Chatt NRA North to South: Part 1 - Bowmans Island

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

For the first hike in the series, we will be starting with Bowmans Island. Located just south of the Buford Dam and Lake Lanier, this unit actually includes two separate series of trail, linked by an unusual mulch trail that actually goes through a suburban neighborhood, Rather than taking this markedly "unnatural" route, we will instead hike unofficial fisherman or “use” trails to connect the units. And this is certainly the most scenic part of the hike.

We will begin by hiking the short series of trails at North Bowmans Island. These are nice and wooded, with some small hills, but nothing over D2 difficulty. We will then head down to the river, where we will along those fisherman trails. There are four areas where a side creek runs into the Chatt River, 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 is 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 muddy and/or wet. It is certainly possible to do the hike without getting overly dirty or wet, but just be aware of the that possibility when picking out your wardrobe for the day.

But those creek areas add a bit of adventure to this hike and are rather fun, if slightly challenging. Besides that, we have the lovely views of the river to enjoy and the little hills will get us a bit of a workout as well.

Total hiking time should be about 3 hrs and total distance about 6.5 miles. We will be moving at a moderate pace...nothing too fast, and we will plan to to stop for a little lunch break on some rocks beside the river.