Sunday Afternoon Hike: Sope Creek Loop, 2nd Group

In order to accommodate the large waiting list for this popular hike in the Sope Creek area of the Chattahoochee River NRA, we've added Charlie as the hike leader for this second group.  Groups 1 and 2 will both meet initially at 1:00 PM in the CRNRA parking lot on Paper Mill Road (see directions below) and participants can rendezvous again there after the hike.  (Our SOA guidelines recommend no more than 20 in each hiking group.)  If there's enough interest, we may begin this 2nd group's hike with a visit to the craggy old paper mill ruins on the far side of Sope Creek.  Each group will hike southward from the parking lot past the nearby lake to the banks of the Chattahoochee.  We'll walk a short distance along the "Cochran Shoals" gravel trails near the river that are popular among joggers, then return to the Sope Creek parking area via a slightly different but also scenic route.

IF COMING FROM DOWNTOWN OR NW ATLANTA:
1) Drive north on I-75, get off at Exit #261 (a "looping" style exit in south Marietta) and turn left onto East Delk Road.
2)  Follow Delk Road eastward about 1 mile to its end at Terrell Mill Rd (crossing Powers Fy Rd en route).
3)  Turn left onto Terrell Mill Rd and go about 1 mile, until you reach Paper Mill Rd (at a sudden leftward bend in Terrell Mill).
4) Take a sharp right turn here onto Paper Mill Rd, proceed about one more mile, and look for the Chattahoochee Nat'l Rec. Area parking area on your right -- if you reach the bridge over Sope Creek you've driven about a half mile too far.

NOTE FOR HIKERS DRIVING FROM ROSWELL, SANDY SPRINGS, ETC.:  An alternate route to the Sope Creek CRNRA parking lot is to take Johnson Ferry Road to its junction with Paper Mill Rd (about 0.7 mile N of the Johnson Fy bridge over the Chattahoochee).  Then take Paper Mill Rd westward a bit more than 2 miles to the parking lot on your left (about a half mile beyond the bridge over Sope Creek).

There is a $3-per-vehicle self-pay parking fee in the CRNRA lot unless you have a valid annual Chattahoochee River NRA vehicle pass. Sunset on April 19 is at 8:12 PM EDT and twilight ends about a half hour later.