Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve: Bridge Loop in Gainesville, GA (Blog Hike #984)

Trails: Elachee Creek and Bridge Loops
Hike Location: Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve
Geographic Location: Gainesville, GA (34.24608, -83.83197)
Length: 3.1 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: January 2024
Overview: A lollipop loop crossing 5 trail bridges.
Park Information: https://www.gainesville.org/facilities/facility/details/Chicopee-Woods-Area-Park-118
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=955192
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming March 28, 2025)

Directions to the trailhead: Northeast of Atlanta, take I-985 to SR 13 (exit 17).  Exit and go north on SR 13.  Drive SR 13 north 1.5 miles to Elachee Drive and turn sharply right on Elachee Dr.  Elachee Dr. crosses back over I-985 before ending at the Elachee Nature Science Center, where this hike begins.

The hike: Sprawling for 2674 acres over the hills on the south side of Gainesville, Chicopee Woods is the crown jewel of Gainesville's city park system.  The park's most famous amenity is its 27 hole golf course, which is one of the best public courses in northeast Georgia.  Other than the golf course, the rest of the park is maintained as a natural area known as Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve, which features dense woods and abundant trails.  A new park entrance road was under construction when I came here, and that road will feature a new bridge over I-985 designed to highlight this park and the City of Gainesville's parklands.

            Over 12 miles of trails wind through Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve for hikers and mountain bikers (but usually not both: most trails are single-use).  The hiking trails are organized into loops of various lengths and difficulties; this hike features the Bridge Loop.  The Bridge Loop earns its name by crossing 5 wooden trail bridges, and it is neither the shortest and easiest nor the longest and hardest loop Chicopee Woods has to offer.  I did this hike as a get-back-in-shape hike after a long Christmas break, and it had enough distance and elevation to serve the purpose well.

Start of the Geiger Trail

            Starting from the Elachee Nature Science Center, which features several educational exhibits and classroom areas, your first task is to find the start of the Bridge Loop.  Near the parking lot entrance, walk down the concrete Geiger Trail to the dirt and yellow-blazed Elachee Creek Loop.  Angle right on the Elachee Creek Loop, and in about 700 feet you reach the green-blazed Bridge Loop.  A secondary parking area sits uphill to the right.  Continue straight to begin following the green blazes, then angle first right and then left to begin hiking clockwise around the Bridge Loop.

Intersecting the Bridge Loop

            The trail descends on a gradual to moderate grade as you head out one of this area's many finger ridges.  Distance is marked by brown carsonite posts in 0.25 mile increments.  This park's deciduous forest makes for good fall leaf peeping, and some large beech trees merit your attention as you descend.  At 0.5 miles, you reach a junction with the blue-blazed Ridge Trail, which continues straight.  Turn right to keep descending on the Bridge Loop.

First bridge over Walnut Creek

            0.8 miles into the hike, you reach Walnut Creek and the bottom of the hill.  The first of the 5 bridges, a narrow wooden bridge with nice handrails, gets you across the creek.  A broad switchback lifts you to the top of the next ridge, which stands about 170 feet above the creek.  Ignore some old dirt roads that now serve as park maintenance roads; white carsonite posts identify them as service roads.

Descending on eroded trail

            At 1.3 miles, you reach some picnic tables and another major trail intersection.  The orange-blazed Lake Loop exits left to head downhill to Chicopee Lake, but you want to angle right to head downhill on a trail used by both the Bridge and Lake Loops.  0.3 miles of moderate downhill hiking on somewhat eroded trail brings you to your second crossing of Walnut Creek.  This time a 141-foot suspension bridge gets you across the creek, and this second bridge on the Bridge Loop is this park's biggest and best trail bridge.

Suspension bridge over Walnut Creek

            Now on the west side of Walnut Creek, the Bridge and Lake Loops part ways.  Turn right to stay on the Bridge Loop.  Next you cross a low but steep ridge before beginning a gradual creekside climb for the next 0.7 miles.  You climb first along Walnut Creek, then along Vulture Rock Creek, then along Homestead Creek.  Just before the bridge over Vulture Rock Creek, you pass an interesting old concrete dam that today forms a nice waterfall.

Old concrete dam

            Ignore the pink-blazed Upland Trail that exits right before you cross the final 2 bridges, both simple wooden bridges over Homestead Creek.  Just past 2.5 miles, the fuchsia-blazed Chicopee Backcountry Trail, this park's longest and hardest trail, exits left.  Another pair of picnic tables here makes a nice creekside spot to rest before tackling the final climb of the hike.

Final trail bridge

            The climb away from Homestead Creek is the steepest and muddiest part of this loop, but it only gains about 100 vertical feet of elevation.  At 2.8 miles, you reach the secondary parking area, where you need to turn right to hike a short connector trail down to the outbound portion of the Bridge Loop, thus closing the loop.  Turn left and retrace your steps back to the Elachee Nature Science Center to finish the hike.