Bowman’s Island Trail – CRNRA - Buford, GA - 5.5 miles (and then some) - Easy

Let's Take-a-Hike on Section 1 of the CRNRA hiking challenge!

Distance: Approximately 5.5 mi (option for more)
Difficulty: Easy
Group Hiking Pace: 2.5 – 3 MPH
Hike Start Time: 10:30 am
Fee: $5

Bowman's Island Trail is a relatively easy 5.5 mile trail with a good section that runs along the Chattahoochee River just below the dam. While running along the Hooch, it is relatively flat as to be expected. After a ways in, there is a loop through the woods with some slight (171 ft) elevation gain. The majority of the trail is soft surface, with small portions of it having some gravel.

While this trail is not difficult, from experience I can say that it can get a bit muddy if it has rained recently. So, please be sure you have some decent tread under your feet.

Our pace will be 2.5 - 3 mph. So, not a mad dash, but definitely not a crawl either.

The entrance to the parking area is on Lower Pool Road, which is off of Buford Dam Road. There is a drive-up self-service toll station there that accepts cards only, and the entrance fee is $5.00 unless you already have the proper CRNRA pass. Alternatively, you can pay in advance online using the link I have pasted in the invite further down below.

After the toll station, the trailhead is in the first parking area on the right and is well signed. For easiest navigation, just link to the pin map in the invite using google maps and it should bring you to the meeting place.

There are even public restrooms in an adjacent parking area ... but if you plan to use them give yourself some extra time as they are at a distance from where we will park and start the hike.

We will meet in the parking lot at the trailhead and depart at 10:30. I do start events on time so please do not be late in consideration of all the attendees.

I expect the Bowman's island hike to take about 2.5 hours. Since it is relatively short, I plan to continue on after reaching the trailhead parking lot and do a portion of the Laurel Ridge Trail which will add a bit more mileage and should wind up being about 8.5 to 9.5 miles in total ... if you're up for it. But if you prefer not to continue on, that is perfectly fine too. And you can make the decision to carry on or not after we complete the Bowman's trail upon return to the trail head where we parked.

Please note though, the portion of Laurel Ridge we will be doing involves a decent incline and subsequent descent.

Doggies are very welcome and encouraged to join.

Below are some helpful links, but if you have any questions, pls send me a message and I will do my best to answer.

Alltrails Link (general info about the trail itself):

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/georgia/bowmans-island-trail

Day Pass (parking):

https://www.recreation.gov/sitepass/2626

The link to the CRNRA Challenge:

https://www.chattahoocheeparks.org/hikecrnra

Hope to see you there, and of course please remember that you will be participating entirely at your own risk as Suwanee Take-a-Hikers assumes absolutely no liability (nada, zero, zip, zilch, jack squat) for adverse events which may occur during meetups.