Victoria Bryant State Park: Perimeter Loop (Blog Hike #210)

Trails: Perimeter and Victoria Path Trails

Hike Location: Victoria Bryant State Park

Geographic Location: west of Royston, GA (34.29874, -83.15930)

Length: 4.1 miles

Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)

Dates Hiked: March 2007, October 2013

Overview: A moderate hike through young forest featuring plenty of up and down and good wildlife viewing opportunities.

Park Information: https://gastateparks.org/VictoriaBryant

Hike Route Map: http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=188668
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From the town of Royston in northeast Georgia, take US 29 south 3 miles to SR 327.  Turn right to head north on SR 327.  You will reach the state park entrance in 1 mile; turn left to enter the park.  Park in the very first parking lot on the left, which is reached right before reaching the fee station.  If this lot fills up, an alternate starting point is at the picnic area on the left just after passing the fee station.

The hike: Located on the geological border between the north Georgia mountains to the north and the rolling Piedmont to the south, tiny 485 acre Victoria Bryant State Park may not look like much of a hiking destination.  In fact, when one learns that almost half of these acres are consumed by Highland Walk Golf Course, one of only eight golf courses in Georgia’s state park system, the prospects for hiking look bleak.  Fortunately, such is not the case, and the park offers several good hiking opportunities to complement the park’s main attractions of golfing, fishing, and picnicking.

            Three hiking trails allow one to view the park in its natural setting.  The 3.5 mile Broad River Trail (described elsewhere in this blog) takes the hiker on a journey through the park’s backwoods (behind the golf course, actually) and offers views of some nice riverside habitat.  For those who have less time or energy, two other trails remain near the park’s developed areas.  The short 0.5 mile Victoria Nature Path take visitors on a lush streamside walk along Rice Creek.  On the other hand, the 2.5 mile Perimeter Trail gives views of the ridges that differentiate this area from the Piedmont just to the south.  Using connector trails, these two trails can be combined for the pleasant 4.1 mile hike described here.

Pond near trailhead

            From the parking area, pick up the burnt-orange blazed trail as it descends to the picnic area parking lot given as an alternate starting point in the Directions to the trailhead.  The trails in the park are each blazed with a different color, and burnt orange is used to mark the Perimeter Trail.  Until it exits the developed area of the park, the trail uses a series of park roads and paved foot trails, so make sure to follow the blazes so that you won’t get lost.

            Cross the parking lot and angle right to arrive at a newly constructed wood and steel footbridge over Rice Creek.  The Department of Natural Resources has recently spent significant amounts of money and human resources to upgrade the park’s facilities in general and the trail system in particular, so make sure you visit soon to take advantage of these upgrades.  Across the bridge, climb a wooden staircase, also newly constructed, to arrive at a picnic area access road.  A nice 10-foot waterfall in Rice Creek can be seen below you and to the right.  Turn right on this road, and you will soon arrive at Bryant’s Pond, a small fishing pond for use by campers and an alternate starting point for this trail.

Hiking the Perimeter Trail

            The yellow blazed inner loop follows the park road downhill to the right, but our trail, the burnt orange blazed outer loop, leaves the park road and crosses the dam that creates Bryant Pond.  Once across the dam, the wide dirt trail enters the forest and begins the first of several short but steep climbs.  For the next 0.5 mile the trail undulates through young upland forest dominated by pines.  Throughout this hike, whenever a red blazed spur trail exits to the right, you should stay left on the burnt orange blazed Perimeter Trail.

Descending on the Perimeter Trail

            0.75 miles into the hike, you will pass a pair of wildlife openings on the left.  On the early March afternoon when I hiked this trail, the green grass in the opening provided a stark contrast with the dull brown leaf litter of the forest.  How does an opening come to exist in the middle of the forest?  Answer: the state of Georgia put it there to enhance our wildlife viewing along the trail.  This strategy works, as my presence on the trail near the openings caused a group of 8-10 wild turkeys to scurry back into the forest on the other side.

Wildlife opening

            At 1 mile, the trail passes a small observation platform that gives nice views of one of the wildlife openings.  Take a minute to climb the steps to see what wildlife you can see.  Past the platform, the trail descends moderately to arrive at Rice Creek, which it crosses on an ugly but sturdy concrete and steel bridge.

Crossing Rice Creek

            On the other side of the creek, a pair of red-blazed spur trails exit right to head for the campground, but our trail angles left and begins a long moderate climb away from Rice Creek.  Nice views through the open forest in the ravine on your right make the ascent more pleasant.  As you near the top of this climb, the purple-blazed Broad River Trail exits left.  As mentioned in the introduction, the Broad River Trail provides access to the backcountry section of the park and makes a nice 3.5 mile addition to this hike.

            The Perimeter Trail continues to head north, assuming a rolling track over the high ground.  Soon the golf course comes into view on the left.  While there are no physical barriers to prevent you from walking out on the golf course, to avoid flying golf balls, you should choose to stay on the trail in the woods.

Hiking near the golf course

            2 miles into the hike, you reach an intersection.  While you could continue to follow the outer loop for an additional 0.5 mile to arrive back at your car, to see a different section of the park, you should turn right on the yellow-blazed inner loop.  This trail uses some broad switchbacks to descend into the ravine you walked along earlier.  The campground can be seen uphill to the left.  At 2.7 miles, the trail intersects the paved campground road, and blazes direct you to turn right and begin following the road.  The road leads downhill to a large, sandy picnic area located right beside Rice Creek.  This secluded picnic area makes a nice place to rest and listen to the creek before attempting the final leg of this hike.

            To return to the trailhead, on the near bank of Rice Creek, pick up the green-blazed Victoria Path Nature Trail, which heads into the woods on the left side of the paved campground road.  This trail with its narrow treadway and the lush doghobble near the creek provides a stark contrast to the Perimeter Trail.  Rice Creek can almost always be seen and heard, and several cascades make for especially scenic spots.  A little scrambling over bare rock will lead you to the main park road at 3.7 miles.

            While the park road fords Rice Creek, you should remain on the left side of the creek and begin climbing along the park road, choosing the road closest to the creek.  About half way up the hill, angle right on an unmarked trail that heads back toward the creek.  Cross a wooden footbridge and dodge a few more rocks to arrive at an overlook platform of a nice 10-foot waterfall in Rice Creek.  After you have taken in the scenery, continue up the park road to return you to the fishing pond trailhead and complete the hike.