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    Sawnee Mountain Preserve

    4.4 (106 reviews)
    Closed 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

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    Fall leaves are beautiful on the trails!
    Mary C.

    Put your hiking boots on and step into nature! Sawnee Mountain Preserve in Cumming, GA is a free destination of health and wellness! There is nothing in life that will relax you more than a peaceful, scenic hike with beautiful views! On a clear day you can even spot Stone Mtn from Sawnee Mtn hiking trails! There are three different entry points for this park. Depending on entry point the total hike can be 3 miles or a 1.9 mile short hike. No matter how you start the trail you'll will be transcended to heights and the beauty of Mother Nature in her full glory on a fall day when you reach the top called the Indian Seats! Views for miles and miles! Best way to spend a day = Take a picnic or do yoga at the top of the Mountain!! Trails are all clearly marked. Forsyth County has the best parks in Georgia!!

    Kiah R.

    I really enjoyed this hike, when you get to the top the view is amazing. I've been twice and they expanded the parking lot, the parking is free. This is a good hike for all ages, I only needed a couple of breaks to get up and down the trail.

    Little kids playground too
    Bianca C.

    Great way to spend an afternoon with the kids. We hiked to the Indian Seats and enjoyed the view. My 3 and 6 year old did well on the hike as it's not too challenging. With them stopping for water and to play with leaves and jump off rocks, our round trip top to bottom was about 1 1/2 hours. Then we drove across the street to the other trail head area where they have a playground. The bathroom near the playground was gross but the bathrooms on the Sadie where the Indian Seats are cleaner.

    trail map
    Zemin H.

    I went to Indian Seat Loop trail this time. I parked at Bettis Tribble Gap parking lot, parking lot could accommodate about 20 cars. It's about 2 miles loop trail, not much of elevation, I finished it with 50 minutes, including about 10 minutes photo time at the top. The fall foliage color most is at its peak, I wonder it could get any better. The panel at the top indicates directions to Blood Mountain, Yonah Mountain, etc.

    Gretel Y.

    After living in Cumming for two years, we finally visited Sawnee Mountain Preserve in August. We brought our friends who were visiting from out of town. Parking is free and easy and is right by the visitor's center. Be sure to stop by the visitor's center to learn more about Sawnee Mountain Preserve and the activities and classes they offer. They also have clean restrooms! The trail is mostly shaded and is a fairly easy hike. There are lots of uphill areas to give your cardio a little push. I found myself out of breath a few times, but before you know it, you're at the top of the mountain to what they call the Indian Seats. It offers a stunning view of Forsyth County and the North Georgia Mountains. No bad seats there! Our entire group loved the hike and the views. My son especially loved sitting at the edge of the rocks and trying to give me a heart attack. We are looking forward hiking this trail and over and over!

    Map
    Dave W.

    This is a neat county park in Cumming. Great visitor center, hiking, climbing wall, tree house area, picnic area, garden. We use it for hiking. There are two hiking areas: Mountainside and Indian Seats. The most popular is Indian Seats with great views on lookout platform at the top with views of the North Georgia mountains and neighboring areas. Mountainside is less busy and has become our favorite (see pics). No dogs allowed. Lots of rocks and roots so take care hiking. Two parking areas: Spot Rd near the visitor center and Bettis Tribble Gap Road. We park at Bettis Tribble Gap Road as it gives us hiking access to both sides of Sawnee. Free parking at both areas as this is a county park. We ended up doing about an eight mile hike here with some good elevation. We started on the Mountainside doing a figure eight there, the cross over trail on the figure eight will get your heart pumping. Then we did the Indian Seats side for the view. We wanted to do the Church Trail but it was closed due to blown downed trees, but hopefully this will be cleared soon. We have been here numerous times and it is always a pleasure. Sawnee is a real gem!

    Frederick D.

    August 29, 2020 The trip to Sawnee was spurred by Kevin G's review who is also a running buddy and so we went. We first parked at the visitor center and got a picture next to the tall Bronze statue of Sawnee himself: a local Cherokee who was a skilled carpenter and farmer and had helped white settlers adjust to the native land now known as Cumming. Beyond the visitor center is a network of trails which will take you to the 1690 ft mountain top called Indian Seats, about 3.2 miles away so about 6.4 miles round trip. You can however drive the car to the back side of the park and hike up in less than a mile for a 2 mile round trip, which is what we did. But before venturing to Indian Seats we discovered the Fairy Trail, also behind the visitor center and very short, which is just wonderful for kids. Along this trail you see little fairy houses built by grade schoolers. The view at Indian Seats was breathtaking. You could see many of our 4K ft peaks in the horizons including our highest Brasstown Bald. Supposedly Cherokee held many spiritual ceremonies here. Hallowed ground so step wisely. After our hike we went across the street to park at the play ground before heading off to dinner. This was definitely a great park for the whole family to enjoy, and our little one definitely approves.

