A famous locomotive, a preserved battlefield and trails through wetlands show how many different ways there are to discover Cobb. Highlights include railroad and Civil War history, as well as wildlife viewing, hiking and cycling routes. The specific route details help you choose experiences based on your own interests, without conflating different trails and parks.

Locomotive History and Traces of the Civil War

The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History is home to the famous locomotive General. Its exhibits focus on different aspects of railroad and Civil War history: they explore the daily lives of Civil War soldiers, feature a reconstruction of a locomotive factory from around the turn of the 20th century, and display Georgia’s Merci Boxcar. The Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase is also among the exhibit topics.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park preserves a Civil War battlefield from the Atlanta Campaign. The site covers 2,965 acres. Cobb is therefore home to two distinct historical highlights: the railroad history explored at the museum and the history of a preserved battlefield.

Discovery Park at the River Line also preserves Civil War-era fortifications. The park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has more than a mile of riverfront along the Chattahoochee River. Its historic features and designation as a historic site are two specific aspects of the same park.

Trails Through Summit, Forest and Wetlands

Big Kennesaw is a distinctive, isolated peak in Cobb County, at 1,808 feet above sea level. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park has more than 25 miles of trails. Two route details are especially helpful for finding your way: the summit can be reached via a one-mile hike from the visitor center; the Kennesaw Mountain Trail is a 2.2-mile round trip from the visitor center. The first distance describes the route to the summit, while the second is the round-trip length of a named trail.

Allatoona Creek Park offers a different mix of scenery and activities, with open fields, forests, wetlands and streams. Its more than 35 miles of mountain biking trails include singletrack routes, jump lines and a pump track. The park also provides habitat for deer, foxes, bobcats and a variety of bird species. The landscapes and wildlife mentioned also make the park interesting for wildlife viewing, without implying that any particular animals will be spotted.

At Heritage Park, a 1.7-mile unpaved, one-way trail follows Nickajack Creek. The trail includes boardwalks over wetlands. The park’s historic character includes the ruins of Concord Woolen Mill and Civil War-era fortifications; interpretive signs explain this history. The route details are thus complemented by visible historic features.

Green Meadows Preserve includes quiet wooded areas and meadows that are suitable for walking and wildlife viewing. It is also home to a historic garden surrounding a house dating to the Civil War era. Nature viewing and garden history are therefore two distinct points of interest within the preserve.

Compare the Routes

Leone Hall Price Park offers the one-mile Creek Loop and the 0.6-mile Meadow Loop. The Creek Loop is therefore the longer of the two listed loops. Several walking trails run along Sewell Mill Creek in East Cobb Park; no distance is specified for these trails.

The Chattahoochee RiverLands Trail includes a 0.6-mile paved, shared-use trail and a boardwalk over scenic wetlands. The site provides public access to the Chattahoochee River in southern Cobb County. The Silver Comet Trail covers a different scale: it runs 61.5 miles from Smyrna to the Georgia–Alabama border. This paved, non-motorized trail is intended for walkers, hikers, cyclists, inline skaters, horseback riders and people with dogs, and is accessible to wheelchair users.

Six Flags Over Georgia also offers a clearly defined range of rides, from major roller coasters to rides for small children. Cobb thus offers historic exhibits, trails through a variety of landscapes and other recreation options as distinct interests to explore.

Discover more destinations: Smyrna, Marietta, Mableton, Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs, Austell, Vinings

For the broader travel overview: Georgia.