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    Sope Creek

    4.6 (46 reviews)

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    John B.

    This is a part of the extensive national park land that surrounds the waterways in Atlanta's suburbs. This spot had a smallish parking area and requires payment (or display of a national park pass). The trails and verdant and mildly hilly. The most notable feature is a set of ruins of various industrial buildings, which make for an interesting visual experience. There's plenty of other places to spend an hour or two hiking around.

    Kemsey M.

    I've been coming here since I was a little kid and it's always great! Whether you're looking for a casual stroll around the pond, walking down to the creek or looking for a longer hike, Sope Creek trails are great for it all. There is a little platform by the pond where people will fish. The ruins by the creek are so much fun when you're a kid to explore. As a kid I spent a lot of time playing on the rocks of the creek in the summers. As a adult, I've hiked short trips on the trails and longer trips from Sope Creek to the Cochran Shoals trails. There's a lot of area here to explore. We love it so much we even took our engagement photos here

    The ruins
    An N.

    As of October 2024, parking is free at the Sope Creek Trailhead in case you see anything contradictory. Easy trail with lots of bikes. The ruins themselves are off the main bike path.

    Sign
    Dave W.

    Sope Creek is a real neat park. It is part of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) federal parks along the Chattahoochee River. Sope Creek is used primarily for hiking and biking. Today a group of 10 friends hiked 6 miles around the park. Trails are marked with maps at junctions. Highlights included mill ruins along the creek and an old graveyard in the middle of park. See pics. Medium size parking lot which gets busy on weekends and holidays. Parking fee is required here (currently $5). Three CRNRA units connect together: Sope Creek, Cochran Shoals, and Powers Island. One of my friends said you can do a 17 mile hike if you combine all of them. Nice! Great area and worth a stop. My favorite CRNRA unit is "Island Ford", see my review .... but all of them are worth a stop at least once if you are in the area.

    Lots and lots of roots around the river bed
    Holly K.

    Sope Creek Trails had abundant parking on a Thursday. Perhaps 6 cars when we arrived and 20-ish spots. Bring your dog, your bike, your sneaks and maybe a light spray of mosquito repellent. On a Sunday lucked out getting a spot as someone was leaving. This loop allows you to explore the park's highlights; the trails are abundant on both sides of Sope's rocky creek bed before looping to the placid waters of Sibley Pond (if your hubby doesn't mess about and slide on a rock and fall in-yup, he did that on the weekday, so we went back on Sunday). If you want to get to the Ruins quickly, download from All trails or another trail application because the trail signs/markers don't indicate where to go. Sope Creek Trails are covered quite nicely so you won't burn up. Feels 10 degrees cooler here! Plus, so much quieter. The hike departs at the Sope Creek trailhead and there are maps at every turn guiding your way, they do tell you no bikes or bike path. Do be careful on weekends...if you walk where bikes go and have small kids...the bike guys come pretty fast (some not all) you may want to stick to the paths that have no bikes). If you can go weekdays vs weekend so quiet and more enjoyable. But go, enjoy and just kick around the many trails :)

    Events
    Erin S.

    I went for a hike on a 9:00 am on a Friday in July. It wasn't crowded at all and there was plenty of parking. They have dog waste bins and other secure trash cans at the trailhead. There was also a water fountain. The signage was really good and the trails were well-marked. There were signs at every fork we passed. The creek, pond, and paper mill are all nice to see. You can hear the traffic at certain parts on the trail, but it's separated enough. Minimal elevation change. Shaded with trees. Great place for a leisurely walk.

    Dog
    Violet F.

    I love that the trails loop back around, maps are in several different locations. 10/10

    Kevin G.

