For those who’ve seen my online profile, you may know I like long distance bike rides. But when my wife and I go riding together, we take more leisurely and slow-paced journeys, focused on safety, scenery, frequent stops and even some coffee shops, with no need for speed nor any regard for fitness records.
My best biking advice: if you have any doubt, take the easiest and shortest route.
If the second type of leisure, recreation ride is of interest, keep reading. Or if you’re more into challenges and distance, we’ll be adding new posts soon on these topics.
Marietta Leisure Ride
Since you reached this sentence, let’s start with our most leisurely ride, shall we? For this short ride in Marietta, we’ll focus on a section of the Mountain to River Trail in Marietta between Brown Park and Tower Road. The ride stays exclusively on a mostly-flat, dedicated bike and pedestrian trail with overpasses bridging above busy roads and signal-controlled crossings at other intersections. This is perfect for the pleasure rider looking for limited physical activity blended with local history and some off-bike time. People of all ages can make the four-mile round-trip ride on virtually any type of bike, with no special packing, supplies or gear required. And, if you prefer a shorter ride, you can make this one shorter by turning around sooner since it’s out-and-back on a single path.
To get the most exercise and fun, I usually start at Brown Park, where there’s a small parking lot. (NOTE: The parking lot at Brown Park has been closed periodically in 2020. Another option is to park at Lewis Park, then pedal into Marietta from the opposite direction. See this map: ) You’ll join the trail at the new overpass across South Marietta Parkway and then pedal through downtown Marietta on a rail-side brick path. Follow the path through downtown, observing all crossing signs for your own safety. On busy weekends, it may be best to walk your bike through Marietta Station area. Once you cross the overpass bridging North Marietta Parkway, you’ll definitely want to dismount and walk your bike down a narrow connector sidewalk near Brumby Loft apartments. Once down, remount and rejoin the trail as it turns left away from Marietta Parkway and eventually follows Brumby, Sessions and Rosedale Streets to Tower Road. At Tower, turn around and retrace your route back to Brown Park. (If you prefer a longer ride, you can continue. But beware, the trail gets hillier and more difficult as it continues toward Kennesaw Mountain.)
Downtown Marietta Stops
Depending on your motivation for the ride, you may want to pedal past downtown on your outbound journey and save the downtown stop for your return. That way, you’ll have most of the work behind you, and a mostly downhill journey to return to your car at Brown Park. You’ll find convenient bike racks near the Marietta Welcome Center to safely lock your bikes during your downtown visit, as bikes are not allowed on in the square or on city sidewalks.
Among our favorite downtown treat choices on the return trip are Cool Bean Coffee Roasters, Sugar Cakes Patisserie and Bistro and Sarah Jean’s Ice Cream. All offer quick carry-out and limited outdoor seating, which is perfect if you want to rest without bothering others with any potential unpleasant exercise after-smell. There are many other options if you want something more substantial, many with outdoor seating, and there’s always the option of carrying your takeout into Glover Park at the center of the square. Snow on the Square is a seasonal option for cool and refreshing snow cones.
Another good choice is Session’s Stand. Assuming you make the full round-trip, you’ll find Sessions Stand after you pass downtown on your out-bound journey. It’s an amazing little neighborhood café with outstanding coffees, baked goods and more. And yes, there is outdoor seating!
I’ll also mention that we’re eager for the opening the Marietta Food Market, a new food hall under construction across the railroad tracks from downtown. It wasn’t open yet as of mid-January 2019, but we’ll do a full update on it when it finally opens!
Kennesaw’s Wooded Noonday Creek Trail
We promised to keep it short and fun for these rides, and there are two other options in Kennesaw, both on the Noonday Creek Trail. The full trail is approximately 7-miles one-way, extending from a trailhead on Bell’s Ferry Road to Kennesaw Mountain, where it intersects with and continues as Mountain to River Trail into Marietta. But it’s easy to create shorter rides with convenient and easy access points.
The easiest, shortest, and flattest option measures 3.8 miles roundtrip, and traverses only one street intersection. For this ride, park at the Bell’s Ferry Trailhead, where you’ll also find restroom facilities for your pre-and-post-ride convenience. Ride the trail west and south, following along Noonday Creek, passing under I-575, then crossing the creek near Town Center Mall. The trail proceeds across George Busbee Parkway at a controlled crosswalk, then enters more wooded area as it passes under I-75. Continue here until reaching Barrett Lakes Road, then turn around for the return. If you want a bit more of a challenge, you can continue on the trail up Barrett Lakes Road, climbing about 70 feet over the next 0.3 miles, then pedaling a flat section for another 0.6 mile to reach Aviation Park. After the climb, you can use the facilities, watch a few planes land or take off at McCallum Airport, then turn around to coast downhill and complete a 5.6 mile version. You can also do this in the opposite order, starting and ending at Aviation Park. But as you coast down the hill on Barrett Lakes Road, remember that you’ll be climbing the equivalent of seven stories on final leg of your return.
The Commercial Noonday Creek Trail
A second option on this trail is to park at Aviation Park, which has a large parking lot, nice restroom facilities and a credit-card bike rental location. From Cobb Place Boulevard, follow the trail for 1.9 miles as it passes by offices, commercial and distribution facilities. The trail turns away from the roads and back into the Noonday Creek flood plain before it reaches But this extension has lots of busy road crossings, some significant hills along Barrett Parkway, and we’ve found the trail often littered with broken glass – a bike tire’s worst enemy!
Final Thoughts
My best biking advice: if you have any doubt, take the easiest and shortest route. It’s better to start slow, ride easy and enjoy some fun than to find yourself tired and stressed with a long return ahead. And if you want to learn about more challenging rides, click here to read about other nearby rides for the experienced rider.
