McIntosh Reserve

McIntosh Reserve is an absolute delight. So much goodness here. History — kids will love the log cabin. Geocaching, a splash park (no additional charge), lake for fishing, three playgrounds, river overlook, pavilion. Several new camp sites (free!) along the upper part of the river are lovely. Tons of great trails — for hiking, biking, horseback riding (watch out for horse pillows). The river frontage is great. A really pretty part of the upper-​middle Chattahoochee (the prettiest I’ve seen)
Admission is now $ 5 per vehicle — for everybody. Whether you live in Carroll or not. Annual passes are available.

McIntosh Reserve is a park and historical site operated by Carroll County. Free for residents of the county, the cost is only $ 3 for everyone else. The park is located a few miles south off Hwy 5 just south of the town of Whitesburg. The Chattahoochee River lies on its southern border and is the main feature of the park.
The historical part relates to the life and doings of a Creek chief, William McIntosh, who lived and was murdered at his home located on these grounds. There’s a log cabin purported to be ‘just like the one he lived in’, the actual residence having been destroyed at some point. His grave is nearby. There’s not much to see at the log cabin.
I came here for the hiking, which isn’t really what this park does best. There are a good number of trails but an almost total lack of trail markings or maps onsite. The best trails near the river are in fact equestrian paths, which is OK as long as you don’t mind the mud the horses churn up and keep an eye out for droppings. On the non-​river side of the road, there are more typical walking trails, but, as I said, almost totally unmarked.
I found exactly one map in the park showing trails and it was located at an equestrian parking area, which gives you a clue as to the intended purpose of the trails. The visitor entrance did not have one and the old ranger station located at the other end also did not. In fact, the ranger station was unoccupied and had zero information posted outside. For my hike, I tore out the pages of the Atlanta area hiking book which had led me here. It had a map, albeit an inaccurate one. I did a fair bit of wandering trying figure out where I was and where the trails were. The website has a good map showing the trails — click on ‘Park Map’, not ‘Trail Map’. The latter is pretty useless.
There were few people in the park when I visited and thus few people using the facilities, but it’s apparent that the main attraction is picnicking. The park boasts several pavilions, one with a great river view. There’s also what is called a ‘water park’, although that turns out to be an area near a couple of ponds where vertical spray fountains are installed for the kids to play in.
Other than that, the most prominent feature would be acres and acres of mown grass. There is a lot of mown grass here, and even a very large field of unmown grass that serves as a wildlife viewing field. I didn’t see any wildlife. The online ‘Trail Map’ suggests that the large field is used for model airplanes, the mown part of it I would assume. Bottom line, if you’re local and need a spot for a large gathering — say a company picnic — McIntosh Reserve is the place to be.
The best river views are located in a rather rough-​looking picnic area on the other side of the road from the old ranger station at the south end of the park. Here you’ll find a pretty scenic overlook. You can walk down to the river from there and continue on for a half mile or so along the river bank until you get to the large wildlife viewing field. As with almost everywhere in this park, you’ll also find a bunch of picnic tables as you walk.