Hiking Sweetwater Creek State Park, Atlanta USA
Georgia State Park Hiking Trails Are Archeaological And Historical
Aug 1, 2009
The most popular trail at Sweetwater Creek State Park is the one mile Sweetwater Red Trail or the Factory Ruins Trail. This is a wide gravel trail leading to Sweetwater Creek and then downstream to the ruins of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company.
New Manchester Manufacturing Company and the Confederate Army
This company made cloth for Confederate troops during the Civil War, which is why General Sherman ordered the factory and other buildings burned to the ground on July 9, 1864. Factory workers, mostly women and children at the time, were packed up and sent north to a prison camp in Louisville, Kentucky, according to Donald W. Pfitzer in the 2000 Hiking Georgia.
Once the trail passes the ruins, it becomes more difficult as it continues down along the creek to falls created by granite outcrops. The Brevard Fault zone runs through this section of the park, so look for jagged rocks of the fault zone in the white water rapids of the creek. There are granite cliffs along the bank with a set of steps rising to a platform that overlooks the falls.
Blue Trail Offers a Quieter Hike Inland
This moderate trail, called a nongame wildlife trail by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, allows hikers a quieter loop return to the trailhead, rather than backtracking up the more populated Sweetwater Red Trail. The two miles of this trail, although it parallels Sweetwater Creek, meanders inland, following a gravel road into several stream coves and following the ridges that overlook the creek.
Jack’s Branch and Jack's Lake of the White Trail
The three mile moderate to difficult White Trail loop is also considered a nongame wildlife trail by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. This trail continues down Sweetwater Creek from the falls overlook curving around numerous massive rock outcroppings. The trail turns from the creek and follows the Jack’s Branch brook upstream, steadily climbing a ridge onto an unpaved road that overlooks Jack’s Lake. This lake, according to Pfitzer, was formed by a damned creek. The trail continues up along the road, through a small forested area and into open fields before ending at the trailhead.
Native American Shelter Found on the Sweetwater Yellow Trail
The Yellow Trail is also a moderate to difficult three mile loop. It is accessed by starting out on the Red Trail and then veering left to follow the yellow blazes. This trail then drops into the creek valley. There is a bridge for crossing the creek and then the trail heads downstream. At the fork, turn left and the trail climbs up into the Sweetwater Creek watershed, gaining an elevation of approximately 350 feet. As the trail descends, there is a large rock overhang to the left. “Archaeologists estimate that Native Americans used this as shelter for several thousand years,” according to the Trails at Sweetwater State Park page on the Georgial State Parks Web site.
Finding the Trailhead
Take I-20 West to Exit 44 at Thornton Road. Turn left onto Thornton Road and then at Blair’s Bridge Road turn right. At Mount Vernon Road turn left. The park is on the left. Follow Factory Shoals Road to the parking area at the end which is where the trailhead is for all the trails.
The many unique features of Sweetwater State Park provide a point of interest for almost anyone, from historical factory ruins and archaeological rock overhangings, to white water rapids and hardwood forests.
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