Join our team
We are hiring a Clean Water Manager to lead and implement strategic initiatives benefiting water quality and resources across the Upstate.
Big Garvin Creek Farm
253 Acres Protected | Anderson County
Located just northeast of Pendleton in Anderson County, Big Garvin Creek Farm is a 253-acre cattle farm permanently protected through a conservation easement with Upstate Forever.
Owned and operated by Randy and Nancy Griffis, the farm has remained in the Griffis family since the 1950s and continues a long tradition of agriculture in the region.
Project funders include an EPA Section 319 Grant through the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program, South Carolina Conservation Bank, and Upstate Land Conservation Fund.
Protecting Productive Farmland and Waterways
The farm is characterized by gently rolling pastureland grazed by cattle, a 30-acre pine stand, and a large pond fed by Big Garvin Creek and its tributaries within the Three and Twenty Creek watershed. More than 150 acres of the property contain Prime Soils or Soils of Statewide Importance, reinforcing the farm’s long-term agricultural value.
Forested riparian buffers along Big Garvin Creek and surrounding tributaries help protect water quality flowing downstream to Lake Hartwell. These buffers, along with the farm’s ponds, pastures, and forested areas, also provide important habitat for wildlife.
Preserving Rural Character in a Growing Region
As development pressure continues to expand outward from Clemson and Pendleton, Big Garvin Creek Farm remains part of a broader effort to conserve working lands in northern Anderson County. The property is adjacent to another Upstate Forever-protected farm and near Clemson University’s Simpson Station Agronomic Unit, helping strengthen a growing network of conserved farmland in the area.
The conservation easement allows the Griffis family to continue agricultural operations while permanently protecting the land’s natural resources, scenic character, and farming heritage for future generations.
Want to protect your land?
Conservation easements are a voluntary, permanent way landowners can protect special places from development. For more information about partnering with UF to conserve your property, please contact our nationally-accredited Land Trust at landtrust@upstateforever.org.
Greenville, SC
507 Pettigru Street
Greenville, SC 29601
Spartanburg, SC
900 S. Pine St, Ste 1B
Spartanburg, SC 29302