Monthly Archives: February 2021

Trail Training: Sweetwater Creek State Park

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Sweetwater Creek State Park is advertised as the most visited state park in GA, and it’s absolutely lovely. Well worth the trip for either hiking or running, camping or fishing. The trails are well maintained, well labeled with colored blazes, and the creek is beautiful with mill ruins and history to learn. We did an 8-ish mile run at Sweetwater this weekend. One of our goals was to scope out a possible 10K course for our Tough Treads Trail Series with our friends.

We always make a point to arrive early at Sweetwater because of the crowds, especially during pandemic times. In our experience, you can generally find a parking spot in the main lot if you arrive before 9 AM (the park opens at 7 AM), otherwise you might be stalking a parking spot or parking in one of the overflow lots. There is a $5 daily parking fee or you can get an annual pass for all of Georgia’s state parks.

The trails at Sweetwater have something for everyone. The Red trail runs along the creek to the mill ruins and has interpretive history signs. The Red trail is relatively flat and wide up to the mill and then it turns into more of a scramble over rocks and the trail narrows considerably. It’s super fun to walk along and explore, but it’s not that great to run over especially when it’s crowded.

The White trail is a 5 mile loop that has a bit of everything in terms of scenery. It has wooded and gently rolling trail portions, switchbacks into and out of canyons, more open grassland areas with wide trails, and a portion along the creek that is much narrower trail that climbs over some rock formations and heads up some stairs. It’s not an easy run, but it is certainly satisfying if you enjoy scenery.

This weekend we also did the entry part of the Yellow trail which is relatively flat after the very beginning and crosses the creek. We didn’t get a chance to check out the rest of the Yellow trail loop which looks pretty hilly, but did meander onto the Blue trail for a bit. It was pretty hilly also, but might have been good at the beginning of a long run instead of the very end.

Well worth the visit, but plan accordingly for potential crowds.

*The pictures below are from a trip to Sweetwater in June, 2020.

Trail Training: Chicopee Woods Trail System

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This past weekend we did our long-ish run (8 mi) in the Chicopee Woods Trail System up in Gainesville, GA. This is part of the Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve, which also contains the Elachee Nature Center and the Chicopee Woods Mountain Bike Trails. There is a $5 daily fee ($50 annual fee) to get into the area and use the trails and dogs are not allowed anymore. There is also a fee if you want to go through the small natural history displays and museum at the Nature Center when it is open. They have a great native reptile and amphibian collection that is great for kiddos.

The hiking trails are well maintained and the scenery runs from lovely forested hills, to creeks, to bottomland, and then to a large lake on the other side of the property from the nature center. There are trails with options of 3 mi and 5 mi loops, and several shorter trails that wind around the nature center. It’s beautiful and if you get there before 10 am you’re not likely to see many folks in the winter time. In the summer, the trails get a bit more crowded and the Nature Center has summer camp programs that bring people to the area.

This is one of the more difficult sets of trails that we have experienced in the greater Atlanta area (minus the hike to the top of Kennesaw Mountain). The trail parking lot starts at a high point and all trails head downhill toward the lake. Some of the trails follow streams and are relatively flat along stretches and then climb up and down switchbacks as it follows the mountain contours. There are several areas with stairs set into the trail to facilitate uphill climbs. We tend not to run this trail very often right after all the leaves drop in the fall because it makes roots hard to see, but in all other seasons it’s easy to avoid tripping.

Highly recommend a trip up here to hike, run, or mountain bike!

Trail Training – Kennesaw Mountain

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Took a trip to Kennesaw Mountain this weekend for our trail running adventure. I would highly recommend this site for anyone interested in trail running or hiking or Civil War history. My husband did a 51-miler here this past summer when his ultra race was cancelled because of the pandemic. It’s still one of his favorite trails, so that’s saying something! There are a total of 17 miles of trails here, divided into three separate sections.

The northern section includes the main parking lot, visitor center, restrooms, and the mountain itself. During the summer there is a tram that will take you to the top of the mountain if you don’t want to walk. The mountain loop has some steep trail headed to the top and some technical trail heading down the backside of the mountain and I haven’t run this section in years.

The middle section looks like one half of a butterfly, with a long straight and wide trail down the middle and then two half loops headed out to the west. The loops are fairly hilly and connect back at a bridge in the middle of the section. It is lovely and picturesque.

The southern section is definitely my favorite and the section that we ran this weekend. It has gentle rolling trails that butt up to the back of neighborhoods and travel through densely forested areas. There are a few bridges over creeks. The Illinois monument can be seen along one section of trail. The trail is well maintained and well traveled. Dogs are allowed, as well as horses and the trail can get crowded on beautiful mornings. Most of the trails are fairly wide, allowing for social distancing during the pandemic.

The only restrooms are at the main visitor center, but there are Krogers pretty close to the middle and southern sections that have well-maintained restrooms. There is a $5 parking fee that can be paid online, or you can purchase an annual pass for $40.

View from the Illinois Monument, Southern section – July 2020
Middle section – July 2020
Middle section loop – July 2020