    The view from Indian seats
    Azka I.

    ------THE TRAIL ------ The hike to Indian Seats is easy and takes about 20 minutes. It's easy enough for young kids. The trail was not crowded at all and had families/solo runners. The views are breathtaking and worth it. I did the entire loop to the "treehouse" (a pavilion basically) and found a cute project by the local Girl Scout Troop of fairy houses scattered in the woods. This is located near the visitors center. The total hike including all the extra trails ended up being 4 miles. If you are an avid hiker and looking for something challenging, this is not the trail for you. ------LOCATION/PARKING------ If you put "Sawnee Mountain" into your GPS, you will end up on a scary narrow road with room for only one car on top of the mountain, so don't do that. Put "Indian Seats" or "Sawnee Mountain Trails". I parked at Bettis Tribble Gap Road which has enough parking for about 20 cars.

    Tae Kyung Y.

    Before today, I would give Sawnee Mountain 3 stars, but today, I discovered a trail that's not the average 30-minute Indian Seats trail, which bumps it up a star. To give a little background, I am a hardcore hiking fan and am always looking for new hiking places in the area and quite strenuous ones -- such as Yonah or Black Rock. I always hated coming to Sawnee because I thought Indian Seats was frankly... boring. Despite it probably being the closest mountain, I always opted to drive an extra 30 minutes to get to North Georgia, but my mom wanted to hike today and we couldn't go anywhere far, so we opted for Sawnee. We were looking on AllTrails, and we noticed that there is actually another trail that's about six miles and it connects with the Indian Seats Trail. All in all, the hike would be around 9 miles. We decided to take the route and began the hike. Indian Seats is the same old -- you walk up about 30 minutes and you get to the peak. Fun. But after that, you have to not turn back but keep going straight and following the map to get to the next part of the trail. We crossed the road and found another trail (Ridgeline & Mountainside Trail) where the children's playground is (This isn't at the Spot Rd entrance). We began the hike! A few things we noticed: - Not many people. Compared to the Indian Seats trail; we saw far less people and we liked it. It seems that either not many people know about this trail or they just prefer the easy one. It was quite calm to say the least. - Trail is rocky & unpaved. A majority of the trail is extremely rocky, bumpy & unpaved. It's probably not as well paved because it doesn't bring too much foot traffic. - The hike is LONG. Because we were already 3 miles in from Indian Seats, the remaining six miles were LONG and hefty. The course itself isn't too strenuous, but there are some deep inclines here and there so it's always good to plan. It also doesn't help that there's not a lot of people around. Overall, I'm so glad I was able to find this trail. My mom was definitely pooped after the hike, and I felt so rejuvenated and recharged after the hike. I want to return to do the hike more often, and the best part is -/ there's places to park at that children's playground area.. so maybe next time I'll skip Indian Seats and go all in on this trail!

    Sydney R.

    Awesome place to visit if you'd like a moderate hike outside of Atlanta. We drove 1hr outside of Atlanta to Cumming, GA to visit Sawnee for the first time. The hike it's self has 2 entrances/parking areas. One that's at the top which would take 45mins to 1hr to hike to the top and another that's mid way so it takes about 30-45mins to get up to the observation portion. We took the longer walk and it wasn't bad at all. Just hot! Also remember your bug spray because I did get stung by a bee :( Lastly, there are no dogs allowed in the park. We didn't know until we got there so Lola was fine this time but just remember the park rangers will stop you and there are signs as you enter! Otherwise it's a great place to enjoy!

    View from the top of Indian Seat
    Mina O.

    Great outdoor activity to do with friends or family. We made a day out of it and hiked until we reached Indian Seats. The view is breath taking and the weather was perfect. I took a few pictures, did some meditation, rested then worked out way back down the mountain. The bathroom was clean and tidy, unfortunately the visitor center was closed so we weren't able to go inside.

    Kevin G.

