Sweetwater Hike Exploring Some Off Trail Sites (Beginners Welcome)

Winter time when the trees are bare is some of the best time to spot old ruins, old roads and other sites of interest that are totally missed with the summer folage. 

Let’s hike some of the trails at Sweetwater Creek State Park that few people have probably seen.  We will attempt to locate the ruins of a couple old houses that the "locals" refer to as the Beatnik Houses.  We will also visit an old cemetery that few have seen.  Note that it's listed as exploritory not because the trip leader has not been on these trails, but because they are sometimes a little harder to navigate sections off trail.

If we have time, we will also see both the "hidden" lake that's not on trail maps as well as the famous old Mill Ruins.

While we are listing this as a "Beginners Welcome" hike it does involve some bush whacking and beginners might not find this enjoyable.  Our plan is not to do a lot of elevation but there will be some climbing involved - - and off-trail climbing is sometimes steep. 

Because of a glitch in the registration process, we've run into the problem of having too many members added to the active list above the maximum limit of 20.  Please be aware that we will be moving members above 20 registrants to the waiting list in the order of their registration times.  People will then be added to the active list as we have withdrawals.

This hike is located in a State Park so parking will cost $5 or use of an annual GA State Park parking pass. There are bathroom facilities in the Visitor Center near where we will depart along with an outstanding nature and history museum in the Visitor Center if you find that you have arrived early. No cost for the museum beyond the parking fee.  

1750 Mount Vernon Rd, Lithia Springs, GA 30122

Coordinates for the Parking Lot are 33.753299, -84.628643

Trail Map for Sweetwater Creek Trail:

https://gastateparks.org/sites/default/files/parks/pdf/trailmaps/SweetwaterCreek_TrailMap.pdf