Hike Local: Gold Branch Trail

 

I have been anxious to get outside of my own yard for several weeks (but not willing to go too far) so this week I visited one of the Chattahoochee NRA hikes in East Cobb County: the Gold Branch Trail. It is one of 15 metro Atlanta area units of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA), part of the National Park Service. This park is just down the road from the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell.

This trail is 3.8 miles long with options to make it a shorter experience. It traverses mostly easy paths (but tree roots require careful treading) in a classic Piedmont forest with areas that border Bull Sluice Lake, a lake created when Morgan Falls Dam was built in 1904. There are a few areas with more challenging sections so a hiking pole or walking stick is very useful. I found this description very helpful. We ended up turning inland at point GB9 and clocked in at 2.3 miles. The trail has excellent signage at every junction point but no benches.

Good trail signs at every junction

The beginning of the path is a thick forest of oak and American beech that slopes down to a stream. The first flower that we saw was an abundant population of beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana). It was a while before we saw any other flowers in this deep forest (although the faded foliage of some spring ephemerals was present), but the diversity of plants overall was wonderful. I saw umbrella magnolia (Magnolia tripetala), numerous species of oaks and hickories, spicebush (Lindera benzoin), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus), and a huge population of dwarf paw paw (Asimina parviflora).

Epifagus virginiana

Beechdrops with beech tree

As we approached the water near point 6, the canopy was more open and blooming white wood aster (Eurybia divaricata), white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), and bluestem goldenrod (Solidago caesia) – all shade tolerant fall wildflowers – were blooming here and there.

Asimina parviflora

Symplocos tinctoria

More woody goodies along the path in this area were chalkbark maple (Acer leucoderme), horse sugar (Symplocos tinctoria), sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum), and dwarf rhododendron (Rhododendron minus). At the water’s edge were moisture-loving plants like doghobble (Leucothoe fontanesiana), river birch (Betula nigra), hazel alder (Alnus serrulata), and Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica). Water horehound (Lycopus americanus), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) were enjoying the wet edges as well.

Lobelia cardinalis

Helenium autumnale

As we turned back inland at point 9, we found a different collection of plants including sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus), American holly (Ilex opaca), rusty blackhaw (Viburnum rufidulum), mapleleaf viburnum (V. acerifolium), and red buckeye (Aesculus pavia). All along the way we saw numerous native ferns (Christmas, broad beech, sensitive) and perennials (bloodroot, black cohosh). The diversity at this unit is a great representation of Piedmont plants.

Chalkbalk maple (Acer leucoderme) showing early color

Invasive species impact was fairly low. We saw some privet (Ligustrum sinense), Elaeagnus, and a princess tree (Paulownia tomentosa) plus a bunch of Jorō spiders. I found just one tiny sprig of English ivy when I went in for a close photo on something low.

If you visit this or any of the CRNRA units, a pass or fee is required: a $5 daily fee (pay on your smartphone), a CRNRA annual pass, or an America is Beautiful NPS pass. Get out and visit your local parks for short trips (and volunteer to help with projects if you are really local!).