    Here's to one of the many trail opportunities offered up by Chattahoochee River Parks. Sope Creek Parking can be found off Paper Mill Rd, right off Johnson Ferry Rd before you hit the VERY steep hill going down to the river and Columns Drive. It's about 2.5 miles from Johnson Ferry Rd. One thing to be cautious of is how curvy the road gets before you get to the parking lot. Most of the parks in this area require a pay-to-park, which is typically $3. Or, you can get an annual pass for $35. If you're planning to visit more trails in the area, I would recommend just opting for the annual pass. Seeing that I'm running on these trails 4-5 days per week, it doesn't take a mathematician to figure out how much value is in the annual pass. This parking lot is fairly small and might offer up around 30 spots. However, if you can find a spot, it's certainly a trail worth checking out. I took my son up here this past weekend, and thought it would be fun to hike to the creek. I've run these particular trails hundreds of times, but have never hiked them. To be honest, I never even realized they had maps on the trail telling you of your exact location either. I've just run them and tried to memorize where I was going. They have some beginner parts, intermediate parts and then some very rugged terrain. You'll need to keep an eye out for bikers, as some trails allow bikers (who fly down them) and some don't. Part of the trails can get pretty rocky, so depending on the route you want to go, you might want to wear some thick shoes (as the little rocks can really hurt). There are NO restrooms at this part, which is why i bumped it down one star. However, there is a water fountain (multi-level for adults, kids and pets) and park benches. There is easily about 7-9 miles of trails back in here, maybe more. It's hard to get lost if you follow the maps, so that should be comforting for beginners. The sites along the walk are great, and two particular areas are worth the trip: a very calm pond and the old Marietta Paper Mill Company ruins. If you take the trail to your immediate left, you'll hit the ruins. If you go straight from the parking lot, you'll hit the pond at the bottom of the hill (less than a quarter mile). My son and I explored the pond first. They have little brim in there swimming near the dock, and it was almost twilight zone like when we threw a small leaf in the water and ALL the fish literally turned around and were STARING at us. It was freaky. I assume they've been well trained to be fed from here. Him and I hiked about 2-3 miles, and decided to check out the old ruins. This is certainly worth the trip, as it sits right by the river, with tons of rocks and shallow spots to wade in. It's also great for pictures. The story behind the mill is a good one to read, as it was built in the 1850s, burned down, built again in the 1870s, burned down again, and then built again until it's final use in the very early 1900s. All that remains are the stone walls, but you can pull up pictures of it on the internet, and see what it looked like in the early 1900s, as well as the once covered bridge right near it. Truly fascinating to see. There were tons of families and couples hiking, so good for all ages. I would highly recommend this as a spot to check-out!

    Bill W.

    My son lives about a mile west of here as the crow flies and a couple times a week, he will take my two Grandsons here. It's one of their favorite spots. Last week when we were down for Thanksgiving, I went with them. We did not walk all the way down to the Chattahoochee but did walk down from the main parking lot to the Lake and then circumnavigated the Lake and back. An interesting walk with a three year old who did keep up nicely. The one year old was safely strapped into a carrier on his fathers back. It's surprising to me to find this much space conserved in the Atlanta area. This was an old Paper Mill and you can still visit the ruins. Park is well maintained and the Park Service takes good care of it. Dylan the three year old was not happy we did not bring along anything to feed the turtles. Apparently that is something the local kids like to do. That and catch and release the small snappers. It's a pleasant walk and while there is an incline to the lake, it's not difficult. We were there during a drought where it had not rained in 45 days plus so the lake level was down. Still it was a nice walk and the kids enjoyed it. Word of caution. This is maintained by the National Park Service and requires a permit. One day is $3 and annual is $35. (recently up from $25). My son did not place his pass in a prominent position on this dash and got a ticket. Options were to buy the $3 pass, get an annual one for $35. Not sure what he did since his current annual permit is good till February 2017

    Nicki K.

