Have you ever wished you had a map that highlighted all the hiking trails in city limits? Or maybe you want to visually see where all the libraries + voting polls are located. Look no further, Greenville. Meet GIS mapping — a go-to, visual resource used by the city, local organizations, and passionate locals to help us discover data about places in our community.

What is GIS?

GIS (geographic information system) is a tool for gathering, managing, and analyzing data. Maps are created through GIS software (like ArcGIS, Google Earth + more) to analyze physical locations and organize layers of info into visualizations in the form of maps and 3D scenes. Simply put, really cool virtually-layered maps.

How is it used locally?

Greenville County has a website dedicated to GIS. Here you can find mapping of school districts, emergency services, planning and land development, parcel lookups, and more.

To explore this Full GIS Access map:

Click "search" in the upper left corner.
Input your address.
Click "community info" at the top in the center.
Click on your home.
Explore info about your property, election info, public safety details, nearby schools, and neighborhood parks.

There’s also the Greenville imap, which uses GIS to create maps of local resources like bus stops, affordable housing, health centers, quality childcare, food pantries, and shelters.

The City also maintains a list of maps (PDF + interactive) based on GIS, which includes city services, historic districts, flood zones, cemeteries, and downtown parking.

Our picks

Here are a fewinteractive GIS maps to explore:

Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail | Find parking, restrooms, and water fountains + see trail spurs and natural-surface areas of the trail.
Public Arts Tour | Explore statues and murals around our city.
Parks Finder | Find a park in walking distance (or one you didn’t know existed).
Falls Park Tour | Digitally tour each of Falls Park’s elements + learn the history behind Liberty Bridge, Tate Plaza, and the Old Mill Garden.

The City of Greenville has also used GIS maps for its special events. Follow @gvilleevents on Instagram where they share the links for holiday happenings, Fall for Greenville, and more.