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Comprehensive Trails Management Plan
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area » Comprehensive Trails Management Plan » Document List
The National Park Service has prepared a DRAFT strategy for the future development and maintenance of the pedestrian and multi-use trail system for the entirety of Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. After working with professional trail designers and incorporating public feedback on management strategies presented in a preliminary plan, the NPS prepared a Comprehensive Trails Management Plan / Environmental Assessment (Plan/EA) for Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.
The DRAFT Plan/EA aims to improve the physical, fiscal, and social sustainability of the park's trail system. Current park trails frequently follow fall-lines, which makes them susceptible to erosion and soil loss. The current system is also costly to maintain, as most of the trails the park manages were never designed or constructed but rather created by visitors. At some locations, visitors have different goals and motivations, leading to visitor use conflicts.
The DRAFT Plan/EA includes programmatic actions, which would apply parkwide, and specific trail designs for each unit. Programmatic strategies will include facilitating public access through a system of designated trailheads and trail access points. Unauthorized trails and trail access would be restored to natural conditions, and trails and key destinations would be clearly marked. Trails would be designed primarily as natural surface single track trails, while a few select locations would have wider, hardened but unpaved trails to provide connectivity to a proposed regional greenway and other neighboring trail systems. All of the park's trails would be developed to maximize accessibility to users of various abilities and the proposed design includes an increase in fully accessible trail mileage.
The National Park Service thanks the public for the comments submitted on the plan during the comment period that ended on 5/3/2022.
404-803-7641
The DRAFT Plan/EA aims to improve the physical, fiscal, and social sustainability of the park's trail system. Current park trails frequently follow fall-lines, which makes them susceptible to erosion and soil loss. The current system is also costly to maintain, as most of the trails the park manages were never designed or constructed but rather created by visitors. At some locations, visitors have different goals and motivations, leading to visitor use conflicts.
The DRAFT Plan/EA includes programmatic actions, which would apply parkwide, and specific trail designs for each unit. Programmatic strategies will include facilitating public access through a system of designated trailheads and trail access points. Unauthorized trails and trail access would be restored to natural conditions, and trails and key destinations would be clearly marked. Trails would be designed primarily as natural surface single track trails, while a few select locations would have wider, hardened but unpaved trails to provide connectivity to a proposed regional greenway and other neighboring trail systems. All of the park's trails would be developed to maximize accessibility to users of various abilities and the proposed design includes an increase in fully accessible trail mileage.
The National Park Service thanks the public for the comments submitted on the plan during the comment period that ended on 5/3/2022.
Contact Information
Beth Wheeler404-803-7641