Backcountry Trail

Sandy Springs is a a suburban city located in North Atlanta in Fulton County. The city’s population exceeds 100,000 making it Georgia’s 7th most populous city. Human settlement in the area can be traced back to ~400 AD, when Native Americans forged three trails to better access the area’s freshwater springs.  In the 16th century, the Creek Muskogee tribe settled the area, where they remained until the early 1800s, when they were forced out of the area with the discovery of gold.

The Big Trees Forest Preserve is located in Sandy Springs and is a remarkable urban forest with hilly topography featuring two creeks and a diverse middle growth forest including specimen white oak trees between 100 and 200 years old. It is designed and managed as a forest education center offering passive recreation walks along 1 1/2 miles of wood mulched walking trails.  This hike incorporates just about every trail in the park and follows the trail system in a clockwise direction down to Powers Branch, up to a ridge, then back down to the stream before climbing back up to the Big Trees Loop Trail. Although sandwiched between two apartment complexes, Roswell Rd. and a government building, the trail is surprisingly secluded – even during the winter months when no leaves cling to the trees.