    Photos on IG of the ruins is what lead me to Sope Creek. I've heard about it from ex-coworkers (they no longer work with me at my current job). Because I don't live in the area but just work in the area, never do I want to come after work to hike nor on weekends. However, because I was itching to go hiking cause it is going to be sunny all weekend, I dragged my hubby to go hiking with me. We have the annual Chattahoochee pass since hubby likes to fish at the Hooch. Since it's been raining, we haven't used much of it. I had no idea where the ruins is. We just kept walking and walking. The only thing I remember reading online is that it's half a mile to get to the ruins. We just kept walking and walking and found the pond. Afterwards, we took a chance and just went left and kept walking, and walking, and walking. Never did we find the ruins, we didn't hit every marker but hubby was hangry so we left after me hitting 8,000 steps on my Fitbit. Thinking to myself is if this place is like East Palasides where no one wants to tell you where the bamboo is. I had to keep going and finally found it on my own. The map is not hard to follow and much better than East Palasides. Wide Nature trails. Very well shaded also. I will come back to find the ruins!! 82/2019

    Gil E.

    Great place for a day hike. My wife and I went out on a beautiful mid week afternoon, hiked down to the ruins of the old mill, packed a lunch and just had a really nice time. Excellent hiking, lots to see and do.

    Parking is $5. We came on a day where it was free!
    Joua N.

    I came here to do a photoshoot. I came a day early to scope out locations to shoot. We got lost because most of the maps on the markers were chipped or broken in half. It took us a long time to find the ruins as it was not labeled on the map. But after the frustrations of being lost, we finally found the Paper Mill Ruins and the creek. It was absolutely beautiful and totally worth getting lost. We didn't get to see the pond. We definitely plan to come here again and exploring the entire park. Tip #1: Parking is $5. Bring exact cash! Tip #2: The ruins and the creek are on Marker SC27. It's a little over a half mile walk. Follow the sound of the cars on Paper Mill Road. Tip #3: Wear comfortable shoes with good traction.

    Paper mill ruins.
    Robin S.

    The entire Chattahoochee National Recreation Area system rocks, which is not a surprise because everything the National Park Service is associated with rocks. That said, the Sope Creek unit is exceptionally cool. Along with the usual awesome trails and forests and creeks and rivers, you have a pretty neat set of ruins: the Paper Mill ruins. You'll find them just past SC-27 on the map (where Paper Mill Road crosses the crick). You can climb in and all around them; the stones used to build them make great steps. But you need to go to the other side of the creek to see the rest of the ruins, between SC-28 & 29 on the map. It's a dead-end trail but not real long and totally worth the trip. Although you can see the bulk of the ruins from the trail, which is a bit elevated from the creek, do also go down to the creek at one of several places along the trail and at the ruins. This unit has good elevation changes, so you can get a workout if you want one. Or you can take it easy. The trails are well marked and easy to walk- as with all the Chattahoochee NRA units - but some have a lot of tree roots. Watch your step. Also typical of the Chatt NRA - there are good trail intersection maps, making it easy to track your hike. Except for between SC-18 &16, on the west side. There you will find many unmarked trails and intersections. One of the paths leads off to Paper Mill Road - a trail you won't find on the map - and even has a blue-marked tree, normally the marker for the 'official' path. Very misleading. In the end, I decided to follow the topography, knowing that the mapped trail should end up at the lake, which is at a lower elevation. But it's not like you're gonna get lost in the woods, never to be seen or heard from again. This is, after all, a city park. Sope Creek has a mix of hiking-only trails and hiking/biking trails. The hiking trails are a bit less developed and offer a better chance to get away from people. Not that that was a problem when I was here - my hike started out at a temperature of 26 degrees on a Friday - not many people at all. And I saw no bikers.

    Nice, immersive feeling not far from the city

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    5 years ago

    MUST PAY FOR PARKING. That was the main drawback of this trail system. The old paper mill ruins are cool and right next to the creek.

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    Excellent hike for the pups! Just be cautious of the mountain bikers.

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Sope Creek

    Is there a good place to watch the sunset on the trail or an overlook?

    There used to be a bench to site and look but last week it was missing.. There is some road construction going on.. I hope they get back the bench soon

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    Review Highlights - Sope Creek

    You'll find them just past SC-27 on the map (where Paper Mill Road crosses the crick).

    Mentioned in 5 reviews

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    Whitewater Creek Trail - Golden retriever relaxing at dog beach at Whitewater Creek.

