One of my favorite state parks close to Atlanta is Sweetwater Creek. I’ve written about it for RootsRated, the now-defunct Touring Bird and here on this blog. Now that traveling has stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve ventured to several nearby outdoor spots for early morning hiking.

Fees & Parking

Although Georgia’s state parks remained open during the shelter-in-place order, we waited until the restrictions lifted in May to venture 30 minutes to the park located west of Atlanta, just a few miles off of  I-20.  The visitor center is still temporarily closed, but bathroom facilities are open. Fees are $5 per car which can be purchased online to avoid dealing with cash at the pay stations. 

The Trails

Sweetwater Creek offers several hiking trails, but the three most popular are the Red/History, the White and the Yellow/Eastside Trails. The Yellow/Eastside Trail crosses to the other side of the creek passing an Indian cave and offers views of the mill ruins from a different vantage point. From this trail, visitors can access the Orange and Blue Trails. 

Red/History Trail

Most people take the 1-mile (one-way) Red/History Trail which leads to the mill ruins. As we walked the wide, flat path, we could hear the rushing of water from the rapids. Soon, the creek came into view. 

Placards along the trail point out the historic points of interest. At 0.5 miles, we came to the former site of the 5-story New Manchester Manufacturing Mill. From 1849 to 1864, the company hired over 100 people and flourished until General Tecumseh Sherman burned it during the Civil War.

Most people turn around at this point and don’t take the remaining 0.5-mile to the end of the trail. The trail becomes steep and rocky, takes hikers closer to the breathtaking rapids. Several times sat on the large rocks along the creek’s edge thankful for being able to enjoy nature during the pandemic.

This part of the trail will take some time mainly because you’re having to avoid around tree roots and get sure footing among the uneven trail. In several places, railings helped guide us but there were plenty of times, I grabbed onto trees for extra support. Near the trail’s end, a set of wooden steps led us high to a vista. From here, we connected to the White Trail since we didn’t feel like backtracking. 

White Trail

The 5-mile White Trail makes a large loop and connects at the end of the Red/History Trail. At some point, I want to take the western loop of the trail that is longer and leads to Jack’s Branch and Jack’s Lake. For this hike, we took the eastern loop to head back to the parking lot.

The trail climbed along the ridge into a dense forest. Soon, we hiked by fields of ferns dappled by sunlight. Without realizing it, we came to the mill ruins overlook at the Red/History Trail. We continued on the White Trail since it was less populated. As the trail descended and turned away from the creek, sirens blared in the distance. We quickly realized this was the scheduled siren test for the county.

When we got back to the parking lot, we found it had filled up. It’s no wonder since this is one of the closest state parks to Atlanta. In non-pandemic times, Sweetwater offers guided ranger hikes and boat rentals. For more information, click the park’s website here.