While Atlanta is best known for being the birthplace of Coca-Cola and having the world’s busiest airport, the city and its suburbs also offer surprisingly well-developed havens of natural beauty and recreation. One such pocket of nature lies about 21 miles north of downtown. A scenic natural spot with burbling creeks, cascading waterfalls, and remnants of Georgian history: It’s all visible on the Instagram-worthy Vickery Creek Trail.
Located in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, the trail loops through a gorgeous covered bridge, beside old mill ruins, and next a gushing cascade. In the early to mid-1800s, this area was the site of the Roswell Manufacturing Company. The mills were burned by Union forces during the Civil War, rebuilt afterward, but later abandoned after a 1926 fire. Today, they lie hidden among shrubs and trees, part of the vast ecosystem that surrounds the Vickery Creek Trail.
The trail forms a long loop, with several interconnecting trails and offshoots. According to the National Park Service, the entire Vickery Creek Trail system covers around 7.4 miles, but the main outer loop is just under 5 miles long (via Atlanta Trails), while the inner loop is 3.6 miles (via AllTrails). Some of the most scenic parts of the trail are wheelchair accessible, with large wooden overlooks and flat concrete paths, but there are also hilly dirt tracks in other sections for those who want a more rugged experience. The trail system is located in the charming, vintage shop-filled suburb of Roswell.
The route along Vickery Creek Trail
There are two parking lots — one on Riverside Road, at the south end of the trail system, and the other off Atlanta Street on Mill Street, near the western edge of the park. The main trailhead is located at the first lot and involves a longer route to the waterfall, while the second lot is right beside the trail’s main attractions: the covered bridge, mill ruins, and the Vickery Creek Waterfall. We suggest looking at the NPS’s official trail map (PDF) and the user-generated map from Atlanta Trails before heading there, as the route can be a bit confusing. For the sake of brevity, we’ll stick to the route from the main trailhead near Riverside Road…