Settles Bridge Park

Settles Bridge is another of the excellent large Gwinnett County parks. It has all the features you expect — walking paths, playground, restrooms, large parking lot, picnic pavilions. It also has a skateboard park and a huge dog park.
This review is for the hiking trails. Along with the paved and manicured walking paths, Settles Bridge has a decent amount of dirt trails that take you into the suburban forest.
Before I go further, I’ll point out an important aspect of Settles Bridge that sets it apart from the other Gwinnett parks, at least in regard to hiking. Settles Bridge park is adjacent to one of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area units — the Settles Bridge unit to be precise. So, if you’re adventurous and want to hike for a longer distance, you can walk into the NRA property from the county park, or vice versa. Note however, that there are no trail signs, markers or other aids to guide you into the NRA and note also that that particular NRA unit is fairly undeveloped. There are no trail signs on it either (see my review of the NRA).
It’s not a total backwoods trailblazing thing, though. The trail leading from the county park into the NRA, and all the NRA trails, are laid out and obvious. They are maintained to some degree. Just no signs.
That said, back to the review of the county park. To get to the dirt trails, which are well marked on maps scattered about the park, you can take the paved path north from the dog park. You also can jump onto a trail right next to the parking lot but I preferred to walk to the other end and hike back. It’s a nice walk itself and you’ll shortly come to the ‘information kiosk’ (actually just another large park map) shown on the map at the end of the path. Beyond there, you’re on dirt. Mostly dirt — there are some pea-​gravelled sections and much of the trails have been overlain with black ground cloth, which is practically invisible during leaf-​dropping season. The leaf cover was so heavy when I was there that at times I looked ahead of me and could not distinguish any trail-​sign other than where I thought the path might logically lead.
Which brings me to another point. Unlike a lot of hiking trails in the area and the state, Settles Bridge has no markings along the trail to lead you. No little tags on trees and no colored splotches or stripes, either. This despite the fact that the maps are color-​coded for the various trails. I did notice some green splotches on trees while I was hiking the yellow trail, but that’s obviously not helpful. They do have map markers at each trail intersection and the trails aren’t all that long, so you won’t get lost. Probably.
From the end of the paved path (the kiosk), I hiked the yellow trail to the intersection of the end of the red trail. The end of the red trail is where the trail continues into the NRA. If you’re looking at the very large (too large) granite marker commemorating someone’s support for the park, take the left fork. The right fork also leads out of the park but you’ll shortly run into a fence and a ‘private property’ sign. I hiked both forks.
After coming back from the NRA (and getting a shoe soaked in an attempt to cross a waterlogged section of trail), I hiked down the red trail back towards the parking lot as far as the intersection with the blue trail. Here, I think, is the best part of the park — the blue trail. It winds for a mile or so through gorgeous forest and stream. You can jump onto the blue trail at a midpoint of the red trail, or you can start from the parking area. The unmarked trailhead is near the east end of the parking lot off the paved path. If you hike Settles Bridge, don’t leave this trail out.
Unless you go into the NRA, hiking the dirt trails isn’t going to give you a tremendous workout. There is some elevation change in the park but the distances are not very long. But it’s good for a one or two hour escape from whatever you need escaping from.
As with other county parks, there are too many gas-​powered blowers being used. The place doesn’t need to be all that well manicured. It’s a park.
Highly recommended. I’d give it five stars but in the category of hiking spots, the national and state parks still have the edge.

Great dog park, skate park, basketball courts, nature trails, playground and pavilion. Wonderful place to spend the day with the family.

Love the playground, except that there isn’t any shade, and I love the dog park, and the many trails here. I like the wooded trails that make you feel like you’re hiking deep in the woods. Great place to go and get yourself, your child and your doggie some exercise.

I wish I could thank the gentleman with several dogs that was walking the trail today at this park and heading toward the river — I enjoyed the walk with him and my dog with his, but when my blood sugar began to drop he was kind and tried to be very helpful to me in getting me back to my car. Thank you Gene (sp?) and thank you Shawna who also came to my rescue. Even tho strangers, they were kind and helpful!

The skate park is the biggest attraction next to the dog park. Three large bowl that connect to each other giving it a good flow. Spacious flat zones, several ramps, quarter pipe, stairs and rails make this a great skate park. Downside is that this place closes at sunset.
There’s a basketball court, a playground for kids 12 and under, a playground for over 12, large covered pavilion with standing grills and a clean restroom. Nice but small. That’s basically it here at Settles Bridge Park.

