a cool November Saturday.
Expect to see construction crews there for a while. Work has started on a Red Owens expansion that adds two rectangular athletic fields, a press box with storage and office space, more parking and better traffic flow. The city expects to finish in Fall 2027, so this fall and next will both have work zones around the complex.
Walkers Way is also where the holiday season indoors begins. The Easley Holiday Market is Saturday, December 5, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Larry Bagwell Gym, 111 Walkers Way. That's the same address as the greenway trailhead. Go for the paved mile in the morning, then walk over for gift shopping. Vendor applications are open through November 9 for anyone who'd like a table instead of a shopping bag.
The Smaller Upgrades Fill In the Weekdays
The two trailheads cover the big outings. The rest of the city's park list from the past fiscal year covers ordinary weeknights. According to the Year in Review, crews finished:
- A new playground at Hagood Park
- Improvements to the Hagood Dog Park
- Upgraded disc golf facilities
- Upgraded dugouts at Pope Field
- A new stormwater system at Woodside Park
Hagood Park, at 110 Old Liberty Road, has the most going on. Besides the bark park and the 5-to-12 playground, it has a baseball and softball field, a basketball court, two tennis courts, two sand volleyball courts, a horseshoe pit, two shelters, picnic tables and restrooms. A corgi with strong opinions, Thatcher for example, can spend the walk at the bark park while the rest of the family uses the courts.
Downtown Gets the Two Biggest Nights
Main Street hosts fewer events than the trailheads but draws the biggest crowds, and last year's numbers show how big. The city reports that more than 7,000 people came to Treats on the Street in just three hours, and organizers handed out more than 3,000 candy bags. With a crowd that size, families who care most about the candy will want to arrive near the 5 p.m. start on Friday.
The other big downtown night is the Easley Christmas Parade of Lights. The Easley Chamber of Commerce has it scheduled for Saturday, December 12, at 6 p.m. If the weather doesn't cooperate, the backup is Sunday, December 13, at 3 p.m. The city's own parade page still shows last year's details, so use the Chamber listing for dates. The city counted 133 entries in last year's parade, its largest in more than a decade.
On either night, two downtown spots are close to the action:
- Iron Horse Steamers, 106 S Pendleton St., is a bagel café. Its website lists daily hours of 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., so it works for the morning before an evening event, not the event itself.
- The Pint Station, 116 E Main St., is a craft beer taproom that serves food. The Upcountry South Carolina tourism guide puts it about a block from downtown Easley's restaurants. It's a good place to warm up after the parade.
What's Planned but Not Built Yet
Two more projects would add to this map, and both are still at the planning stage.
The first is the Downtown Easley Inclusive Playground. On November 10, 2025, City Council passed Resolution 2025-17, dedicating city-owned property to a universally designed playground. The council minutes say the money will be raised from donors rather than taken from the city's operating budget, and the Foothills Community Foundation is the charitable partner. The city's project page doesn't give a park name, street address or opening date yet.
The second is a longer Doodle Trail. A July 2026 draft project list from the Greenville-Pickens Area Transportation Study, posted on the city's site, includes possible extensions from Easley toward Greenville and the Swamp Rabbit Trail and toward Powdersville. They're draft entries, not adopted projects. A "City of Easley Doodle Trail Extension" also shows up in an August 2026 draft regional funding program with its timing marked "TBD" and no design, right-of-way or construction dollars scheduled. For now, the trail runs from Fleetwood Drive to Cedar Rock Street and no farther.
If you have a favorite fall spot on either end of the Doodle Trail, we'd love to hear about it. Thatcher has opinions about the bark park too. And if a trailhead is part of why you love where you live, or why you'd like to live closer to one, Locke & Key Associates is always glad to talk it through. Let's talk about your home.
