Atlanta officials broke ground Thursday on what will be the city’s first public access point to the Chattahoochee River, and the beginning of a massive effort to make the river more visitor friendly.
By the start of 2024, metro area residents and visitors will be able to access the river at the Standing Peachtree Greenspace on the city’s upper west side, where kayakers can launch into the water and hikers can begin trekking along a 48-mile camp and paddle trail.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said that the soon-to-open river access point is the first step in encouraging residents to take advantage of the massive body of water that spans 100 miles throughout the region.
“This river that I’ve known since I was a baby would now be a river that we will all be able to really enjoy,” the first term mayor said not far from the rushing water on Thursday morning.
“We have come up really, really long way from a river that used to be considered a public health threat to recognize in the hooch as a gift that’s been given to us,” he said.
The Trust For Public Land — a national nonprofit that focuses on public park expansion — is spearheading the decades-long plan called the Chattahoochee RiverLands to create a massive multi-use trail and park system along the river that will connect 19 cities with 42 new water access points and eight new campsites.
“Eight years ago, Trust for Public Land shifted our focus from just land protection on the Chattahoochee where we preserved 19,000 acres and 80 miles of riverfront and started to focus on getting people to the river and to the land that we protected,” said George Dusenbury, state director for the nonprofit.
Credit: Courtesy of Trust for Public Land
Credit: Courtesy of Trust for Public Land
The camp and paddle trail will stretch from Atlanta’s Standing Peachtree Greenspace to Carroll County’s Mcintosh Reserve, allowing visitors to spend four days and three nights traveling along the river.
The project utilizes a mix of both private and public funds. Last year, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff helped secure $2.5 million in federal dollars to support park development along the river that also aims at connecting metro Atlanta communities.
Atlanta City Council member Dustin Hillis, who represents the area around the Chattahoochee on the upper west side, said that the ground breaking of the new trailhead follows a series of accomplishments related to the river including the city’s acquisition of the 75-acre historic Chattahoochee Brick site.
Hillis said the city’s goal is to fully connect the river, Silver Comet Trail, Beltline, and downtown by the 2026 World Cup.
“With today’s groundbreaking event at Standing Peachtree Greenspace for the trailhead and launch point for the 48-mile long Chattahoochee Camp and Paddle Trail, Atlanta has taken a monumental step in ‘Bringing Our City to its River,’” he said.
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