Afoot and Afield: Atlanta. MARCUS WOOLF
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the trails. While the Beltline has rehabilitated parts of the city and improved the lives of its residents, the greenway has also relieved some pressure from one of Atlanta’s most popular destinations, the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (NRA).
Each year, about 3.5 million people visit the Chattahoochee River NRA’s 13 park units that include 4,500 acres along the Chattahoochee River. It includes 50 miles of trails that run through pine and hardwood forest and follow the banks of a 48-mile stretch of the river. A major destination for hikers, birders, anglers, kayakers, and folks out for a midday walk, the river corridor supports a wide range of wildlife, such as foxes and deer, and you have a good chance of seeing a great blue heron soaring over the Chattahoochee.
As the greenways near Atlanta become crowded, more hikers are venturing beyond the metro area to explore Georgia trails. There’s an abundance of forestland, parks, and other quiet woods within a 2-hour drive of Atlanta.
About 50 miles southwest of Atlanta you’ll find one of the state’s newest recreation areas, Chattahoochee Bend State Park, which opened in 2011. Covering more than 2,900 acres, it’s Georgia’s third largest state park and the first US State Park to be certified LEED, which means it’s extremely environmentally friendly. While the park’s campground can fill on peak days and weekends, the place is still relatively unknown, receiving only about 80,000 visitors a year. A real gem of the park is the last free-flowing stretch of the Chattahoochee River, which supports an unusually diverse range of plants and animals. Plus, the park offers unique recreation opportunities, such as the chance to camp on riverside platforms that are accessible only by boat.
An amazing thing about Georgia is the sheer variety of landscapes that can be explored—within a morning’s drive, there are at least a dozen state parks that boast vast lakes, wetlands, forests of wildflowers, and high peaks with inspiring views. Also within reach of Atlanta are fascinating geologic formations, such as the vast granite outcrop at Panola Mountain State Park southeast of the city. As if you are stepping back in time, you can kneel down on the rocky slab to spy tiny plants that represent the earliest stage of forest life.
While the granite slabs at Panola hold almost hidden treasures, you can find grand displays of nature in the mountains of north Georgia. Spanning nearly the entire northern portion of the state, the Chattahoochee National Forest covers 750,000 acres with lofty peaks, deep river ravines, and broad, green valleys. Within the national forest, there are wildlife management areas devoted to conserving habitat, as well as parks that preserve the state’s most impressive features, such as the 2-mile-long and thousand-foot-deep Tallulah Gorge. Of the hundreds of miles of trails in north Georgia, there’s a hike to suit every desire. You can take a brief walk through an exotic forest of rhododendrons and mountain laurels to a roaring waterfall, or shoulder a daypack for a vigorous trek to Georgia’s highest point at 4,784 feet. If you’re new to backpacking, places such as Vogel State Park provide easy access to backcountry trails that are perfect for an overnight trip. The Appalachian Trail (AT) in Georgia has several access points, allowing you to hike a section in a weekend, while experienced hikers can string together a multiday journey along the AT or hike other long trails such as the Benton MacKaye.
A jewel of the Chattahoochee National Forest lies in the northwest section of the state. With 36,977 acres of mountainous terrain, the Cohutta Wilderness is a top choice if you wish to delve more deeply into remote forest. From high ridges of hardwoods and pines, you can descend into shaded groves of great hemlocks and deep cuts where wild rivers cut through the rugged landscape.
Georgia is blessed with great tracts of land where Atlantans can enjoy respite from the things of man. But equally intriguing are the paths that trace Georgia’s human history. The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park west of Atlanta has well-maintained trails with interpretive signs explaining one of the heaviest battles pitched during the Atlanta Campaign of the Civil War. A little farther west, the rolling woods of Pickett’s Mill Battlefield have been preserved almost as they were when Union and Confederate troops clashed in a rare night battle. While there are no historical plaques or markers dotting the battlefield, the undulating terrain and dense woodlands are natural monuments and reminders of how Georgia’s landscape made fighting extremely difficult. You’ll have a very different experience walking the Chickamauga Battlefield near the border with Tennessee. One of the Civil War’s deadliest battles was fought in the low fields and woodlands of Chickamauga, and the battlefield is replete with all manner of historical markers, from tablets to large, elaborate stone monuments. Documenting the action in remarkable detail, some markers note the specific hours that troops held certain plots of ground.
Crossing Ash Creek in Smithgall Woods Conservation Area (Trip 45)
Another important aspect of Georgia’s history is the effort to harness rivers to operate mills and generate power. In the early 1800s, settlers as well as Cherokee set up gristmills and sawmills along Georgia rivers and creeks. You can learn more about mill history by hiking Sweetwater Creek State Park southwest of Atlanta. Built in 1849, this mill—like so many others in Georgia—was burned by Union troops during the Civil War. In the late 1880s and early 1900s, work began to convert mills to generate power and meet the state’s growing demand for electricity. One of the more high-profile projects was construction of the Morgan Falls Dam on the Chattahoochee River to feed a hydroelectric plant. And the Vickery Creek trails near Roswell explore this area where the Roswell Manufacturing Company operated one of the South’s most important plants. But the industrial revolution was not confined to the Atlanta area. Watson Mill Bridge State Park, east of Athens, has trails that lead to the ruins of a hydroelectric plant that began operating near the South Fork River in 1905.
In the grand scheme of things, this is also recent history, as people have occupied Georgia for 10,000 years. To understand the full breadth of human history in Georgia, drive south to the Ocmulgee National Monument near Macon and stroll among the remains of a village where Native Americans constructed great earth mounds. You can view a meeting room in the reconstructed earth lodge and climb to the summit of the Great Temple Mound to look over neighboring wetlands. Visitors should take time to visit Ocmulgee Monument’s excellent museum, which chronicles human habitation on the site, from the Clovis people of the most recent ice age to settlers who established a trading post in the 1600s to exchange goods with the Creek Indians.
From Native American settlements to Civil War battlefields, lush riverbanks and wild and remote wilderness, Georgia trails traverse a great variety of landscapes and environments. Atlanta residents are truly blessed to have within reach such a broad spectrum of natural places to explore. As the Atlanta population continues to boom, people are learning to value green spaces where they can enjoy peaceful moments, reflect on the past, or simply clear their minds of city noise. The word recreation implies that this is a way to re-create yourself. A hike can bring calmness and clarity to your life, improve your physical and mental health, and open your eyes to a better understanding of the world around you.
Climate
The north and central regions of Georgia experience four true seasons, with mid- to late spring and fall being the optimum times to explore the outdoors. Early spring is the wettest season, and the northern mountains see temperature highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s and 40s. Early spring in the central region brings highs in the upper 60s and lower 70s and lows in the 40s and lower 50s. In mid- and late spring, north Georgia enjoys highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s, perfect for hiking and camping. During this period, temperatures in central Georgia can reach into the 80s while lows hover in the 60s.
Another prime hiking time is October, usually the driest month. In northern Georgia, fall temperatures climb to highs of 70s and 80s and drop into the 40s and 50s at night. For the central part of the state, highs in the fall range from upper 60s to upper 70s, while lows range from the low 40s to low 50s.
January tends to be the coldest month for north and central Georgia, with the mountains experiencing an average high of 49°F and an average low of 26°F.