This post will describe the Sope Creek unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area of the National Park Service. Specifically this is intended for Professional Photographers as a resource when searching for interesting photo session locations.
A NOTE about National Park Service FEES & PASSES. There is a $5 fee that is required to use this and all NPS Parks. This is a self pay system using a drop box, just remember to bring your $5 or have an annual pass.
This is part of the Just Bartee Photography Locations feature listing over 100 locations in the greater Atlanta Ga metro area.
A few notes about this park. As you can see on the map below there are a large number of trail sections over a large area. So after viewing the mill ruins, I wanted to see the small pond. I am usually very good at reading maps and sensing my overall direction, but I made may wrong choices are various intersections in my search for the pond. I was not hopelessly lost, but certainly had a nice long walk in the woods.
After parking proceed to the pay station and the two major trail heads. If your goal is the Mill Ruins, then go left and stay left. This is the shortest route to the mill ruins. See pictures and notes below:
As you walk you will come to this trail intersection. (photo below) I found this style marking on several posts that are actually very clear and somewhat more helpful than the actual map.
As you proceed further down the trail you will start to the Paper Mill road on your left. (photo below) This is another trail marking that is helpful.
A short distance down the trail you will see the bridge and a small area by the road where a car can pull off. (photo below) If you can arrange for an extra person, your session clients could be dropped off to really shorten their hike down to the ruins. WARNING very poor cell coverage in this area. I would not recommend parking here. I am sure you would have "officials" changing your plans. You will be ticketed and towed!!
The following are pictures and possible photo opportunities in the mill ruins. A word of caution, this water way is a high bacteria area so be cautious of asking people to enter the water for photos.
After spending some time in the actual ruins, I walked back up to the small pond. this is an nice area that has a few nice photo opportunities. After being lost and walking a while I determined it would have been shorter to return to the parking and and walk past gate to the right of the pay station. The pond is a short distance down that path. You will want to explore the path around the pond. Following are a few pictures around the pond area.
