Story:
I saw this network of hike/bike/horse trails just 20 miles from home and thought I would check it out, though I didn't expect much. It was better than expected and gave me a real workout while remaining easy and enjoyable. While the 5.5 mile route I took included hundreds of feet of elevation change, it was in smaller amounts up and down the ridges, so I could keep my pace pretty well. I plan to look at this one as my local workout hike, trying to get faster and faster with it over time.
Tips:
As usual for mixed-use trails, keep an eye out for cyclists. They should yield to hikers, but this is primarily a cycling trail, so when you hear them coming, step off the trail momentarily. IF you meet a horse, say hello well in advance so as not to spook the horse, and if walking along a ridge, step off on the lower side of the trail.
The trails are fairly well marked, but little-used it seems, judging by the ubnbroken leaves scattering the trail and the fact that I met 5 cyclists on a 70 degree January Sunday afternoon. There are many trail crossings, and for the most part they are not clearly marked as to which is which, and all the cycle/hike trails have orange blazes, so if you want to take a specific route, you should have a map with you. The one on the local web site is excellent, including about every switchback and corner accurately, but print it to bring with you as the large one at the trail head is faded badly and there were no take-ones available on a weekend afternoon. http://www.ocprd.com/heritage-park.aspx
Also note that there are no distance/time notations for each trail segment, so you have to guess how long your route will take you.
Tags:
Workout Athens Gentle hike cycle horse equestrian relaxing river streams oconee clarke apalachee river
Workout Athens Gentle hike cycle horse equestrian relaxing river streams oconee clarke apalachee river
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