Great trails within the park — very wide, smooth, and just hilly enough to be challenging. This will be a fun place for short runs/​hikes. Even though it’s in the middle of neighborhoods, once you get out on the trails you feel isolated from everything. And you can connect into the National Park trails along the river, although those are much different trails — narrower and rooty, and not very well maintained.
I would give this 5 stars if they actually made the bridge that park is named for a focal point of the park. I tried getting there on the trails but turned back due to how overgrown it was. I wasn’t about to get bit by a snake or come home with a bunch of ticks. If you are going to call the park «Settles Bridge Park» then please have a nice, maintained path to the bridge.

Very nice place to take the kiddos. This park has a playground for both smaller and older kids, a dog park, walking trails, a skate park, and a basketball court. It really doesn’t get much better than this. Everything you need to enjoy some family time at the park. Oh, and the bathrooms were really. They were stocked with tissue and hand soap which tells me this place is maintained everyday. The grounds were really clean as well.

It’s a nice park! Great area to walk the dog. Plenty of disposal areas for poop. The off leash dog park is nice, but quite sunny.

Really nice park, as they usually are in Gwinnett County. Large play areas for both the tots and the pooch, windy trails to explore and decent facilities. It’s also in a residential area and is directly beside an elementary school, so easy access for the kiddies.
HOWEVER, my issue with this park is the parking situation. There is one lone parking lot at the front entrance. No problem — unless you’re going to the dog park, which is smack in the middle of the park without any road access.
Why is this a problem? Because you cannot see the parking lot from the dog park, which means you cannot see your car.
Still don’t get the issue? Car burglars are notorious for targeting parks because people get comfortable and leave things in their car that they don’t want to carry. These may not be what you’d consider the «valuables» most park signage warns you about leaving in the car — but a thief might want your 5-​yr-​old Prada sunglasses or your scratched-​up, dinged-​up iPod.
All that being said, the dog park is nice. Not the biggest or the nicest I’ve ever been to, but still nice. Two sides for separating the big guys from the little guys, and the littles side is quite large as far as littles sides go. The planted trees are still young so there is no shade except under the covered benches — enough shade for maybe 8 people bunched together.
I would give this place a 4, but the parking drops it to a 3 for me.

this place is allright.
The street side SUUUUUUUUCKS, one way flow and its so small, its almost made for bmx kids… they just happen to be «spamming the bown and snaking» like there’s no tomorrow.
the bowl has really awkward flow, tight pockets and metal coping that is waxed beyond belief, it is separated in half by a waterfall that seems to be sideways no matter which way you hit it.
it a great place if you want to just roll around, but be ready for some awkward bails and ZERO SPEED.
its a fun place to roll around, but not so much to make a trip just to skate for a day, it gets really old, really quick.

Whatever your reason to go to a park: nature, biking, skating, picnicking, hiking or dog interaction– you have it all at this nicely coifed Gwinnett County hangout.
Lots of trees, like-​new amenities, hard and soft natural trails, courtesy pooch poop bags and (my favorite) a good size fenced dog play area for both large and small canines. The dog park is well attended and you can frequently find lots of playmates for your pet after 3 pm on weekdays and most of the time on the weekend. Even has doggie drinking fountains and agility things for fido (tubes, planks, things to jump, etc).
Well used skate park and basketball court by courteous teens and this place seems very safe. Nice. I highly recommend.

One of the grandkid’s family decided to have his birthday party at this park at 5PM on a Thursday. Since we’d never been here, ‘Grammy’ and I decided to arrive early and put in an hour walking the trails. Very nice layout and nicely done. The dog park, skate/​bike park, children’s rec area, the restrooms, and the picnic pavilion were clean and well-​maintained. It’s next door to a Federal Parks Service area where fishermen, canoers, and kayakers can access the Chattahoochee.

Gwinnett County has recently opened a new gem of a park. Though of little use for the ITP’ers if you have a doggie it has one of the nicest dog parks I have ever seen and would be worth the day spent exploring. It is divided into 2 sections, one side for the big doggies and one side for the little doggies with plenty of room to romp and run. It also has dog agility course equipment. Water fountains have built in doggie bowls. But that’s just the beginning. This 268 acres has great walking trails, almost 2 miles paved and 3 miles soft trail. Once you get past the dog park be aware that the trails become «hilly» and your relaxing walk in the woods just became a vigorous workout.
There are playgrounds for the kiddies and a very nice pavilion that has over sized grills and electricity that can be reserved and rented. This is a 5 star park but there is one area of concern. There is a «skate park» there but everyone who had skates or skateboards were having difficulty getting any time because of the 20 or so trick bike riders taking over the skate facility. Also the teens riding bikes had little regard for pedestrians having the right of way. Walking/​jogging these trails and pathways may become problematic if there is no way to enforce the 10 mph speed limit. But most of the teens that were there only hung out by the skate park and were not on the walking trails for the most part. Your doggie will love it!!!
Speaking of trick bikes check out this link: