The city itself has tons of trees, so you feel surrounded by greenery even in the deep parts of the city-Atlanta has about 36% tree coverage (the national average is 27%, and no other major American city has this much).īut besides trees overall, the city is blessed with an abundance of forests and great running trails, including having the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area sitting right on the city limits. That’s not even counting Piedmont Park (189 acres right in the heart of the city) and the Beltline, which I won’t get into in this particular post. West Palisades / Rottenwood Creek / Bob Callan Trail West Palisades / Rottenwood Creek / Bob Callan.Some of my favorite Atlanta (running) trails in this post: Both are great in their own way, but from where I lived, they were a pain to get to and park at, so I didn’t visit as often. I’m not positive exactly where the line for each trail is, but this connection of trails is hands-down my favorite in Atlanta. It’s paved, and about half-flat and half super-hilly. It’s good for walkers, bikers, strollers and wheelchairs, and dogs. And it’s in a great central location, right by Vinings and easy access to both 285 and 75 highways. This is part of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA), and the turn-in for the parking lot is just south of the Kroger on Cobb Parkway. There’s plenty of parking as well (though it does get crowded in the summer when crowds are “shooting the ‘Hooch”). Then you’ll veer off and walk along some smaller tributaries-though don’t be fooled, those become raging streams when we’ve had a bunch of rain! Parking is (last I checked) $3 each time or like $35-40 for a year pass to all the CRNRA trails.įrom the parking lot you’ll walk just a short distance til you at the trees and river, and then walk along the river for a while. This Atlanta trail manages to both feel secluded and also not feel isolated…there are pretty much always some people here and there, but it doesn’t ever feel crowded (but also doesn’t ever feel unsafe). ![]() I used to run here every weekend, and walk on Saturdays. The majority of it is shaded, though the hilly stretch is totally exposed to the sun (ohhhh the SWEAT). You might also like: 9 Sunscreens I Swear By For Travel In the spring it’s amazing watching everything bloom and flower, and I absolutely loved when the fall leaves changed and it was a blanket of vivid reds, oranges, and greens!Īnd there’s quite a lot of wildlife…in particular I used to always happen upon a gorgeous blue heron while I walked. It’s about 3.5 miles to the end and back. And the end (near the Weather Channel building) you can connect over to Cochran Shoals if you’re biking or something, but otherwise just turn around and head back to the parking lot. You can learn more about these trails here to plan your visit. This was my other main go-to Atlanta trail, and it had three major things in its favor-long, flat, and shaded. That’s right, this trail was literally a life-saver, because I could do my long runs during the summer and avoided heatstroke. The Silver Comet is an almost 62-mile trail that goes from Atlanta (Smyrna, technically) all the way to the Alabama state border. And if you want to get technical, it then connects up to another 33-mile trail from there. So for bikers or long-distance runners it’s a lifesaver. It’s also paved, flat, and has limited road crossings. ![]() There are a number of trailheads and parking areas along the Silver Comet, but I always parked at the very first one, Mavell Road. There’s quite a bit of parking here, and it tends to overflow when needed on the weekend to the elementary school next door. I only ever went about 3.5 to 4 miles down and then turned back (I’m not an insane runner so a total of 7-8 miles was my max), but it was almost entirely shaded, well-maintained, had plenty of traffic (for feeling safe), and some interesting things like overhead railroad bridges and a little tunnel.
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