Settles Bridge Trail (Gwinnett County, Georgia)

 

With spring arriving soon and more daylight to work with each day, I'm going to try to get some short hikes in through the week when my schedule allows. To start this trend, I decided to hike the Settles Bridge Trail this morning before work. This is a short trail along the Chattahoochee that visits a long abandoned and now dilapidated bridge.

The trail starts at a well maintained community park on a paved path, but after passing a dog park, the trail transitions to soil and with all of the recent rain, it's a little soft in places. While spring is on the way, we're still in the throws of winter and the dense deciduous forest is still in hibernation, which allows some nice views.

Knowing that to reach the bridge itself, I need to be watchful for a small spur trail that will lead direction to the bridge and I finally see it. This path is much less traveled and significantly muddier than the main trail. It also requires me to do some rock hoping to cross a small tributary creek. No big deal though and it certainly adds some character to this morning's adventure. After just a couple of hundred yards, the remains of the steel bridge become visible and I make my way to the base of the structure. The road that once cross over the bridge has fallen into non-existence and the all that remains of the bridge itself are the base piers rising from the river and the steel gutters forming the frame of the bridge. The floor has decayed away.

After leaving the bridge, the trail follows along the river for a while before hitting the mouth of that creek I had rock-hopped over a short time ago. Of course, it's much deeper and wider here as it merges with the Chattahoochee. I'm forced to backtrack a short ways until I find another crossing point. From here, I continue back to the parking lot and head home. Time to start my workday, but at least I was able to get in about 3.5 miles in this morning.