Can you find one that looks like a dragon? Go to the base of a Red Pine tree and pick up the bark flakes on the ground.Notice it’s red colour and that the bark flakes off as odd, rounded shapes. One is right next to the trail at this point and the other is on the edge of the slope just down from the fallen tree. The neat thing about red pine is that the bark flakes off the trunk in neat designs and shapes. These are some big trees, eh? The grey bark ones are either Hemlock or White Pine and the red bark ones are Red Pine. Stop on the little ridge just before the second dip and turn right up into the forest f or about 20 metres toward a fallen tree. It levels out after about 75 metres, and then after 50 metres of relative flat it dips steeply again. Back in 2014 when I first did the hike, this was still a viable section of the trail, and I got a great photo of what is known as Thornton Shoals.Follow the path and walk to the left past the washrooms and then down into the Ravine. To get a good photograph you’d almost have to lie flat on your belly to see under the branches. There aren’t even any good views of the Chattahoochee River, for trees line the shore and their branches droop low like weeping willows. Unfortunately, this area appears to have been abandoned, and the trail eventually peters out (the current map at the intersection calls it a “Non-official trail”). However, you can walk out to the river along a boardwalk if you take a right. The loop section of the hike continues to the left at WP 7. Be sure to check yourself for ticks if you must go off the trail. Intersection WP 7 is directly on the other side of the fallen tree. If it is still there when you do the hike, you must go around the tree to the left, bushwhacking your way through the brush. When I did the hike in September 2020, a massive tree was down, blocking the trail. You will cross a couple of footbridges over a small creek. There is a side trail here and there on the way to WP 7, but ignore these and stick to the main trail. Most of the terrain on the loop trail is flat and easy to hike. Intersections WP 15 and WP 9 just across the dirt road The National Park Service has moved around some of the intersections, including WP 13 and 14, closed some of the trails, and now the hike starts at the new handicap parking area. This refers to the fact that the parking lot for the Akers Drive section of the Palisades Unit used to be at WP 12, and that’s where the hike used to start. Signs stating TRAIL REROUTE are posted at the start. The lower parking area, where anyone hiking the trail must park-this is not a handicap accessible trail-is just a short walk from the trailhead. The hike starts at WP 13, which is located in the upper section of the parking lot, a section for handicap visitors only. You might be wondering, “Who in the world would do that?” Believe me, it happens. The intersection number is given there.ĭespite trail maps being posted, it is best to bring a copy of the map with you because you never know when some lowlife will vandalize the map stands. To find out where you are, look at the very bottom left of the trail map. Unlike maps on other trails within Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area where the intersection numbers are colored yellow on the map, making it easy to figure out where you are, the maps at West Palisades are not color coded (or are colored so lightly that they look the same as all other numbers). Trail maps are posted in stands at each intersection. At Akers Drive, you are on the trails right from the start. If you park at Paces Mill (WP 1) you have a 30-minute round trip walk on the Rottenwood Creek Trail just to get to the hiking trails. If you plan to hike the actual hiking trails on the west side of the Palisades Unit of Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, not the paved, multi-use Rottenwood Creek Trail, it is best to park at the Akers Drive parking lot (WP 13 on the above map). West Palisades Hike Map (click to enlarge)ĭownload the West Palisades Trail Map (PDF).
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