Trail systems combine with vibrant downtown to offer the best when it comes to exploring the outdoors
WOODSTOCK, GEORGIA–JANUARY 2025–Jay Wilkes and his friends loved to ride bikes in Boling Park behind Cherokee High School in Cherokee County north of Atlanta. Boling Park officials explained that the bikers needed their own off-road bike trails, and that planted a seed. In March 2000, a group of mountain bikers created the Woodstock chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA-W) and began what would become the creation of mountain biking trails in Woodstock.
Today, Woodstock is known for its mountain bike trails, but also plenty of rich outdoor recreation.
Mountain Bike Trails
The organizers of SORBA-Woodstock formed relationships with local land managers to design and create trails for mountain bikers and the all-volunteer, nonprofit works to maintain these trails at Blankets Creek and the Taylor Randahl Memorial Mountain Bike Trails at Olde Rope Mill Creek Park.
Blankets Creek consist of six mountain bike trails: Mosquito Flats and Mosquito Bite for beginners, Dwelling Loop for intermediate, South Loop and Van Michael Trail for advanced and Quehl Holler for expert downhill.
Taylor Randahl Memorial Mountain Bike Trails is comprised of three trails: Explorer and Avalanche for intermediate and The Mill Trails for all skills. The Randahl trails is named for a young mountain biker who lost his life on the road.
“Olde Rope Mill Creek Park was literally a dumping ground,” Wilkes explained. “His father, Doug Randall, approached us about creating the trails, said his son had dreamed of having race courses at the park.”
There are 15 miles of trails at both parks, bringing the combined total to 30 and making Woodstock a mountain biking destination. Blankets Creek attracts around 100,000 riders a year and Olde Rope Mill Creek Park approximately 60,000, Wilkes said.
“I would say Woodstock is a mountain biker’s destination,” said Nikki Adams, SORBA president.
Lisa Randall studied civil engineering at Georgia Tech only to find that the outdoors beckoned.
“I was never happy sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day,” she said.
She joined an outdoors club at school and continued mountain bike riding when she moved to Woodstock, participating in bike races. When she began hosting races, she knew she found her calling. In 2011, Randall partnered with SORBA-Woodstock for her first hosted race as owner of Mountain Goat Adventures.
“From there it went to 10 to 12 events a year,” she said.
Interesting bikers may view a list of events on the website.
Mountain Goat Adventures not only hosts races and trail events, but four events each year serve as a major fundraiser for SORBA-Woodstock, bringing in around $15,000 a year for the chapter.
“It’s (the events) are giving back to the trails and to the community,” Randall said.
In addition, mountain biking is taught and encouraged in county schools. Students may letter in the sport and some have received full scholarships.
“That is exploding,” Adams said of the growth of mountain biking in area schools. “It gets the kids involved and they will be the leaders of the sport.”
Woodstock outdoors
Located only 30 minutes from Atlanta, Woodstock offers visitors a vibrant downtown and arts scene with numerous restaurants, Reformation Brewery and boutique shopping, many owned by local residents.
For outdoor enthusiasts, it’s a dream destination.
Woodstock contains more than 20 miles of walking trails throughout the city, there’s kayaking on Little River with access to nearby Lake Allatoona, fishing opportunities and hiking to the Toonigh Creek Falls in Olde Rope Mill Park.
The Noonday Creek Trail that begins at Woodstock Arts behind the brewery in downtown Woodstock runs southward along Noonday Creek towards Highway 92. A highlight of the trail is the Woofstock Dog Park at the Towne Lake Pass Bridge where visitors may spot wildlife besides the canine variety. The Noonday Creek Trail is being extended and will connect Woodstock and Cherokee County’s trail systems to neighboring Cobb County’s trail network. Officials hope to eventually connect the Noonday Creek Trail to Cobb’s entrance to the Silver Comet Trail, a 61.5-mile popular bike and hiking trail that extends all the way to Alabama.
Woodstock offers several other parks with trails, such as the Rubes Creek multi-use trail and the bike skills trail at Dupree Park, among others. It’s all part of the city’s Greenprints Project master plan, which calls for 60-plus miles of trail and open space network throughout the City of Woodstock. This map shows the myriad trails running through the city and county.
“The city and county are very supportive,” Wilkes said. “They get it.”
“What I love so much about Woodstock is that it’s always focused on making sure these green areas are connected, accessible and continue to grow,” said Ingrid Smith, marketing manager for Visit Woodstock GA.
But that’s not all. Within a short drive are outdoors attractions such as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park with its miles of trails, Lake Allatoona and Red Top Mountain State Park and Gibbs Gardens in nearby Ball Ground.