Johns Creek advances four-mile Chattahoochee River greenway near Cauley Creek Park

Johns Creek is pushing a Chattahoochee River greenway that would turn riverfront land near Cauley Creek Park into a public trail corridor, with the first leg laid mostly on an existing cleared sanitary sewer easement on National Park Service property.

The city’s plan calls for a 1.1-mile multi-use path in Phase 1, running from Abbotts Bridge Road to the 5K trail at Cauley Creek Park. Phase 2 would extend the trail from the park to McGinnis Ferry Road, creating a longer route along the Chattahoochee River and tying the project more directly to daily travel and recreation patterns in the north Forsyth and Johns Creek area.

The project still has several hurdles to clear. Johns Creek says it remains in the design phase and still needs National Park Service approval, along with standard Georgia Department of Transportation processes for projects using federal funds. The city also says right-of-way acquisition for Phase 2 is anticipated in fall 2027, a reminder that the route is not just a parks project but a land-use decision that depends on access, approvals and timing.

Cauley Creek Park is the anchor. The 203-acre riverfront property opened in 2023 with a 3.1-mile rubberized trail, and Johns Creek says it effectively doubled the city’s total park and green space acreage. The park also sits next to the Rogers Bridge connection to Duluth, giving the greenway a built-in link to a broader cross-river network.

The city has framed sidewalks and trails as a policy tool for closing gaps near schools, libraries, parks and activity centers while also connecting neighboring cities and counties. In that context, the Chattahoochee Greenway is more than a recreational add-on. It is a piece of the city’s mobility map, aimed at giving residents a low-stress route for walking and biking in a corridor where development usually favors cars and pavement.

Johns Creek says the greenway is one segment of the Chattahoochee RiverLands vision, a continuous 125-mile bike-pedestrian trail from Buford Dam to Chattahoochee Bend State Park. The effort also builds on earlier state investment: in 2020, reporting said the city had been tentatively awarded a $3 million Georgia Outdoor Stewardship grant for the future Cauley Creek Park.

The stakes are clear. If Johns Creek secures the approvals and land access it needs, the river corridor could become one of the city’s most visible public assets. If it stalls, the promised link between parkland, river access and neighborhood connectivity could remain a plan on paper.