Exploring the Creekside & Lakeshore Trails and Civil War Ruins of Sweetwater Creek State Park

IN A NUTSHELL:  The beautiful and historic 2500-acre Sweetwater Creek State Conservation Park is just a few minutes west of Atlanta via I-20, but is sadly under-appreciated by most Atlantans, I hope you can join us this Wednesday for an adventurous moderately paced 5-mile hike that will include much of the shoreline of the park's 20-acre lake (a.k.a. "Sparks Reservoir") as well as a couple of its most popular creekside trails.  The weather forecast expects a gorgeous spring day - in the 70s at midday, with lots of sunshine.
  We'll gather at 12:00 Noon in the small lakeside parking lot that's just inside the northern entrance to the park on Mt. Vernon Rd.  (See Directions and GPS Info below.)  There are several picnic tables there on the scenic lakeshore and I suggest that we kick off the event by having a brief light (BYO) picnic lunch together.   We'll target beginning the hike from that lot at 12:15 and arriving back at the cars by 2:30 in time to avoid rush hour traffic.  (Feel free to "split early" if you need to for any reason, provided you let me know.  I can easily direct you back to your car.)

GENERAL HIKE PLAN:  There are dozens of "hidden gems" in the park that are unknown to most visitors but appear on my own detailed GA Orienteering Club topographic maps.  During our hike we'll take the time to locate many of these interesting mapped objects, as my O Club friends and I have enjoyed at numerous "O meets" there over the decades.  Some of these "gems" are around the periphery of the lake and others can be found along Sweetwater Creek and its adjoining  forested hillsides, etc. Along the way we can review the basics of how to use a topo map in conjunction with a simple magnetic compass to help us stay on course and safe in wilderness areas.
  The park is perhaps most famous for its historic creekside ruins of a thriving 19th century textile mill town, "New Manchester" (photo above) which we'll explore.  It was burned by Sherman's troops during his "March to the Sea" through GA in 1864.  Near these ruins is the park's fine Interpretive Center/ Museum which we'll take a few minutes to visit.  It has fascinating Civil War exhibits and free Park maps.

Leashed well-behaved dogs are welcome provided that they're kept under their owners' control at all times.

For more about Sweetwater Creek State Park click this link: http://www.gastateparks.org/SweetwaterCreek

For more about the GA Orienteering Club click this link: http://gaorienteering.org/
We offer a free online "Map & Compass O Tutorial" for beginners at:  http://gaorienteering.org/Education/BeginnerGuide/introduction.htm

DIRECTIONS to our lakeside PARKING & PICNICKING SPOT at SWEETWATER CREEK STATE PARK: (This small lot is on Mt. Vernon Rd just north of the bridge over the Park's big lake)
GPS Users can enter these concise Lat/Lon coordinates as your precise "Destination Address":  33.7629,-84.6378
A "dummy" Street Address that approximates the above Lat/Lon address is: 1515 Mt. Vernon Rd, Lithia Springs, GA
For a zoomable map/ satellite view of this meetup spot you can click the above square blue & green "Event Location" icon.

EASY STEP-by-STEP DIRECTIONS for DRIVERS coming from ATLANTA:
1.  From Downtown Atlanta take I-20 West about 15 miles and get off at Exit #41, "Lee Road"  (about 5 miles west of "Six Flags").
2.  Turn Left onto Lee Road, and go just 0.2 mile (southward over the I-20 bridge) to Monier Ave.
3.  Turn Left onto Monier Avenue and go 0.9 mile (eastward, parallel to I-20) to Mt. Vernon Rd.
4.  Turn Right onto Mt. Vernon Rd and go 0.6 mile to the small Sweetwater Ck State Park parking lot on your left, just before the bridge over the lake.  We'll park and picnic there as discussed above.  Each driver should either display a valid GA-DNR annual parking pass or pay the $5 daily fee in a self-serve envelope.