REI ROCKS! BIG NEWS FOR SOPE CREEK TRAILS
THANK YOU REI! The retail and outdoors recreation services company, organized as a consumers’ co-operative, has selected Chattahoochee Parks Conservancy (CPC) for a Loving Our Local Outdoors grant. Working with our partner MTB Atlanta, we will improve the shared use trails at the Sope Creek Unit in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) over the next year with a new wayfinding plan, signage and much-needed trail maintenance and restoration.
Sope Creek and Cochran Shoals trails were identified as a high priority for improvement in the CRNRA Trail Master Plan completed last year by park consultant Applied Trails Research. 
Used by hikers, runners and bikers, these popular trails have been loved to death over the past four decades; they are not sustainable in their current condition and need additional planning and re-development work.
HOW YOU CAN HELP! Shop any REI store in metro Atlanta BY APRIL 8 and put your purchase token in the CPC bucket. Our organization is competing with two other local nonprofits for as much as $15,000 in additional grant funds. Your vote will allow CPC and MTB Atlanta to make significant trail improvements. Thank you!
JOIN US IN THE PARK FOR A WALK & TALK
CPC is offering FREE outings in the CRNRA this year, as part of our 2019 Walk & Talk Series: informal presentations in the park by local experts on topics ranging from spring ephemerals and birds to geology, forest bathing and a special summer paddle. The series was so popular last year that we had a waiting list for each event; this year’s outing on spring ephemerals is already full with a waiting list. Details and registration information can be found here.
Thanks to CPC member Cynthia Patterson for organizing these events and to our presenters: Kathryn Kolb with Eco-Addendum, Atlanta Audubon Society, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Bill Witherspoon and Chattahoochee Nature Center.
PRO TIP: If you are a CPC member, you will get first dibs on these space-limited outings. Not a member yet? Sign up here and join us in the park!
NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER FOR SWEEP THE HOOCH
CPC is proud to sponsor the 9th Annual “Sweep the Hooch” on Sat, April 6, 9am-Noon. Volunteers will pick up trash on foot, in waders and by kayak/canoe at more than forty sites from the headwaters above Lake Lanier, through the CRNRA and Atlanta and downstream to West Point Lake. Last year, 900 volunteers removed twenty-four tons of trash from the river and adjacent lands! Details and registration can be found here
WE REACHED OUR GOAL!
We are thrilled to announce that the Waterfall Foundation, a strong supporter of national parks, has made a $20,000 gift to CPC. This grant provides the remaining funds needed to reach our goal of $75,000 to match the CRNRA contribution for a high priority park project: the new trail stairway at Vickery Creek near Roswell's covered bridge. Donors like this generous foundation are making it possible for CPC to help our national park upgrade and repair facilities and restore the trails that are used by three million people every year.
THINGS TO DO IN THE PARK
Work Party at Hyde Farm – Sat, March 30 (9am-Noon) with Friends of Hyde Farm and Cobb County to reclaim overgrown field areas. RSVP to hydefarmfriends@gmail.com or c.feichtnerfuller@cobbcounty.org.
Sweep the Hooch – Sat, April 6 (9am-Noon) Register today!
Forest Ferns and Flowers Hike – Fri, April 19 (3pm-5:30) at the Gold Branch Unit
with Ranger Jerry Hightower. Moderately strenuous. Reservations required at 678-538-1200.
Earth Week Kickoff: Wildflower Moon Campfire and Night Hike – Fri, April 19 (8pm-10) at Sibley Pond in the Sope Creek Unit with Ranger Jerry Hightower. All ages welcome. Reservations required at 678-538-1200.
Nature Photography in the Park! – Sat, May 4 (9am-5pm) with everyone’s favorite photographer Tom Wilson at the Island Ford Visitor Center. The $50 fee will benefit CPC. Details and registration here.
Audubon Bird Fest Owl Prowl – Sat, May 4 (6:30pm-9:00) at the Chattahoochee River Environmental Education Center with Ranger Jerry Hightower. Register here.
Relay Down the Hooch: Morgan Falls Dam to Paces Mill – Sat, June 29 (8am-2pm). CPC and Nantahala Outdoor Center are proud partners in Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Relay Down the Hooch, the 17th leg of an incredible 435-mile journey to celebrate CRK’s 25th Anniversary. Details and registration here.
Become a member of Chattahoochee Parks Conservancy today!
As a member, you can help us achieve our vision of an inspired and thriving community of support for the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Click here to join!
Chattahoochee Parks Conservancy Inc. is proud to support our Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, a unit of the national park system managed by the National Park Service.