Johnson Creek

Big Creek, Big Hardwood, Habitat Diversity

Johnson Creek Tract is an outstanding recreation property with an exceptional diversity of wildlife habitat. The land lies south of Hwy 184 about halfway between Antreville and Due West in a quiet, rural area of northern Abbeville County.

Habitat diversity is abundant across the landscape. Creek bottoms are wide and flat, and filled with mature hardwoods and river oat glades. Uplands are mostly gently rolling hills covered by a mix of thinned planted pines, mature hardwoods, small fields, and dense young forest regeneration. Steeper slopes overlook the creek bottom. Johnson Creek is a key feature of the land as it flows through the tract.

About 111 acres lying on the north side are forested with loblolly pine planted in 1998. These trees have been thinned and are well spaced. About 90 acres of pines were planted in 2018 with the largest area west of Johnson Creek. These young trees are healthy and growing fast. Blackberry, grasses and other food sources are common. Quail are heard calling from many places among the older and younger pines.

Closer to Johnson creek, the land is more strongly rolling. Hills are dominated by mature hardwood and white oak is abundant. On the south side of the tract and east of the creek, upland hardwood is mixed with mature loblolly pine. Red oak, maple and American beech shade rock outcrops along the hillsides which overlook the creek bottom. About 65 acres is covered by this mature hardwood with some pines.

On the northern part of the tract, Johnson Creek is the property line. Here the creek bottom is narrower. As the creek leaves the property line and flows through the middle of the tract, the bottomland flattens out. Trees are widely spaced and the ground is covered by river oats and other wet site species. Yellow poplar, sycamore, and river birch dominate about 24 acres on wide bottomlands.

Access across the land is good with internal roads and trails. Six small openings of around a quarter to half acre each are scattered along the roads. These are mostly sites used as logging decks that have been mowed to maintain as open wildlife areas. A woods road to access areas east of Johnson Creek enters the land from frontage along a paved county road. About 80 acres lying west of Johnson Creek is accessed by a dirt road that is shared with a neighboring timberland investment group and comes off Sheep Leg Road (paved) about a half mile from the western property line.

Soils are mostly sandy loam and are productive for timber and wildlife openings. Over much of the property, soils would be productive for larger fields and pastures if desired. Topography is gently rolling, in many areas especially near the paved road. About half the property is classed as useful farmland (USDA soil classes for prime farmland or farmland of importance). Thus, the land could lend itself to a variety of uses. Soil maps indicate that septic perc potential is good for the most accessible parts of the property.

A powerline along the paved road is maintained by Little River Electric. West Carolina Tel offers fiber internet with 1Gbps speeds, telephone, HDTV cable, and home security options. There are no public waterlines nearby. The immediate neighborhood is mostly wooded tracts. Houses are widely scattered in the area. One residence is within sight of the property along the road frontage.

The property has more than 700 feet of frontage on Old Landfill Road. This paved road is named for a county landfill that ceased operation decades ago. The old landfill site is on a private tract which lies about three quarters of a mile south of the property’s southeastern corner. The county’s office for solid waste management was not able to give more specific information on the location or time of operation, only that the site has been closed for well longer than anyone in the office could remember. The site has been covered by vegetation for many years and is not apparent on recent or older aerial photos. It is not shown on the 1971 USGS topo quad or more recent topo maps. And is not noted in current or historic USDA soil surveys.

The town of Abbeville is about a 15-minute drive away and offers restaurants, doctors, churches, Ingles Grocery and a new Ace Hardware. The little town of Due West is home to Erskine College and only a stone’s throw away. The tract is about 5 miles from Due West, 11 miles from Abbeville, 20 miles from Anderson, and 46 miles from Greenville. All distances are approximate road miles to the center of town.

The property is timberland with no improvements and does not have an address. It is on Old Landfill Road (GPS = “Old Landfill Rd, Iva, SC 29655”) about a half mile south its junction with Hwy 184.
County tax map # 049-00-00-005 and 048-00-00-047.