3x3x3 in the ATL

I've been spending the past 3 weeks in Atlanta walking my regular 3 miles every morning and thought I'd jot down my thoughts on the 3 walking trails I frequent (3x3x3!).  All of these are within a 10 min. drive of my parents' home in Sandy Springs. 

The first is the 3.1 mile Cochran Shoals trail at the Chattahoochee River.  $3 parking or a $25 annual pass applies (enforced!).  This is one of my favorite places to walk anywhere and I think it's been around forever... I have pics of my family here from 25 years ago.  This is a super flat gravel trail that runs mainly along the river for 1.5 miles, almost entirely in the shade.  The trail continues on a loop for another mile or so, but this part has no shade so I usually turn around at the 1.5 mile mark.  I recently walked the exposed part on an overcast day and was rewarded by seeing a snake and a deer!  Water fountains and trash cans are at .5 miles and 1.5 miles with a mediocre dog fountain at .5 miles.  A bummer of this trail is that people seem to be revolting against the lack of frequent trash cans and just leave their dog waste in bags ALL OVER THE TRAIL.  This is the only reason I can come up with.  It trashes up the trail.  I can survive carrying poop in a bag for a mile.  Poop aside, this trail is still a winner and during the summer it's a great spot to watch people (I must pass over a hundred within an hour) and tubers and kayakers (several outfitters offer a put-in near the 0 mile marker on the opposite side of the river). 

Photo from ChastainParkConservancy.org

I've also been going to Chastain Park.  This is a 3.1 mile trail that winds mainly around North Fulton Golf Course and has a few nice hills.  There are 3 paths (2 are 5km and 1 is 2.6km).  One of the 5k paths (the blue trail) takes you behind the playground area where the bbq pavillions are (Park Dr.) and it's a little isolated - for safety I would stick with the red trail that stays on W. Wieuca.  This trail does not get a ton of shade but is paved and not too busy.  Part of the Powers Ferry section of the trail is wicked narrow and difficult with a dog on a short leash... especially so if you are passing dogs or strollers.  A campaign is underway to widen this section - you can find out more here.  My favorite things about this trail is that there are tons of fountains (all with dog fountains), tons of garbage bins and tons of benches and swinging benches.  The benches are in great condition and are comfortable to stop at.

Photo from AtlantaTrails.com

This week I also tried out the 3.8 mile Paces Mill/Rottenwood Creek trail at the Chattahoochee.  $3 parking or an annual pass applies.  This is a wide, paved trail that runs along the river in the beginning, then the Creek, then close to a road (so lots of road noise) with a small waterfall at the 1.5 mile marker.  This was the hilliest of the three trails I've walked.  The mile markers are erratic (.38 miles, .89 miles, etc.), there are very few benches and no water fountains or trash cans from mile marker 0 to 1.5.  The trail goes on to 1.8 miles so I'm not sure if there were any amenities at the other end of the trail.  While I enjoyed this trail, it doesn't have a ton of shade coverage and I thought if ever you hear about someone getting abducted on a trail, it'd be this one.  At Cochran Shoals you may walk past several hundred folks in an hour.  At this trail I think I walked past 15 or so.  It felt quite isolated and I would only walk here again with someone else, or with Emmy Lou, the ferocious biting puppy.  Additional photos and a video from Paces Mill can be found here.