Sandy Creek Park in Athens, GA (Blog Hike #422)

Trail: Lakeside Trail

Hike Location: Sandy Creek Park

Geographic Location: north side of Athens, GA (34.03328, -83.38488)

Length: 6.5 miles

Difficulty: 6/10 (Moderate)

Date Hiked: May 2013

Overview: A circumnavigation of Lake Chapman and Sandy Creek wetlands.

Park Information: https://www.accgov.com/sandycreekpark

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=725457
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: On the north side of Athens, take the Athens Perimeter Road (SR 10-Loop) to US 441 (exit 12).  Exit and head north on US 441.  Take US 441 north 2.7 miles to Holman Rd. and turn right on Holman Rd.  Take Holman Rd. 0.7 miles to the park entrance and turn right to enter the park.  Pay the nominal entrance fee, bear left at the first two intersections (you are now on Beechtree Drive), and park in the boat ramp parking lot at the far end of Beechtree Drive.  Make sure you use the standard-sized parking spaces on the right: the double sized ones in the middle are for trucks hauling boats.

The hike: Located in extreme northern Clarke County, 782-acre Sandy Creek Park represents the crown jewel of Athens’ county-owned parks.  The centerpiece of the park is 260-acre Lake Chapman, which provides excellent boating and fishing opportunities as well as swimming from the park’s sand beach.  The park also features a tent campground, a disc golf course, numerous picnic shelters, and a few baseball fields along with other sporting opportunities.

            When I first visited Sandy Creek Park in August 2008, it was a real loser of a hiking destination.  The park had two poorly maintained trails, one on each side of the lake, and neither trail formed a loop.  In 2012, a fine bridge was built at the north end of the lake connecting these two trails, thus transforming this park from a loser to a winner.  The 7-mile loop described here uses this bridge to circumnavigate the lake.  The only downside to hiking at Sandy Creek Park these days is the long, sunny hike on park roads needed to complete the loop.

Trailhead for Lakeside Trail

            Begin at a wooden sign on the left side of the parking lot that says “Lakeside Loop Trail” and bears a rough diagram of the trail’s route.  The trail heads into the woods and begins tracing around the first of five small streams that feed Lake Chapman.  This initial section of trail used to be called the Swimming Deer Trail, and you may see remnants of the old trail route from before the 2012 upgrade.  That upgrade included the construction of some wooden bridges such as the one over the first small stream.

            At 0.2 miles, an opening in the trees to your right gives a nice view of the lake and the boat ramp parking lot on the other side of the inlet.  Yes, you have been hiking for almost 10 minutes, and your car sits only 200 feet away across the lake: so it goes when hiking along a crooked lakeshore.  The trail climbs steeply away from this overlook but only for a short time.  You soon arrive at a rocky bluff that provides another nice view of the lake, this one to the east and north.           

Lake view from rocky bluff

            From the rocky bluff, the trail curves left, crosses the second small feeder stream, and passes through a short stretch perched precariously above the lake.  This section of trail stays very close to the park boundary on the left, as evidenced by the wire fence.  At 0.9 miles, the trail crosses the third feeder stream.  This stream has the steepest banks, and rocks built into the hill act as steps to help the hiker negotiate it. 

After ascending the opposite bank, the trail turns sharply right to begin following an old road.  This section of the park features an extensive collection of old roadbeds that look much like trails.  Fortunately, the trail is marked with large white paint blazes, so be sure to look for the blazes to find the trail and not the ground.           

Trail following old road

            At 1.5 miles, after another short stint on an old dirt road, the trail angles right to leave the road and crosses the fourth feeder stream.  Most of the forest consists of mature hardwoods, but a few older pine trees still linger in the higher sections.  Species include beech, oak, maple, sweetgum, and loblolly pine. 

Curving right, the trail heads around the northern end of Lake Chapman, and some nice views down the length of the lake open up on the right.  The crowds have long since been left behind in the southern sections of the park.  When I hiked here on a warm Memorial Day afternoon, cars were lined up to enter the park, but I only encountered one other person on the trail.

Toad beside trail           

            Near 2 miles into the hike, the wetlands at the north end of Lake Chapman can be seen just below the trail to the right.  In spite of the 2012 trail improvements, this section of trail is still the narrowest and most primitive section of the hike.  Some houses lie very close on private land to the left, and my movement caused several dogs to start barking.  Fortunately, the dogs never came close enough to threaten me.

            Just past an old tree surrounded by a rock wall, the trail reaches a seeded-in roadbed.  Turn right on the old road, and at 2.3 miles arrive at the Ellen R. Jordan Bridge. Built in 2012, this wide wooden bridge gives you a view of the Sandy Creek wetlands from above.  On my visit, a mother Canadian goose and her goslings were stomping around the mud in search of a meal, and some toads were blurting out mating calls.  This wetland is the most interesting part of the hike, so take some time to see what wildlife you can see.

Ellen R. Jordan Bridge

Mother goose and her goslings

             On the other side of the bridge, the trail becomes much wider as it heads down the east side of Lake Chapman.  This section of trail is the original Lakeside Trail; it dead-ended at this point before the construction of the bridge.  For the next 3 miles the Lakeside Trail goes on and off the Buckeye Horse Trail, a 4 mile out-and-back bridle trail.  The horse trail does not show the usual signs of heavy horse use, but you need to follow the white hiking trail blazes as opposed to the blue horse trail blazes to stay on the correct route.

            At 2.7 miles, you pass a small rock outcrop beside the trail.  At 3.3 miles, you reach a recent trail reroute that avoids a steep climb up a lakeside bluff.  Again, follow the white blazes.  At 3.7 miles, the trail passes what remains of an old stone house with brick chimney and dirt floor.  Only the walls and chimney remain, but the old stones make good places to sit near the midpoint of this hike.

Old stone house

            After passing around a particularly large lake inlet, you reach the outskirts of the Buckeye picnic area.  The picnic tables here look out of place in the middle of the forest.  At 4.6 miles, you cross the gravel picnic area trail.  With the dam in view ahead and to the left, the Lakeside Trail climbs gradually and crosses some old springy wooden footbridges to arrive at sunny paved Campsite Drive, thus marking the end of the Lakeside Trail near 5.2 miles.

            To get back to your car, turn right on Campsite Drive, cross the dam, and climb gradually to the main park road.  The park trail map shows another trail going up the west shore of Lake Chapman through the developed area, but that trail was no longer maintained on my visit.  Turn right at the main park road, pass all five beach and ball field parking areas, then turn right on Beech Tree Drive, the route you drove in on.  Follow your entrance route back to the boat launch parking area to complete the hike.