East Palisades Unit - Indian Trail — Attraction in Sandy Springs

I was met aggressively by dogs in the water at EP1 parking path, there was about 6 of them large breeds mostly. All off their leashes and the owner on a lounging chair, not bothering to call them back or leash them. They even ran off through the brushes as I walk towards the path off my right. The white woman allowed her dogs to repeatedly rush at me and never attempted to stop or leash them. When I asked her to do that she angrily stalked up to me and rudely said I should go away, find another lake, this is a dog beach. She offensively said that a few times, telling me I can file a complaint and take pics if I want but she's not leashing her dogs and I need to leave there. I walked back to the parking lot, since it was not safe for me to get any closer to the lake with the dogs continuing to rush at me and bark in an aggressive manner. I looked carefully at the signs, none said dog park/ beach. The dogs didn't stay in the water or with the owner but kept rushing down the walking path at me. The pic I took shows how far away I was. I couldn't take any when they were close because I stood very still, until she called to them, while yelling back insults at me. So I left without being able to enjoy the main attraction of the park. I saw another family of 3 approaching, but once they were aware of my situation, they also turned back. They neither got to enjoy the lake today, because I was chased away from " the dog beach," #nationalparks #buckhead #GeorgiaStateParks #Localparks #GeorgiaDepartmentofnaturalresources #Stateofgeorgia #animalcontrol #EastPalisadesPark #ChattahoocheeRiverNationalrecreationalArea #Cityof SandySprings #Indiantrail #Eastpalisadestrailparking...

This place would be 5 stars if they fixed the parking situation. It’s not even necessarily the lot sizes. It’s how narrow both roads into the lots are. The main lot (off of Indian Trail) is narrow and gravelly. Barely 2 cars can pass. The 2nd lot (Whitewater Creek) is about 7 mins away and although it’s paved, it’s still too narrow for cars coming both ways. We ended up parking on the street that leads into the whitewater creek parking lot. Other than that, it was a beautiful walk. From the Whitewater Creek lot to the bamboo forests, there are about 3 “steep inclines” along the route (if you don’t take the path along the river) so if you aren’t used to hiking, you may need to take a few breaks. The kids had no problem with them. The bamboo forest isn’t marked but its the furthest north trail along the river (the river trail from the whitewater creek lot did not go all the way to the bamboo forest. We took the non-river trail and followed the markers until we got to the bamboo forest). It was very pretty. Smaller than I thought it would be but worth the hike. Even though we didn’t take the river trail, there was still a lot of muddy areas (and it hadn’t rained for almost 2 weeks) so if you plan on going, I’d suggest some sort of waterproof shoe or shoes you don’t mind getting wet and muddy. Also there was no envelope collection site to put your money to park. The website wouldn’t let my friend checkout as a guest so she had to use another...

The 20-minute drive to the park was worth every minute to get here. What an amazing place to walk, listen to Mother Nature, and have one goal: seeing the bamboo forest. It did take me a while to find the place; it took me about 2 hours to get there with lots of stops and taking my own time to discover this beautiful majestic park.

My recommendation is to take your time, bring water and some snacks. I was wearing tennis shoes, but I would recommend hiking shoes for this trail. For the best experience, leave your headphones at home and greet people when you pass them with eye contact. Hello may be a tiny word, but we need to use it every time because it makes people acknowledge back with a smile, and I truly believe that being in nature is a kind of meditation to acknowledge people and let them know that 'I see you'.

The parking area is very small. I recommend car pooling and the road going in and out is very narrow, so drive slowly and pay attention to people walking on the roadside.

Now, to get to the Bamboo Forest, the fastest way is to follow the lake and go towards mark EP 16, and from there, it's only a 5-minute walk to the Bamboo Forest. It was worth every minute I spent there; nature has a way of giving us energy, reducing stress, and helping us appreciate life. During my hike, I even got to see a snake, but I paid more attention to the sounds of...