Chatt NRA North to South: Part 2 - Orrs Ferry & Settles Bridge

This series of hikes is designed to celebrate the beautiful collection of parks that we have in "our own backyard”, the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. Administered by the National Park Service, the Chatt NRA offers miles of scenic trails, picturesque river views, and sightings of aquatic wildlife.

While the AOC frequently offers hikes at many of these parks, I thought it would be fun to hike all the branches, starting from the most northern (Bowmans Island) to the most southern (East and West Palisades).

For details on the other hikes in the series, visit the AOC forums...

Chatt NRA North to South thread

...or just watch the calendar for upcoming installments

Part 2: Orrs Ferry & Settles Bridge

Join us for a hike at two of the lesser known units of the Chattahoochee Recreation Area. While there are no official developed trails here, there are many well-defined fisherman "use" trails that we will mainly be following. There is a little off-trail hiking...but on this terrain it would hardly be called proper bushwhacking.

We will begin in the Settles Bridge unit, first hiking out and back about 2 miles south from the trailhead. Then after a quick resupply stop at the cars, we will jump back on the trail, headed north.   There are some nice shoal areas along the river, so we will stop at them for some snack breaks.  We will keep heading north, onto a proper trail for a bit, and then back into the woods. We will cross into the Orrs Ferry unit and will turn around at Fish Weir Shoals, just south of GA20.  We can have a longer lunch break here if time permits.

There are a number of areas where a side creek runs into the Chattahoochee, so we will need to hike/climb down these short steep creek banks and up the other side to continue on. These sections of the hike are mainly why it is rated D3 and not D2. This is not especially difficult, but you do need to have reasonably strong legs. You may want to wear some clothes and shoes that you don't mind getting a little dirty, just in case.  But those creek areas add a bit of adventure to this hike and are rather fun, if slightly challenging.

Total hiking time should be about 3.5 to 4 hrs...total distance about 7 miles. We will be moving at a pretty good pace on the flat areas which is 95% of the hike, but again this is a light D3 with little elevation gain.  This area of the river is very pretty and there should be a variety of wildlife to view, etc. 

Traveling north on I-85, take exit 111 and turn left (NW) onto Lawrenceville Suwanee Road. Proceed 6.1 miles (at some point the name of the road will change to Suwanee Dam Road)

Turn left on Johnson Road and proceed 1.1 miles. Turn right onto Settles Bridge Road and straight onto the road that takes you to the parking/trailhead (you will see the sign). While this last mile is on a gravel road, it is well graded and fine for all vehicles.

(Note: there is also a "Settles Bridge Road" on your left not long after you cross Ptree Industrial. This is not where you want to turn, so don't get confused there).

There is no parking fee at this unit of the Chatt NRA.

And if rain is forecast, the hike will be rescheduled for a later date.