The Chattahoochee Hill Country

Alliance along with The Path Foundation have come up with another great

way to interact with the beauty of their surroundings.

Plans to create a 98 mile trail

for biking, walking and horseback riding are in the works. The proposed

walkway will eventually connect Chattahoochee Bend State Park Sweetwater

Creek State Park, Palmetto and many other natural and historical sites

as it snakes its way through Carroll, Douglas, Fulton and Coweta Counties.

"From a regional perspective

we see this as ultimately being an attraction and a destination place

for people to come and ride bikes, hike and walk through the whole hill

country and then be connected up to all the different parks in the region,"said

Stacy Patton, president of The Friends of The Chattahoochee Hill Country

Alliance stated.

�"It's a long term plan

and so what we hope is each county will be able to help each county get

a segment going so people can understand how it is going to fit into the

pattern of the landscape." Patton said.

The concept plan drawn up strives

to incorporate existing right of ways and existing old roads into the

design.

Another 36 miles of horse paths

is included in the design to add to paths for horseback riding in Cochran

Mill and McIntosh Reserve parks.

"This is a big horse community

down here," Patton pointed out.

Blending rural pleasures and

modern living is what drives the heart of the Hill Country Alliance. Their

innovative designs for new villages and hamlets in the area have led to

two new zoning categories which encompass their ideas.

"If we can get the base

of the path in early on," Patton asserts, "then as the area

changes and grows, we would be able to pave the appropriate segments.

Then it wouldn't just be a swath of concrete going through the woods where

you really don't see the purpose in it."