Cochran Mill (Blogophilia 16.12)

The sky was milky with streaks of silver. The weather said the storm risk at 60% with high humidity and temps in the low 90’s. The bacon is frying and coffee is made. Yeah, I still want to do this. My idea of summertime fun and play involves sweat and sights.

I quickly eat breakfast and head out. It’s not every day I go to the southside without the wife. Cochran Mill Park is an 800 acre plot of creeks and waterfalls 20 miles southwest of Atlanta. It has been praised for it’s beauty by the Atlanta hiking community. This past weekend, I got the chance to enjoy it.

Inside the park is a forest that is fairly old, consisting of 75 to 100 year old beech and sweet-gum trees, with a few larger oaks scattered here and there. The understory is mostly wild azaleas, and fast growing vines, with lots of poison ivy. So going off-trail is not recommended.

Main Falls

There are 18 miles of well maintained trails scattered over four loops. For my first trip, I chose the two shorter trails, the Green and Orange loops, which run either side of Little Bear Creek. They are rated by the local hiking groups as fairly easy, which I found to be accurate. Orange has a little hillier. Green is rockier and has granite outcroppings that could get slick when wet. As long as you pay attention and wear good shoes this isn’t a problem, even for novice walkers.

One of these outcrops is next to one of the mill dams.

Little Bear Creek Dam

It’s a little hard to see, but the rock is infused with iron pyrite, otherwise known as “fools gold”. In the sunlight the rock looks studded jewelry, very sparkly. The original settlers must have been like little kids, thinking they had struck it rich.

Can you see the speckles?

Not much history exists on the cotton mills or their operations. They were destroyed in during the Civil War then rebuilt. But it appears the area was abandoned for a larger mill in the nearby town of Palmetto that was adjacent to the railroad. The remains of dams and foundations are in three locations on two different branches of the creek. There isn’t much left of the buildings. Just fieldstone and mortar foundation remnants, with all the framing long rotted away. The picture below is at the beginning of the Orange trail near the main falls.

This appears to be a window.

The first hydroelectric system in the area was constructed on the site in 1909 by the Cochran family. Water races were used to drive the turbines to create power. I only found one left.

Water Race

Nothing remains of the wheelhouse or the turbine mechanism.

Also on the Green loop is the park nature center, which has been used as a shooting location for The Walking Dead. I didn’t take any pictures here. It just felt weird, like I was being watched...

I must be dreaming.

Overall, I logged 6 1/2 miles. As I was going across the bridge back to the parking lot, I saw a group of kids playing in the water at the base of the falls, squealing with delight. I was hot, sweaty and it looked so fun. But I didn’t have a towel with me. And I don’t think the moms would have appreciated the addition to the playgroup. So, I trudged back to the car.

I can’t wait to go back.

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Topic-Rebecca Grusendorf

Pic-Sallon Newlove

Pic guesses: Kids playing (in blog) excited (in blog), trouble brewing, naughty, laughter, giggling.