41 places to know
Outdoors
Hitchcock Woods
2,100 acres in the middle of town. Sand trails, no cars, horses have the right of way.
Outdoors
Hopelands Gardens
Fourteen acres of camellias, brick paths, and the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in the old carriage house.
Outdoors
Aiken Arboretum Trail
A citywide tree walk — oaks from around the world in the parkways.
Outdoors
Aiken State Park
Blackwater lakes and cypress on the South Edisto, twenty minutes east of town.
Outdoors
Aiken County Parks
County parks beyond the city line — ponds, fields, a place to let the dog run.
Outdoors
Langley Pond
Horse Creek reservoir — paddle, fish, a Christmas lights walk in December.
Outdoors
South Boundary Avenue of Oaks
The live-oak canopy that sells the town. Walk it at dusk.
Equestrian
Aiken Training Track
Where the Trials run every March. Young horses, winter-colony dirt, the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Equestrian
Aiken Polo Club — Whitney Field
Sunday polo on Mead Avenue since 1882. Bring a chair.
Equestrian
Aiken Horse Park — Bruce’s Field
Hunter-jumper weeks, charity shows, the big sand rings on Powderhouse.
Equestrian
Aiken Steeplechase Racecourse
Imperial Cup in March, Holiday Cup in the fall. Hats and tailgates.
Equestrian
Stable View
Eventing and hunter-jumper on the south side. Spectators welcome most weeks.
Equestrian
Aiken Equine Rescue
Largest horse rescue in the Southeast. Tours and a reminder why people move here.
Equestrian
Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame
Inside Hopelands. The horses that wintered here and won everywhere else.
Arts & culture
Aiken Center for the Arts
Gallery, classes, and a downtown room that stays busy First Friday.
Arts & culture
Aiken Community Playhouse
Live theatre since 1952 — a proper playhouse, not a school gym.
Arts & culture
Aiken Downtown Cultural District
Laurens, The Alley, Art Walk, a band on a brick patio.
Arts & culture
Aiken Board & Brush
Paint-and-sip workshops. A night out that is not another steak.
Arts & culture
Etherredge Center
USC Aiken’s hall — symphony, theatre, visiting acts.
History & heritage
Aiken County Historical Museum — Banksia
A Winter Colony cottage that kept the furniture. Aiken’s past in the rooms it happened in.
History & heritage
Aiken Visitors Center & Train Museum
The depot on Park. Railroad dioramas upstairs, maps downstairs.
History & heritage
Center for African American History, Art, and Culture
Aiken’s other archive — exhibits, talks, a downtown room that should be on the first-weekend list.
History & heritage
Redcliffe Plantation
State historic site in Beech Island. Hammond house, the hard history attached.
History & heritage
Winter Colony cottages
Joye Cottage, Whitney, the Horse District. Look from the street — most are still private homes.
Shopping
3 Monkeys Fine Gifts
Downtown boutique on the Laurens walk.
Shopping
Aiken Antique Mall
Multi-dealer mall. Stock turns. Go twice.
Shopping
A Fox’s Tale
Rare books and first editions — Caroliniana on the shelf.
Shopping
ACTS Resale Store
Thrift and consignment. Aiken closets turn over with the snowbirds.
Shopping
Aiken Embroidery & Design
Monograms, bags, logos digitized on the square.
Shopping
Aiken County Farmers Market
Oldest county market still on its original lot. Produce, honey, eggs, a craft table.
Shopping
Laurens Street
The walkable retail grid. Park once.
Golf
Aiken Golf Club
In-town, walkable, open when the rest of the East Coast is frozen.
Golf
Palmetto Golf Club
1892. The Winter Colony course. A National Historic place that still plays.
Golf
Woodside Plantation
Three courses and a village on the south side.
Golf
Houndslake Country Club
Three nines, in-town, the club a lot of relocators join first.
Golf
Cedar Creek Golf Club
Public-friendly eighteen south of town. The Pub after the round.
Family
The Willcox
Grand hotel, spa, a porch that still works. Breakfast if you’re showing houses downtown.
Family
DuPont Planetarium
USC Aiken skies. Saturday programs when school is in.
Family
Odell Weeks
City rec center, pool, the Christmas craft show in December.
Tours
Aiken Ghost Tours
Kent Cubbage walks the myths. Seventy-five minutes, downtown, after dark.
Tours
Savannah River Site public tours
The reservation most of the town works around. Book ahead — they fill.
Hours change. Confirm before you go. Nick Williams helps you buy the house around the corner — not a tee time.