Chattahoochee NRRA: West Palisades Trail (Blog Hike #204)

Trail: West Palisades Trail

Hike Location: Chattahoochee National River and Recreation Area

Geographic Location: north side of Atlanta, GA (33.89065, -84.44829)

Length: 2.8 miles

Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)

Dates Hiked: September 2006, April 2014

Overview: A rolling hike with a couple of steep areas through young forest along the Chattahoochee River.

Park Information: http://www.nps.gov/chat/index.htm

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=720637
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: On the north side of Atlanta, take I-285 to Northside Drive (exit 22).  Exit and go south.  Take Northside Dr. 0.1 miles to Powers Ferry Rd. and turn right on Powers Ferry Rd. Powers Ferry Rd. becomes Akers Mills Rd.  1.6 miles from the interstate, turn left on Akers Dr.  This turn is easy to miss, as Akers Dr. at first appears to be an entrance road to an apartment complex.  This intersection is most easily identified by a large wooden water wheel located on its southwest corner.  Take Akers Dr. 0.2 mile uphill to the recreation area entrance on the left.  Park in the only gravel parking lot.

The hike: For my general comments on the Chattahoochee National River and Recreation Area, see the previous hike.  Unlike the beautiful mature forest of the East Palisades, the West Palisades show considerable signs of previous and current land use.  Thus, the trails have a more urban feel to them compared to the more remote feel of the East Palisades across the river.  Nevertheless, the trails through the West Palisades provide an interesting hike and, with the steeper hills, a fair amount of exercise.

West Palisades trailhead

            Begin at an information board at the northeast corner of the parking lot.  The trail enters the forest, heads downhill, and, after only 100 feet, intersects a gravel maintenance road closed to passenger traffic.  Turn right and follow the road as it heads gradually downhill.  At 0.2 miles, the trail forks.  The maintenance road heads left and ends in another 0.3 miles at a picnic area and river access point.  Our hike takes the right fork, heads down a steep hill with badly eroded fine gravel, and then crosses a creek on a wooden footbridge. 

The trail curves to the right as it climbs away from the creek, making a moderate ascent through young hardwood forest.  At 0.5 miles, you will arrive at another trail intersection, this one with a wide trail that appears to have been paved with asphalt at one time.  Turning right will lead you out of the preserve and into a residential area, so our hike will take a soft left and pass through another shallow ravine.

Descending toward the river

            At 0.9 miles, the trail takes an abrupt left turn and begins descending a steep hill on a wide two-track dirt path.  This trail is marked with blue dots, and this is one point where that guidance will come in handy.  About half way down this hill, the trail forks to create the loop portion of the hike; this is point WP4 on the trail map.  To get to the river more quickly, I recommend turning left onto the single-track trail at this point and using the wider right trail as a return route.

After two more steep descents, the trail arrives at the river.  Is this a tranquil spot or what?  The river quietly flows by with nary a ruffle, and both I-285 and I-75, though only a mile or less away, are around a bend and cannot be heard.  If you are as lucky as I was, you may spot some waterfowl such as great blue herons wading in the water searching for a bite.

Upon reaching the river, the trail curves sharply right and begins paralleling the river, heading downstream.  A couple of rocky sections that might pose some problems for the aged among us must be negotiated at first, but soon the trail flattens out and uses a flat dirt path leading along the river.  A sewer cap reminds you that you are in the middle of metro Atlanta, as do the encroaching sounds of I-75 in the distance.

Chattahoochee River

            At 1.6 miles, you will reach a trail intersection where Rottenwood Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River.  As the name suggests, this not an enticing spot, partly due to the sunny, damaged forest along the creek, but mostly due to the fact that the I-75 bridge over the Chattahoochee River lies only 200 feet above and in front of you.  One asphalt trail leads across the creek and under I-75 to an alternate access point along US 41 called Paces Mill.  When I arrived at this intersection, park workers were replacing the bridge over Rottenwood Creek.  To return to our parking lot, turn right on the asphalt trail, walk about 100 feet, and then angle right again to begin following a wide trail with the creek on the left and the young forest on the right.  Continuing straight on the asphalt trail would lead to the Paces Mill ruins.

Climbing back toward the trailhead

            The wide dirt trail curves to the right and begins climbing with a small ravine on the left.  At 2 miles, close the loop as the outbound trail enters from the right.  Retrace your steps back to the parking lot, making sure not to miss any turns, to complete the hike.