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The Environmental Trail Loop at Kennesaw National Battlefield Park is an absolute must while in the Kennesaw, Georgia area. I entered the trail thinking that this was just going to be a quick easy mile and a half trail that I can just go in and get a nice walk in. I had no idea that it would turn into one of my favorite hiking experiences that I have ever had.

It started off with a beautiful entrance with the National Park signature zig zag wood fencing that outlined the trail entrance. The sign said to go counter clock wise around the trail. Which, I happily obliged to. At first I was thinking that may cause a climb on the back side, but there really wasn’t too much elevation change at all. If there was I may not have noticed because I quickly had an adrenaline rush. I passed by one couple then a few minutes later I locked eyes with a beautiful deer as shown here:

We stared at each other for what seemed like a few minutes, but it was probably only for a few seconds. I slowly took out my phone to take a picture. We were only about 15 yards from each other. The deer was so kind to stay still and pick up her right front foot to provide me with an awesome photo. I was ecstatic, the wildlife I come across on most trails are just squirrels and birds so running into this deer was awesome. Although, I see deer in my yard almost everyday at home there is just something about running into them while you are out on a hike. Being one with nature is just something that is hard to explain unless you experience it.

Continuing my hike and couldn’t help but to appreciate just how beautiful the land around me was. There just wasn’t much on the forest floor, just mainly the canopy which provided spectacular views of the forest. As for the trail itself it had some roots and was a bit rocky. So I recommend wearing hiking boots for this trail. If you choose to wear tennis or running shoes just make sure you are very careful.

Guess what though, I was not done coming across deer! I ran into another one. He saw me and ran so I wasn’t able to take a picture. This really got me going so I took out my phone and kept it in my hand the rest of the way. Good thing I did because soon after I ran into the second deer, I came across two roaming through the woods together.

I was so pumped up by the time I was finished with the trail. I couldn’t wait to show my wife all of the pictures I had gotten of the deer. This was just such a cool experience! I wish she would have been able to hike with me. Unfortunately her ankle was still quite sore from her fall the day before at Vickery Creek.

Some facts about the trail: It’s a 1.5 mile trail with about 138 feet of elevation change.

It takes 35-45 minutes to complete walking through it without stopping at any of the many benches they have along the trail. At these benches you can stop, take a break, and take in all of the beautiful nature around you.

They have signs along the trail such as this one:

These signs keep reminding you that you are at a National Battlefield so you can get that feel while also out hiking in nature.

Be prepared for crowds as the park was extremely busy. Which surprised me since it was a Sunday morning in the south. So I imagine that the park is always full or almost full depending on the weather. The weather during my hike was absolutely perfect. About 65 degrees on a beautiful sunny October day.

The trail itself was very quiet although the park itself was busy. Only passing by 2 people on the entire trail. I saw more deer, squirrels, and chipmunks than I did people.

Here is the link to the trail on the AllTrails App: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/georgia/environmental-trail-loop

In the area? Check out: https://iveysadventures.com/vickery-creek-trail-short-loop-roswell-ga/