Peavine Trail
Peavine Creek is an important tributary to the South Fork meeting the larger creek at Old Briarcliff Road just below Sage Hill near Clifton Road. The trail across the creek from Emory’s Peavine Road is a soft surfaced adventure in woods and at the foot of a steep slope where the creek forces its way through giant rock narrows. The entire trail is on Emory University property and visitors are expected to be good stewards of the school’s permission to use the trail.
The creek’s headwaters drain from many neighborhoods. The Decatur City Cemetery, Candler Park’s Golf Course and most of Druid Hills sends tributary water into Peavine. Golf balls and baseballs from Emory’s baseball fields are often prized by the children who find them in the current.
The Peavine Confluence Rain Garden is about a fifteen-minute walk down the trail. It is across the creek from the parking area for Emory's Candler Field. The trail continues past the garden to Old Briarcliff Road. A popular loop trail is to cross the creek and return upstream on the right, or north bank, past the Candler playing fields, the baseball diamond and onto Eagle Row. The Oxford Road entrance to campus is a block away from Emory Road and a return to the trail head at 1455 Emory Road.
In March 2020, the South Fork Conservancy completed a stream bank erosion control project slowing storm water draining from Briarcliff Road. The $60,000 project funded by a generous grant from Cox Communications allowed us to create an easy crossing over the former concrete lined ditch where the storm water met Peavine Creek.
Emory University contributed over 20 species of native plants and trees worth more than $5,000 which the South Fork Conservancy used to restore the land at the confluence. The result is a quiet, naturalized woodland garden. Many new visitors are telling us they had no idea the trail is there, and how much they enjoy the beauty the new plantings create.
Some rugged hikers are using a side loop, up the steep slope toward the Channel 5 television antenna and then looping back to the creek banks. It's a fragile trail. We would like to discourage bicycle riders from using it because bicycle traffic compacts the dirt.
Where is the trail?
An easy half mile trail on Emory University property with views of Peavine Creek and its beaches begins at the intersection of Harvard and Emory Roads. Emory students from the cross country running team built steps down from the street at 1455 Emory Road. It is marked with a simple stone cairn. The trail downstream follows the newly re-cleared county sewer easement through old growth pines and poplars.
Where do I park?
On-street parking is available but users must be mindful of all street signs.