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Engineer Jerry Hood speaks to the Braselton Rotary Club on Thursday about the Braselton Mulberry RiverWalk, which will include trails for walking and cycling along the river.

RiverWalk project in Braselton moving forward as opening date nears this year
The Braselton Mulberry RiverWalk is nearing its time to open to the public later this year — but a lot of work is still ahead for the project.
Jerry Hood, vice president of Engineering Management Incorporated (EMI), told the Braselton Rotary Club on Thursday about the extensive project.
The RiverWalk project will provide walking and cycling trails along the Mulberry River, which spans Braselton’s four counties. The area will also include perennial gardens, picnic areas and a natural waterfall.
For the first phase of the project — which is being dubbed the “Pioneer Trail” — the RiverWalk will span about two miles starting from the Riverbend subdivision in Hall County and ending at the Thompson Mill Road/Liberty Church Road bridge in Barrow County, located next to The Falls of Braselton.
A one-acre parking area is planned adjacent to The Falls of Braselton for public access, along with several other smaller entrances in the Riverbend and Mulberry Park subdivisions.
The town is now seeking bids for mulch for the first phase of the RiverWalk, Hood said. Around November, the trail may be open to the public, he added.
The first phase — with a flatter terrain — is distinctively different from the second phase, which “will be a challenge” with its rocky slopes, Hood said.
The second phase — which is being planned and surveyed now — will begin at the Thompson Mill Road/Liberty Church Road bridge and end at the 71-acre multi-use park on Ga. Hwy. 124 in Barrow County.
The 71-acre multi-use park will have soccer fields, picnic areas and potentially basketball courts, Hood said. Braselton is using the remainder of the donated property for a reuse water sprayfield.
At its completion, the RiverWalk will span at least 7.8 miles with an estimated price tag of $2.5 million, Hood said.
Last year, Braselton received a $100,000 grant from the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund for the first phase of the project, which Hood said may cost about $250,000.
Jennifer Scott, town manager and clerk, said one of the town’s four counties is considering a matching grant to fund the project. All of the property for the first phase of the RiverWalk has been donated by developers, she added.
“This trail has a lot of possibilities with 300 acres of open land,” Hood said.
And the Braselton Rotary Club seemed eager to be one of the first organizations to support the project.
“I’m just really, really excited about this,” said Martha Martin, president of the Braselton Rotary Club.
The group discussed funding benches or a picnic area along the RiverWalk. Hood said he hopes a “friends” group will be established to provide volunteers for maintaining and funding the project.
“We’re going to need some volunteer groups from time-to-time,” Hood said.
Scott said an estimated 50 residents in Mulberry Park and The Falls of Braselton agreed in March to be volunteers for the RiverWalk.