Enjoy a beautiful day out on the trails after the rainy Saturday!

With more rain forecast for the rest of the week, please make sure you check the City of Alpharetta Greenway Website to get the current status of the Alpharetta trail and call the Forsyth County Rain out line (770.886.2851) for the status of the Forsyth trail before heading to the greenway.

Unfortunately, even with sun and moderate temperatures forecast, the flooding will likely close the Greenway for the weekend.  Please check the Alpharetta website for the status of the Greenway and call the Greenway Status Hotline (770.886.2851 extension 5) for the Forsyth Greenway before visiting the trails.

Forsyth Big Creek Greenway Phase 1

The opening of the Forsyth Big Creek Greenway Phase 1 from Highway 9 to McFarland Parkway has been pushed back due to heavy rains in the area.  The new official trail opening will be on Friday December 4th at 10:30am.  There will be a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of the new 4 mile section of the greenway.

Heavy rains in the area have pushed Big Creek to near flood stage.  With additional heavy rain expected in the area, it will likely go over the minor flood stage of 7 feet at Kimball Bridge.  At the time of this article it was already at 6.7 feet.  Use caution visiting the trails when water levels begin to reach minor flood stage.

We’ll keep you up to date as we find out more about the opening of the trail Friday, including where the ribbon cutting will take place and if the ceremony gets pushed back due to the weather again.

Pipes Dredging Sand

There is no doubt that Big Creek has a history of flooding.  A contractor has put forth a deal to dredge part of Big Creek East of Highway 9, removing sand and using it for a park.  Forsyth County has expressed interest in the plan, and is looking further into the project.  The pipes removing the sand would go over or under the Big Creek Greenway, and the contractor has said they will go unnoticed if placed under bridges.  The project could take up to 6 months, and would only create a small amount of noise on the trail.

[Read more at ForsythNews.com]

Forsyth Big Creek Greenway Phase 1 End of Trail

Phase 1 of the Forsyth County Big Creek Greenway trail was originally scheduled to open in early/mid November. With all the heavy rains and flooding in the area recently, that has been pushed back. It is now scheduled to open on December 2nd, just after Thanksgiving and just in time to exercise away those leftover turkey sandwiches.

The longest phase of the Forsyth Greenway, Phase 1 stretches between McFarland Parkway and Atlanta Highway 9.  It offers more of the same as Phase 2 and 3 with a mixture of paved areas and boardwalks.  The additional 4.5 miles of trail will make the Forsyth Greenway a popular spot for biking making the total trail 6.7 miles long (13.4 miles roundtrip.) [Phase 1 First Impressions]

So enjoy Thanksgiving break and get out to the Greenway while the weather is nice to make room for the winter holidays right around the corner.  Oh yeah, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Big Creek Greenway Weather Conditions Widget

We’ve added a new feature to help determine if the Greenway is usable with the recent rains.  Now you can check on the weather and river level in your area at the top of our site.  New data, including temperature, humidity, wind, conditions and water level, is updated every half an hour.  The river level is usually from 45 minutes to an hour behind current time.

We’ll be enhancing this new feature as time goes on, including adding a method to notify if the river level is currently rising or falling, and if the river level is nearing flood stage.  Unfortunately after speaking with the city of Alpharetta, there is no definite way to determine when the trail closes due to flooding, or when it will reopen.  You can call the city of Alpharetta to get Big Creek Greenway information at (678) 297-6102 if you are unsure of flooding.

Enjoy, and as always, if there is something you would like to see on this site, shoot us an e-mail or leave a comment.  Thanks to the USGS and NOAA.gov for making the data available.

Forsyth Big Creek Parkway Entrance at Bethelview Road (141)

A simple brown state park sign marks the entrance to the greenway on Bethelview when heading north. The parking lot is located .7 miles north of Castleberry Road on 141, and is easily found just after crossing the Big Creek bridge. It is on the left when heading north and on the right when heading south. The parking lot is simple, covered with loosely laid gravel with no parking spaces marked. The entrance to the trail is marked with trail guidelines and 3 yellow guard posts (to keep motorized vehicles out). Note the posted sign warning of coyotes. They are common in the area, as in all Georgia counties and have been spotted. Keep pets on a leash and children within sight.

Heading south on the trail, you start by crossing Big Creek River immediately. I was impressed with the woodwork on the bridge and the view of the field below. This will likely become a good place to spot animals on the trail.  Within a quarter mile of starting the trail, you will find the first of many pet stations.  Each is equipped with bags to pick up after your pets, a trash receptacle for the bags, a trash can, and a bench.

Forsyth Big Creek Greenway Woodwork

Soon after the first pet station is the first boardwalk.  The woodwork of these board walks that line a good bit of the trail makes the bridge at the entrance look like a high school shop project.  There is no doubt that a lot of lumber and labor went into the building of this trail, far beyond the amount of effort laying the mainly concrete trail in Alpharetta would have taken.  The second thought that comes to mind is that this phase of the trail will be fairly expensive when it comes to maintaining it.  After a little more walking, I understand why the boardwalks were required.  Most of this phase of the Greenway is just barely above the river level, and will probably flood on a regular basis, even with small amounts of rainfall.

The rest of the trail on the way to Majors Road is built above marsh like areas lying between towering trees.  This will be a beautiful walk as the leaves start to change this fall, as the number of hardwoods far outnumber the pine trees.  A series of rust colored and textured metal bridges cross Big Creek as you continue on the trail.  The trail never ventures too far from the river, though views of the river are limited due to the low lying path.  At least three more pet stations line the trail to Majors Road in the 1.5 mile stretch of phase three.  These resting stations are something the Alpharetta greenway lacks.  Another thing the Forsyth greenway has an advantage over the Alpharetta green way is how wide it is.  It is easily navigable by bicyclists and joggers at the same time, with plenty of room for passing.

The Low Lying Greenway in Forsyth will be prone to flooding even in light rain

Overall this portion of the trail is well done.  Good for walkers, joggers, runners, bikers, and those just out for a leisurely stroll alike.  It is wide enough you don’t feel you have to step aside when someone is passing.  With the tall trees, it is well shaded from the sun which will be wonderful during the hot Georgia summers.  The biggest downsides I see to this phase of the trail are the cost of maintenance due to the woodwork and the low level of the trail that will be prone to flooding.  I enjoyed my first walk, and can’t wait to get out and see phase 2 in the coming weeks and finally phase 1 when it is completed.  You can see more pictures of my first walk here.