    Wow, what a hike to get here but certainly a very nice place for incredible views! My friend suggested meeting here for an early Saturday hike, and I took her advice since she's an avid hiker. It's up in Cumming off Exit 16, and there are a few entrances to the park. The main parking area is where we went, and I was certainly shocked to see there wasn't any parking fees! After parking, you notice the well-maintained welcome center that hosts a play room (books, games, toys), bathrooms, murals, side activity rooms and a porch area with chairs overlooking a small pond with a water fall stocked with fish. Open to the public and pristine! We walked up to the start of the trail and veered left to hike up the mountain towards the overlook. To your right, you'll notice a tree house area for kids and the Fairy Trail. Word to the wise here: these trails are NOT good for running (tons and tons of roots and rocks) and bring a head lamp if you're hiking pre-dawn. The trail can get steep in some areas where it's a straight up hike, but then there are switchbacks to give you some rest. On the trail, you'll notice an old gold mine entrance that's gated off and some amazing scenery (including a bent tree). At the top, there is a lookout area where you can see three states. There is also a ledge that has some "seats" carved in the stone. The views are just flat out amazing from here and worth the hike. It only took us about 40+ minutes to get to the top. Overall, worth the trip and a great spot to bring the kids. No dogs are allowed here on the trails. Check it out!

    Nicole L.

    This was an awesome hike and so close to Atlanta compared to where we have been going. We did a hike called I dian seats which takes you up to a high look out over the valley. It is super awesome! It is an moderate hike up the mountain, we were able to take our daughters push bike up although it was challenging at times and I wouldn't recommend doing that and I probably would t do it again. After the hike we went to the play ground across the street for more fun. I really liked this park and would love coming back!

    Watch out for snakes on the trail

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    2 years ago

    Beautiful views, safe for family hikes. Incline is not steep, it staggers which makes it easy to hike to the top safely.

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    3 years ago

    Nice hiking trails. Lots of options and we'll guided trails. The only drawback is they do not allow dogs on the property.

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    2 years ago

    Beautiful place to hike. The center offers excellent field trips for school age children.

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    3 years ago

    Best hike of Forsyth County, a great spot to bring kids as well. They have indoor activities with different animals.

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    Ask the Community - Sawnee Mountain Preserve

    Can you see sun rise?

    Yes. Great view from Indian seats. Enjoy!

    Are leashed dogs allowed?

    nope

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - Sawnee Mountain Preserve

    The trail (we took the Indian Seats Trail, there's also a "Fairy Trail") was wide and not too crazy, and the view at the top was amazing.

    Mentioned in 8 reviews

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    Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

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    4.0(5 reviews)
    6.9 mi

    Bowmans Island at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area is a nice little escape if…read moreyou're looking for a quiet hike with plenty of water views. Parking is easy to find, with enough space for at least 75 cars, including spots near what looks like a boat ramp. It costs $8 for the whole day, which isn't bad if you plan to stay a while. Fishing seems to be the main attraction here. There were plenty of folks (kids and adults alike) either in boats or lined up along the shore, casting their fishing lines off the bank. The trails are mostly easy to moderate, but there are a few steep, narrow spots where you'll need to watch your footing. I walked about 3.5 miles with a hiking group, following a loop that winds through the trees and offers a mix of open views and shaded paths. There are some benches along the way if you need a break. Bathrooms are available, which is always a plus, and there's a lot of green space. But honestly, I wouldn't recommend spreading out a blanket for a picnic as the ground is littered with dog poop, despite the big "no dogs" sign at the entrance. It's about an hour's drive from Atlanta, with the last few miles on Buford Dam Highway being steep and winding. The park wasn't overly crowded when I went, but there were a good number of people fishing or tubing. If you're looking for a peaceful walk by the water and don't mind stepping around a few messes, it's worth checking out.

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    Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
    Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
    Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

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    Lake Sidney Lanier

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    7.8 mi

    A hidden staycation opportunity that flies under the radar. Known for their boating and lake…read moreactivities but the other side offers a relaxed environment. Lodge/hotel lodging with spacious rooms with the treat of a Keurig in each room. A truly heated pool with poolside service or indoor or patio eating. Onsite restaurant with outdoor lake views offering buffet breakfast and menu dinners. A coffee nook offering fresh coffee/lattes along with patries. The topper is an onsite spa. Plenty of options on the property with golf, pickle ball, game room and water park.

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    Lake Sidney Lanier
    Lake Sidney Lanier
    Lake Sidney Lanier - Game room

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    Game room

    Sawnee Mountain Preserve - parks - Updated May 2026

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