Maps and Navigation

Trail Map

Roll your cursor over the map for a closer look

Click to download a printable map of the woods - 1.2 mb PDF Download

Entrances

* Two entrances have space for parking horse trailers: the Stable on the Woods on Dibble Road (park in the first lot on the right) and South Boundary Avenue SW (park off South Boundary Avenue alongside the Aiken County Historical Museum and hack into the Woods down South Boundary Avenue Extension).

Alphanumeric Signs for Navigation and Safety

Alphanumeric signs are posted on trees at strategic locations in the Woods. The alphanumeric codes (e.g., C-13) correlate to the letters and numbers on the grid overlaid on the official Hitchcock Woods map. This safety feature is designed to help visitors identify their location in the event of an emergency, and to direct emergency responders who are dispatched to incidents in the Woods.

There are 83 alphanumeric signs located at major trail intersections or in high visibility areas in the Woods. A helpful feature of the signs is that they also are color coded to help identify the best entrance or access point in a rescue or emergency. There are five different colors used for the signs.

If a visitor sprained an ankle in the Woods, assuming that he or a passerby had a cell phone, the alphanumeric sign at the nearest intersection would provide them with a very specific locator tool. The alphanumeric code reported to the dispatcher would correspond to the same grid block on the map. If the visitor were immobile, but could at least report the last alphanumeric sign he had seen, the dispatcher could then direct emergency responders to the “approximate” grid block.

Finally, if the individual could not recall the alphanumeric code, but could at least cite the color of the last sign seen, this would help emergency responders know which entrance to use and which color zone in which to focus their efforts.

This system will greatly expedite search efforts and decrease response time in the golden hour of a rescue situation. Local communications personnel and various law enforcement, rescue, fire and EMS divisions have a working knowledge of the alphanumeric sign locator system in the Woods.