Sweetwater Creek

Looking to escape the week ahead, I convinced Eric to wake up "early" on a Saturday to accompany me on a hike. I found a place nearby that neither one of us had heard of before, called Sweetwater Creek. Well, we'd heard about the creek before since we are avid Sweetwater beer drinkers and that's how the brewery got it's name, but we'd never heard of this park and hiking trails before.

The trails followed the creek for the most part. For being a creek I'd say it has more water than the Chattahoochee right now, but looked a bit like it with the granite rock waterfalls and good ol' boys fly fishing. The trees were beautiful, as the guidebook suggested. There was a hint of fall, as some of the leaves started changing color and there was a layer of crunchy leaves on the ground.

One of the features that attracted us to Sweetwater Creek is the pre-civil war cotton mill along the river. It was five or six stories tall with big windows, a mill, and a magnificent view of the rolling hills, trees and creek. According to the trail book and placards, the mill was used to refine cotton into yard and ship it to be made into clothing. However, the building was burned just days after the Roswell Mill on Sherman's March to the Sea. Fortunately and unfortunately, the women and children who worked there were tricked, and taken to prison in Louisville, KY before the building was burned. The foundation and about 4 or 5 stories of the walls still stood. The charring was visible, and vines now grow through the windows. It's incredible that something in Sherman's path remains this intact. What a sad, but fun, piece of history still with us!

As for the rest of the hike, it followed the creek, over looked baby waterfalls, went through a field, and down some forest service roads that we assumed were once access roads to and from the mill. We laugh that the only feature this hike didn't have is ice: mulch, rock, cliff, steam crossing, boardwalk, gravel, field, dirt, rock climbing, stairs, woods, field...you get the point. We only did the 3+ mile loop because we stopped to take so many pictures, climb out on the rocks in the river, and chase random birds. Next time we hope to do the 4 mile "strenuous" portion. Although not as pretty, we've been told it's a more fun technical hike. We'll see.


Pictures to come soon - they're on Eric's camera.