    Whitewater Creek Trail

    4.3(39 reviews)
    4.5 miBuckhead

    This was such a beautiful hike! If you plan on hiking try arriving before 11:00am as the parking…read morelot fills up pretty quickly! Be sure to use the restroom prior to arrival as there are NO restrooms on site. If you want to see the bamboo forest there is a certain way that will take you there. The bamboo forest can be found on EP 26 (see map). If you plan on going on a hike have fun exploring and enjoying God's nature! This location is great for a day date, place to chat with friends or nice getaway for a solo trip!

    Great hiking area! The trail is more level the closer you are to the Chattahoochee River. The…read moretrails farther from the river are more challenging, as some of the trail segments are steep, few of the trail segments are wide and most of the trails have ruts and tree roots that can easily trip you up if you're not watching where you're walking. Parking at the Whitewater Creek parking lot may be challenging. When the weather is nice during the weekends, people tend to come early, and the parking lot down at the bottom near the Chattahoochee River will get full. I haven't even attempted to come here if I think parking may be tight. Oh, and many people think that parking is free, but it's not. There is currently a $5 fee for parking here, and you can pay online using the instructions at the shelter that has park info where the parking lot stops and the trail starts. Bring at least one bottle of water, and know that there aren't any restrooms. Most of the trail segments are marked on maps posted at trail intersections telling visitors where they are, and which trail segment they're on. Before you visit, check the weather forecast for the area. You don't want to be on the trail when it is raining because it gets slippery. You also don't want to be out on the trail when it's dark; the unevenness of the trails are dangerous in the dark. Go at your own pace, and enjoy your hike and the views along the way!

    Photos
    Whitewater Creek Trail - Dog shaking off water.

    Dog shaking off water.

    Whitewater Creek Trail - German shepherd chasing ball

    German shepherd chasing ball

    Whitewater Creek Trail - Bamboo forest!

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    Bamboo forest!

    Edge of the World

    Edge of the World

    4.6(14 reviews)
    36.1 mi

    Edge of the World is a great nearby walking trail that winds along Amicalola Creek. The trail is…read moremostly easy, with a mix of wooden walkways (watch out for a few holes) and dirt paths. There are also a few side trails that climb up the mountain if you're looking for a bit more of a challenge (including dodging Joro spiders!). The small waterfalls are beautiful, and the cool creek water is perfect for dipping your feet in on a warm day.

    Loved the Edge of the World! All I could think in my head was the song, it's the end of the world…read moreas we know it, & I feel fine. The Edge of the World is a landscape we never see. It was semi difficult hike just because we live in Florida and use to live in Illinois (AKA Flatland), but we did it. The easiest way to this is from the parking lot, walk to the left and walk down the stairs. Keep walking on the boardwalk and watch for holes in the boardwalk. When the boardwalk is done, keep walking and then you will come to trees, the trees have steps made from the trees, & carefully watch your step and go down. I actually scooted my butt down and then climbed the tree steps. It was not bad, just something I'm not accustomed to. You will see the water and rocks moving and it is just so beautiful. People walk through and sit in the water and take pics. Be careful when you walk through it can be slippery. We had water shoes. Water is so refreshing. We actually walked the long way, which is walking to the right of the parking lot to the start of the boardwalk. We didn't want to walk down the stairs bc they looked pretty steep. It really is amazing. I'd say you will be here about an hour or two. Parking is free and there are a bunch of signs you need a fishing license. Which we don't have. We just parked And walked!

