H. Cooper Black Jr. Memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area

🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 South-carolina — 6,673-acre recreation area in the Sandhills region — one of the largest field trial facilities in the nation! Cooper Black is famous for its bird dog field trials and also offers 20+ miles of equestrian and mountain biking trails through longleaf pine forest.

Visitor Information

About Cooper Black

H. Cooper Black Jr. Memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area in Chesterfield County provides 7,000 acres of managed longleaf pine and wiregrass savanna — the traditional habitat for quail field trials. The area hosts nationally sanctioned pointing dog competitions on horseback. The Sandhills region of South Carolina — ancient Atlantic Ocean shoreline — features deep sandy soil and longleaf pine ecosystem.

Things to Do

Horseback riding (50+ miles of trails), mountain biking, hiking, hunting (seasonal), attending national field trial competitions, and exploring 7,000 acres of managed Sandhills longleaf pine.

Plan Your Visit

The 7,000-acre area has 50+ miles of trails for horseback riding and mountain biking — a major equestrian destination. Field trial competitions (pointing dog events) are held fall through spring — spectators welcome. Camping available at primitive sites. Cheraw State Park (30 miles north) has a golf course and developed camping. The Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge (adjacent) protects federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker habitat.

Nature & Wildlife

The managed longleaf pine ecosystem relies on prescribed fire — a practice adopted from Native American land management. Endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers excavate nest cavities in living longleaf pines over 80 years old. Fox squirrels, indigo buntings, and Bachman’s sparrows thrive in the fire-maintained understory. The wiregrass ground cover blooms spectacularly after controlled burns.

Insider Tips

Plain folk: Jarrell Plantation preserves a working-class farm — not a wealthy plantation. Pro tip: Most Southerners didn’t own enslaved people — sites like Jarrell show how the majority of Southerners actually lived. Self-sufficiency: The Jarrell family operated their farm from the 1840s through the 1940s — three generations who witnessed the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the mechanization of agriculture.

Best Time to Visit

Fall: Harvest demonstrations. Spring: Planting season activities. Year-round: Guided tours. Summer: Full programming.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did most Southerners own slaves?

No — only about 25% of Southern white families owned any enslaved people in 1860, and most of those owned fewer than 5. Sites like Jarrell Plantation show how the non-slaveholding majority lived — through hard manual labor, subsistence farming, and self-sufficiency. Understanding the “plain folk” of the South provides a more complete picture of antebellum Southern society.