A Pleasant Evening at East Palisades

The weather is going to be great Wed, so come join me at my favorite CRNRA park - East Palisades. The forecast is for clear skies, temps in the mid-70's, and relatively low humidity.

From Whitewater Creek we will hike at a brisk pace through most of the East Palisades Unit making a couple of brief stops to hydrate and 'smell the roses' and hopefully catch the sunset. We will be hiking many of the marked trails and also a couple miles of unmarked trails. With the planned route and lesser known trails, even those quite familiar with East Palisades will probably get to experience some different trails - at least have them combined in a different manner. I will attempt to time it so that we can be at an overlook to watch the sunset. However, we'll have to hoof it back to the parking lot from the overlook, because the park closes 30 minutes after sunset.

Note: This hike will entail a lot of hills (about 1,200 feet of ascent), will be at a brisk pace (~3 mph), so it's a solid D3 and not for beginners.

GPS Coordinates:

Enter the following coordinates for the parking lot entrance into your Auto or Handheld GPS. (note: All Garmin, and most TomTom GPS's allow for direct coordinate entry; many "built-in" GPS's will not)
h ddd˚ mm' ss.s" -----  N 33˚ 52' 35.7", W 84˚ 26' 16.3"
h ddd˚ mm.mmm' --- -- N 33˚ 52.595', W 84˚ 26.271'

From I -285 Eastbound:

• Take exit 22, Northside Drive, New Northside Drive, Powers Ferry Road.
• Right on Northside Drive.
• Go through the Powers Ferry intersection for 1.6 miles to Harris Trail (Caution light).
• Right on Harris Trail and 0.9 mile to Whitewater Creek Rd.
• Right on Whitewater Creek Rd. and entrance will be on the right (.1 mile).

From I-285 Westbound:

• Take exit 22, Northside Drive, New Northside Drive, Powers Ferry Road.
• Straight to second traffic light.
• Left on Northside Drive
• Go through the Powers Ferry intersection for 1.6 miles to Harris Trail (Caution light).
• Right on Harris Trail and 0.9 mile to Whitewater Creek Rd.
• Right on Whitewater Creek Rd. and entrance will be on the right (0.1 mile).

From I-75 Northbound:

• Take exit 256, Mt. Paran Road.
• Right on Mt. Paran Road, go to the first traffic light (Harris Trail) and turn left.
• Go about 0.3 miles and turn left onto Whitewater Creek Road.
• Unit is on the right (0.1 mile).

From U.S. 41 (Cobb Parkway) northbound:

• Travel to Mt. Paran Road
• Right on Mt. Paran Road, go to the first traffic light (Harris Trail) and turn left.
• Go about 0.3 miles turn left onto Whitewater Creek Road.
• Go 0.1 miles to the unit, which is on the right.

From U.S. 41 (Cobb Parkway) southbound:

• Travel to Mt. Paran Road
• Turn left on Mt. Paran Road, go to the first traffic light (Harris Trail) and turn left.
• Go about 0.3 miles turn left onto Whitewater Creek Road.
• Go 0.1 miles to the unit, which is on the right.

There is a $3 parking fee per vehicle unless you have an Annual Pass.  Either daily or annual pass must be displayed in the windshield of the vehicle.

We will need to begin this hike on time, so remember to factor in Atlanta rush hour traffic in timing your arrival.