    Photos
    Edge of the World
    Edge of the World
    Edge of the World

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    Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area West Palisades - 2/25 Pregame hike PM to WP - towards E Palisades Bamboo Forest

    Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area West Palisades

    4.6(11 reviews)
    3.4 mi

    This is a nice hiking area along the Chattahoochee River. We use this area primarily for hiking,…read morebut there are other activities on the CNRA website. This area is federal land with parking pass fee or use your annual/lifetime pass. First, the confusing part. Getting there! There is small sign or Akers Mill (see my picture) and it does not refer to it as West Palisades, even though all the markers inside the park say that. The intersections in the park on the trails are indicated as WP1, WP2, WP3, ... So to navigate go from one junction to another. There is handy wooden trail map at every junction. Trail names are non existent. Parking lot off Akers Mill is large and paved, but no bathrooms (WP12). Another large parking lot off Cobb Parkway has bathrooms (WP1). Also the park connects to county parks along Rottenwood Creek, which gives additional options. These are paved and more oriented towards bicycles. We did an 8 mile hike here. Starting at WP12. Hiking trails through the woods and along the river, back and forth with some decent elevation. When we got to WP1 we hiked along the Rottenwood Creek trail back to Akers Mill. At that point we walked along the road back to the parking area. Very nice combo of woods, paved paths, sidewalks. This was after Hurricane Zeta, so a lot of blow down on the trails but we were able to get around it. (See pics). A good workout! This was during covid and midweek, busy but not too bad. Have been here on the weekend and lots of folks, but plenty of parking and with the large size of the area plenty of space between groups hiking. Great area near the metropolitan area.

    West Palisades and Palisades Cobb Natural Resource Area, Bob Callan Trail and Rotten Creek are all…read moreconnected and this review is for all 4. These natural parklands are a good place for walking, running, biking, kayaking and fly fishing! Ambiance is a natural park in the edge of a bustling city flanked by urban infrastructures...not manicured, full of bushes, trees, streams and the river with huge concrete overpasses. It's a good location to visit nature ITP. Here's the DL. About 1/3 of the paved trails and 3/4 of the unpaved trails are canopied with rolling elevation (~900 feet). Here, you could stroll a peaceful couple of miles and trail run moderate 5 - 8 miles. The paved trails are well marked and easy to navigate. But, the undeveloped trails are NOT with limited signs /blazes. Most unpaved trails are in the forest and have limited views of the river. Some parts are ridden with roots, loose rocks and boulders so wear proper shoes. When you do go on undeveloped trails, please "leave NO trace". There's a small ruin in the middle of the parklands but is unmarked, very steep with heavy over-growth. Biking is allowed ONLY on paved trails. Fly-fishing, I see when the water level is lower with slower currents. Encounters with trail blocking gumps occur here on weekends. Sunday strollers with NO self-awareness, blocking both sides, leisurewear selfie posers blocking trails and some parking themselves in the middle of an unpaved trail... :-/ Dogs on leash. There is No Maid service here to picks up your duty bag(s). There's a trash bin specifically for pets at the parking lot so pack out your 4 legged kids' mess paw-leash! Self-service...there are a few picnic tables, benches, animal proof trash bins, bathrooms, water fountains at the trail head and a boat ramp adjacent to the parking lot (off Cobb PKY / 41) for boats and kayaks. Next to the bathrooms there's a leveled grass area for Frisbees or other group games. Occasionally, I've seen CCP riding bicycles or electric motorcycles here as 2PDs are nearby. Parking is $3/day or $35/year and has about 60+ spots. Drive slowly...it's not the smoothest lot. Pay at the trailhead next to the boat ramp and the bathrooms. Be sure to display the perforated paper on your dash as rangers regularly check and ticket. These 4 nature areas are great if you are looking to workout with elevation changes in varying terrains...wood, boulders, concrete, mud, loose rocks, dirt...with views of the forest, streams and river at a nearby location. Enjoy!

    Photos
    Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area West Palisades - 3/25 Rainbow trout for lunch!

    3/25 Rainbow trout for lunch!

    Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area West Palisades - 3/25 low h2o level and first almost Spring in the 60s Fahrenheit

    3/25 low h2o level and first almost Spring in the 60s Fahrenheit

    Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area West Palisades - 2/25 Pregame hike PM to WP - fishing @ West Palisades

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    2/25 Pregame hike PM to WP - fishing @ West Palisades

    Sope Creek - parks - Updated May 2026

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