Cooper Branch Nature Trail + Update on Connector Trail
Feb 17th, 2009 by Admin 1
Nearest Town: Cartersville, Ga
Trailhead Location: 20 Spur across from Cooper Furnace trailhead at Cooper Branch Day Use Area
Trail Length: .2 mi
Directions: I-75 Exit 290, East on GA 20. Right at light onto 20 Spur. Cooper Furnace Trailhead is on right after the Pine Mountain Rec Trailhead
Description: Short trail with one steep descent and one steep climb which connects Day Use 1 to Day Use 2. Trail runs through the woods between Lake and the road heading towards dam overlook.
We headed over to the Allatoona dam area to check on the Pine Mountain connection trail that is supposed to run between the Cooper Furnace/Laurel Ridge trail and Pine Mountain Rec. Area Trail-East Loop. It just so happened that we ran into a couple of guys from the city of Cartersville who were scoping out the area for the project. It is already shown on the map (trail in grey), but they said they are currently taking bids for it.
The new trail has already started to be laid out with orange markers as seen below:
Since we were there we decided to take the Cooper Branch Nature trail. It runs between the Cooper Branch Day Use areas 1 and 2. It is a very short .2 miles that connects the 2 picnic areas. We wanted a longer walk than it provided so we walked along the shoreline of the lake for a while. Since the lake level is so low, most of it is beach right now.
After we walked the lake for a while we headed up to show the kids the dam overlook and Cooper Furnace. Cooper Furnace was and old ironworks during the Civil War that provided weapons and funds for the Confederacy before Sherman burned it down in 1864. There’s a great view of the furnace ruins from the top.
Btw, if you have visited the site before you may have noticed this dam is also pictured from the other side of the dam on the Vineyard Mountain Eagle Scout Trail
