Kelly O’Connor remembers when the PATH trail at Chastain Park was nothing but dirt.
Her friend, Sarah Gray, recalls moving to the neighborhood in 1994 when the first chunk of the course opened and donations were being sought to furnish its completion.
“I think we own an inch of it,” Gray said with a laugh, looking down at the winding sidewalk that runs between Lake Forest Drive and the North Fulton Golf Course.
The friends, who live in the Chastain neighborhood, power walk the 3-mile course a couple of times a week, mostly for exercise but also for a bit of socializing.
It’s a ritual they share with millions of other trekkers, runners, bicyclists and dog-walkers who utilize the 170 miles of PATH trails throughout the state.
This year, the PATH Foundation celebrates its 20th anniversary and even two decades in, executive director and co-founder Ed McBrayer isn’t sure most people realize PATH’s existence.
“I think if you ask half the people in town, they would think the government built [the trails] and it was part of the infrastructure. It’s been a little frustrating to make people realize that they have a part in it,” he said.
PATH is a statewide entity that works in partnership with cities and counties, using allocated funds and private donations to build and maintain trail systems. McBrayer estimates that 70 percent of funding comes from some public source, with the rest in private monies.
During its existence, the PATH Foundation has raised more than $25 million from the private sector and about $75 million from public sources to build trails. McBrayer said the cost to build all of the existing trails, minus administrative and maintenance costs, is about $80 million.
PATH is a low-key organization steered by a staff of four. Even its board members officiate and donate quietly. The only indications of this year’s celebration are a modified logo to denote the 20th hurrah and T-shirts – available on the PATH website – bearing that emblem.
But, said McBrayer with a chuckle, “All of us here are certainly aware it’s been 20 years. We’ve been building trails at a pretty good clip.”
PATH Foundation Board Chairman William Fowler believes that the success of PATH, while dependent upon its users, is rooted in the strong group decision-making among the board, which includes James C. Kennedy, chairman of Cox Enterprises, and his wife Sarah; Alex Taylor, executive vice-president of Cox Media Group; Jennifer Dorian, senior vice-president of strategy development at Turner Entertainment Networks; and Samuel G. Friedman, founder and chairman of AFCO Realty.
“We’ve met monthly at 7 a.m. for 20 years and have a tremendous group of problem-solvers. They thrive on each other,” he said.
Of the more than 25 named trails, the Chastain course is one of the most popular; PATH surveys indicate an average of 250 people use the trail each hour. But other trails surpass it in length and age.
The first PATH constructed, said McBrayer, erupted from the ground in Clarkston on the old Decatur-Stone Mountain trolley line. It now stretches 19 miles as part of the Stone Mountain Trail.
Interested PATH-ologists might tuck away the tidbit that the first mile of PATH built in Atlanta was dubbed the Lionel Hampton Trail, named after the bandleader who owned the property off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Browning Street.
The prince of PATH, though, is the Silver Comet Trail, which runs for 95.5 miles in a continuous route from Atlanta to Anniston, Ala.
A poll taken by the foundation five years ago revealed that more than 2 million people use the Silver Comet annually, leading McBrayer to surmise that another million use the other trails statewide each year.
While most neighborhoods immediately embrace the arrival of a PATH trail, there is the occasional minority that presents a challenge.
“Some people have a fear of the unknown,” said Fowler. “They worry that maybe the trail is going to bring crime or some horrible thing. But once we get it completed, they find that they use it personally and they become more healthy, their neighborhood property value goes up and crime drops.”
Fowler cites the improved quality of life among Georgians and the existence of a platform for free exercise as PATH’s greatest achievements, an interesting development considering that the initial motivation behind the trails was to help reduce smog by providing another mode of transportation.
While plenty of PATH-finders cycle their way to work or school, the majority use the trails as an efficient exercise route.
“People are going out and using the trails and having fewer heart attacks and losing weight. It’s making a healthier community,” McBrayer said.
The future of PATH suggests that more options to maintain an active lifestyle will be available in the next few years.
The foundation just formed a partnership with the Buckhead Community Improvement District to build a trail parallel to Georgia 400 to connect neighborhoods north of Buckhead to Lenox Mall, the Lindbergh MARTA and, eventually, the Atlanta Beltline.
The project is estimated to cost $8.5 million and require three years of construction.
“The Beltline has been a wonderful new addition,” said Fowler. “We would like to connect [these areas] like little strings of jewels to provide transportation in and out of downtown Atlanta.”
McBrayer agreed, though he admits that the arduous planning phases can wear on his patience.
“It never,” he said with a sigh, “goes as fast as I wish it would.”
Popular PATH trails
Silver Comet. Begins at the intersection of South Cobb Drive and the East-West Connector in Smyrna and runs to the Alabama border. It is 95.5 miles long.
Arabia Mountain. Runs through 7,000 acres of greenspace southeast of Atlanta, making its way from the Mall at Stonecrest into Panola Mountain State Park and beyond. It is 20 miles long, with additions to come in the next year.
Chastain Park. A series of loops in and around Chastain Park and the North Fulton golf course. Can be accessed from the "red lot" parking area on Powers Ferry Road. It is 3 miles long.
Nancy Creek. Connects Murphy-Candler Park to Blackburn Park and Johnson Ferry Estates in north-central DeKalb County. Begins at the south end of Murphy-Candler Lake and ends at Ashton Woods Retirement Center. It is 5.4 miles long.
Stone Mountain. Begins at Piedmont Avenue in downtown Atlanta and ends at the loop around Stone Mountain. Requires on-street travel for about 4 miles in Candler Park and through Clarkston. It is 19 miles long.
Whetstone Creek. Built partially on an abandoned railroad in Northwest Atlanta between Marietta and Bolton roads. An outdoor classroom for Bolton Academy science classes was built by PATH where it intersects Adams Drive. It is less than 1 mile long.
For information, visit www.pathfoundation.org.
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