National Parks:
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
Atlanta, Georgia -- It started out slightly smaller than New York City's Central Park but over the years has grown to become nearly seven times bigger. Now the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Atlanta is one of America's premier urban greenways...a wild place in the city. Two famous political names, former President Jimmy Carter and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, helped save the Chattahoochee recreation area from development. The core of the area was a 680-acre state park along the river just north of Atlanta known to local residents as a fun place to raft, swim and fish.
Today, the National Park Service owns and manages nearly 6,500 acres of land in 14 separate park units, which have been likened to a string of pearls stretched along four counties and 48-miles of river from Lake Lanier to Standing Peachtree Creek near downtown Atlanta. Eventually, the Park Service hopes to expand the park to its full 10,000 congressionally authorized acres, providing more outdoor opportunities to the residents of Atlanta and the surrounding region.
On August 15th, the national recreation area celebrated its 25th anniversary as part of the national park system. With more than three million visitors annually, it ranks number one in popularity among Georgia's 10 National Park Service units.
DID YOU KNOW
- The entire 48-miles of the national recreation area is located in the Brevard Fault, the dividing line between the Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont Plateau in Georgia. The steep and rocky Palisades section of the park generally is considered the best location to study this geologic feature.
- Beginning in the northeast Georgia mountains, the Chattahoochee River travels 542 miles downstream to Apalachicola Bay, Fla., one of the most productive fisheries in the U.S.
- The park is home to more than 900 different species of plants, a variety of old and new growth hardwood forests, and more than 20 species of fish including trout, bass and catfish.
- Animals found inside the park's boundaries include red fox, river otter, beaver, whitetail deer, rabbits and muskrats.
- Human presence in the Chattahoochee River corridor may have begun as early as 10,000 years B.C. Occupation was well established by the middle archaic period (5,000 B.C.).
- Archeological sites within the park include 47 pre-historic villages, campsites and hamlets, 16 rock shelters and 23 historic sites associated with European settlement.
DON'T MISS ATTRACTIONS
- Locals like to "shoot the 'Hooch," as they call it, in rubber rafts and kayaks. In certain spots, the river is so peaceful and quiet that rafters would swear they were in a wilderness area even though they are likely somewhere between bridges carrying interstate highway traffic across the wide waterway.
- The park has nearly 100 miles of hiking trails within a major metropolitan area and a popular fitness trail at Cochran Shoals draws an average of more than 5,000 people every day from early first morning light to dusk.
- Cultural sites are abundant too. They include Native American settlements as well as ruins of cotton mills and factories that existed when General Sherman's troops burned Atlanta during the Civil War.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PRIORITIES
In a major initiative with state and local governments as well as private organizations, the National Park Service will be a key partner in developing a greenway trail stretching the entire length of the Chattahoochee River from the north Georgia town of Helen to the west Georgia city of Columbus. The park will constitute the core of one of the largest greenway trail complexes in the nation.
As funds are made available, the park will complete acquisition of authorized lands to protect more urban greenspace for a large metropolitan population. With rapidly growing local demand for more recreation opportunities, the recreation area plans to create new hiking and fitness trails and to develop a commercial services plan for rafting, canoeing and guided fishing excursions.
A pioneering environmental education program that trains teachers during field trips to the recreation area grew into one of the most popular activities for local educators. Summer workshops and river floats headed by park rangers increased visibility and resulted in a better understanding of threats to the area.
Future plans for facilities include two to three visitor education centers within the boundaries of the national recreation area to promote the the educational values of the incomparable natural resources that are part of the park.
Finally, the National Park Service is engaged in continuing scienitific study to help local governments and environmental groups monitor and mitigate impacts that increasing urban development is having on this critical water source for north Georgia’s most densely populated area.