Sweetwater Creek... W-B-G-R-Y-O-B = 12 Miles

Join us for 12 miles of hiking at Sweetwater Creek State Park - where history and pop culture meet with some beautiful hiking trails. 

We’ll meet at the Visitor’s Center for introductions. We’ll begin our hike on the White trail, which will take us through the Jack’s Hill area (a former farming community). We’ll pass Jack’s Lake and hike along a lovely branch creek to Sweetwater Creek. Here we’ll take a hard left up the short but fierce Brown trail to get some elevation gain. We’ll be doing some zig zagging on the White and Green trails to finally reach the Red trail that runs along Sweetwater Creek. That will take us up to the Manchester Mill ruins. This  mid-19th century textile mill has more recently been featured in the Hunger Games movies. 

After taking the White trail up to the Visitor’s Center for a short break, we will head out on the Yellow trail (more elevation gain), veer off on the Orange and Blue trails and back to the Yellow trail, returning to the Visitor’s Center.

The Red trail will take us across some rocky terrain so if you’re not comfortable scrambling across rocks, you may want to sit this one out. We will maintain a moderate pace for the duration of the hike. We’ll need to stay fairly close together as there are a lot of turns on these trails.

The elevation gain for this hike will be approximately 1500 feet. This is a long solid D4 hike so please be ready with good hiking boots and enough water (you can refill at the Visitor’s Center on our break). It is NOT a beginner’s hike. We ask that you have solid D3 and up experience.

Directions to Sweetwater Creek Park -- 1750 Mt. Vernon Rd. Lithia Springs:  

• Take I-20 west from Atlanta, exit #44 at Thornton Road, turn left and go 1/4 mile.
• Turn right on Blairs Bridge Road, go 2 miles and turn left on Mount Vernon Road.
• Travel a couple more miles and into the park.
• Just after crossing over the lake, look for a sign that says hiking/nature trails, and take a left there (there is a small entry gate).
• Continue straight to the end of the road to the parking area.

You will need an annual Georgia State Park pass or $5 to purchase a day pass.