Giving Back to favorite AOC Trails in the Chattahoochee River Nat’l Rec Area

NOTE SPECIAL 9:00 AM MEETUP SPOT!  Please carefully follow the DIRECTIONS BELOW to the Nat'l Park Service vehicle entrance gate for volunteers.  It's just a few yards outside the "Columns Drive" public parking lot for regular Park visitors.  By parking inside that normally locked gate we free up spaces in the public CRNRA lot.  Our hosts promise to be there at 9:00 AM to admit us to their special free parking area for the trail work project.  GPS users can enter these concise Lat/Lon coordinates 33.6871,-84.2741 as your destination address for the gate in lieu of an actual street address.  Please be on time allowing for traffic.

IN a NUTSHELL:    Please join us for this volunteer Trail Maintenance opportunity at one of our favorite local hiking venues, the beautiful Cochran Shoals unit of the Chattahoochee River Nat'l Recreation Area (CRNRA).  Esp. since our Club is one of the heaviest users of these and other scenic trails along the metro Atlanta river corridor we appreciate the invitation of our Nat'l Park Service partners to "give back" by pitching in with them to maintain and improve the Park's trails  No previous experience is necessary and they'll provide the necessary tools, gloves, and expert project supervision, etc.
  Our main focus for this work day will be to improve the walking surfaces and drainage of various sections of the trails.  (At other times the removal of invasive non-native vegetation may also be a priority - e.g., Chinese Privet, English Ivy, Kudzu, etc.)

EVENT TIMETABLE:  We'll be met at 9:00 AM at the special vehicle entrance gate for volunteers by our friend Dave Thomas of the Nat'l Park Service who is the CRNRA Volunteer Coordinator. See Directions below.  Dave will direct us to our free parking area a few yards down the gravel road inside the gate.  After introductions, waiver signing and a safety briefing we'll accompany our Nat'l Park Svc. hosts to their chosen "focus area" for our trail work.   (Other volunteers from the general public will also likely be pitching in.)  We expect to be back at our cars by 12:30 PM.  I suggest that we each stash a light picnic lunch & beverage(s) in our cars which we can enjoy together there just after the project.  Also if there's enough interest you're welcome to join me for a leisurely hike along the River before we depart.

THANKS for VOLUNTEERING!  We're proud of our Club's long tradition of participating in such worthy projects that benefit the environment and the community.  Our newly founded Volunteer Events committee is based on realizing how important these "give-back" efforts are, esp. to all who share our love for nature and the outdoors.  These work projects also help cement strong relationships with like-minded "partners" including our local, State and National Parks, "Friends of Parks" organizations and other conservation & community support groups - also strengthen our ties with key outfitters and providers of outdoor equipment.

FOR INFO about the CHATTAHOCHEE NAT'L RECREATION AREA and its worthy environmental missions, etc. click this link: https://www.nps.gov/chat< /a>

FOR a COLOR TRAIL MAP of the COCHRAN SHOALS COLUMNS DRIVE section of the PARK and its surrounding LOCATION MAP click this link: https://www.nps.gov/chat/planyourvis it/upload/TrailMapColumnsDrive.pdf

DIRECTIONS to special VEHICLE GATE for PARK VOLUNTEERS just a few yards outside the CRNRA "COLUMNS DRIVE" public PARKING LOT:  Click on the square blue & green "Event Location" icon near the top of this article for a zoomable map/ satellite view of this gate area.  GPS Users can enter the following Lat/Lon coordinates as your destination address:  33.9218,-84.4389
(The nearest "approximate street address" to the gate for GPS purposes is 155 Columns Drive, Marietta, GA.)
The following written Directions assume that you may be driving to the event via I-285 in north metro Atlanta.  Adapt them as necessary depending on the part of town you're coming from.

1.  From the I-285 "Riverside Drive" exit (Exit #24 near Sandy Springs) take Riverside Drive northward 2.2 miles to the traffic light at Johnson Ferry Road.  
2.  Turn Left onto Johnson Ferry Rd and go just 0.2 mile to the first traffic light at Columns Drive (just across the Chattahoochee River bridge).
3.  Turn Left onto Columns Drive and go 2.5 miles.   Just before  you reach the CRNRA public parking lot look leftward for our special vehicle entrance gate.  (This gate adjoins the last available Left turn along the DIVIDED portion of the Columns Drive roadway.)  As discussed above, our friend Dave Thomas of the Nat'l Park Service will arrange to admit us here (one vehicle at a time if necessary) and direct us to free volunteer parking inside the gate, in the shade along the gravel road.

FREE EVENT, with waiver of usual $3 daily parking fee for those who don't have an annual National Parks parking pass.