Sandy Springs heralds opening of trail network’s first segment
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Sandy Springers can now discover Orkin Lake via the first completed segment of the Morgan Falls Loop, a nearly 2-mile path connecting Roswell Road to the Chattahoochee River.
About 100 people, including community advocates, neighbors and city officials, gathered along the lakefront May 2 for a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Representatives with regional trail advocates, like the PATH Foundation and the Sandy Springs Conservancy, thanked city leadership for prioritizing connectivity across the city.
Through community donations, the Sandy Springs Conservancy has chipped in around $65,000 toward design and construction of path segments around Morgan Falls Overlook Park.
The completed 1.88-mile path is 8 to 12 feet wide, connecting the city’s riverside park to Roswell Road at Cimarron Parkway. The pedestrian and cyclist facilities open a piece of Morgan Falls Overlook Park that has been densely forested and inaccessible to the public for years.
The 2A segment is the first installment of the Morgan Falls Loop, a 5-mile path around Morgan Falls Overlook Park. Plans call for addressing the project in five segments.
The Springway is the name of the city’s ambitious 31.4-mile trail master plan, encompassing all scheduled multi-use paths within Sandy Springs.
Mayor heralds trail growth
Mayor Rusty Paul spoke during the ribbon-cutting, reflecting on progress made at the first park the city built after incorporation.
“Today, we celebrate not just the finished segment, but progress toward a greater vision laid out in the 2019 Sandy Springs Trail Master Plan,” Paul said. “Springway is not just about Sandy Springs, it’s designed to connect to the trail network in Roswell, Atlanta’s PATH 400, Cobb’s national recreation trails and Dunwoody’s trail system; this is truly a linchpin.”
Conservancy Board Chairman Jack Misiura said projects like the Morgan Falls Park Connector are what the nonprofit is all about. Misiura said the nonprofit and its volunteers are focused on building out the rest of the Morgan Falls Loop and other paths around the city.
The highlight of the path is a 2,933-foot-long boardwalk with concrete decking over Orkin Lake.
Work on the segment began in December 2022 but ran into some expensive delays when crews struck solid rock beneath the lake. Please read more here.
