999ef.info
The nearly five miles of trail courses through about 390 acres just inside busy Interstate 285 on the northwest side of Atlanta. This trail is part of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, an area with multiple pieces of land designated for recreation along 48 miles of the river. Once on the Palisades East Trail, it is hard to believe that not even three miles away is the bustling metropolis. The trail consists primarily of one large loop and an out and back section that runs along the river.
The loop begins at the Indian Trail Road parking area as an old gravel road, gradually descending towards the Chattahoochee River Valley. Closer to the river, the trail begins a more moderate descent. Near the bottom, a bridge crosses a small creek at the lower trailhead parking lot. The trail then turns and runs along the bank of the Chattahoochee River. Hikers can see the Long Island Shoals at this point. Shoals are sandbars or sandbanks containing small pebbles, sand, or silt that build up to make the water shallow.