A Visit to Autrey Mill to Experience Wildlife, Scenic Beauty...and Monkeys?

There’s a natural “diamond in the rough” off Old Alabama Road – just across from all of those lost golf balls in the “rough” at the Country Club of The South. 

You can explore nature trails, tour the Heritage Village, experience Native American dwellings, visit exotic animal exhibits or even get married – at the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center. 

This 46-acre preserve strives to keep the rich history and natural habitat of the Johns Creek area alive and viable through educational programs, preservation projects and fun-filled activities – all funded by donations or the occasional nominal fee for, say, a guided tour. 

People who visit the preserve on a frequent basis usually come to hike or run the two-mile network of trails.

“This time of year most of the forest is leafed out,” says Ben Team, the preserve's director. ”So, it’s pretty green everywhere you look."

Along the trails, you’ll see native wildlife, cross bridges, view a scenic creek and even see a farmer’s vain attempts to locate a vein of gold.  You’ll also see the old Autrey Mill foundation stones.

“It doesn’t look like a whole lot – sort of like a pile of rocks,” laughs Team, “But it’s an historic pile of rocks.”

This quiet preserve was once in the middle of a dense hardwood and pine forest that the Cherokee called home. It was their southern most land, having forced the Creek across the Chattahoochee River into what is now west Gwinnett County. In fact, for generations the area now known as Johns Creek was “sacred ground” to both the Cherokee and the Creek; a place where they could meet without the threat of hostility in order to discuss differences and work out agreements. 

But in the 1830s, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its land, move west along the infamous “Trail of Tears” and settle on government reservations in Oklahoma.  The land around present day Johns Creek - like much of North Georgia that was taken from the Cherokee - was given to white settlers who cleared the forests and built their homes. 

This area became fertile farmland and in 1877 the Autrey family built a five-story mill that would grind the wheat and corn crops of area farmers into flour.  However, the mill went out of business when “store-bought” flour became prevalent.  By the 1920s, the mill was completely abandoned and nature reclaimed the land. 

The preserve, as it exists now, was the result of the persistence of a group of activists bent on keeping the land from being developed, as well as a resourceful “grassroots” group dedicated to maintaining the heritage and natural habitat of the area through education and preservation projects.  The preserve is now owned by the City of Johns Creek and maintained by the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve Association, which still works to preserve the past.

For example, many of the buildings in the Heritage Village, while certainly historic, were nearly lost forever – but for the efforts of the preserve.

“Most of them were being threatened by suburban sprawl - one way or another - before we moved them here,” says Team.

Each Saturday, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., one of the Heritage Village buildings is open to the public. All of the buildings are open during special events at the preserve and guests may also see all of the buildings during special guided tours for a small fee.

But tours and special events aside, a solitary morning or afternoon trek down any of the nature trails can be a personally energizing step back in time that can bring you closer to nature, clear your head and give you a chance to reflect on the important things - like why it is that you’re seeing concrete statues of circus monkeys on the trail.

Hint: it has to do with a wrecked circus train over in Duluth about 80 years ago.

The Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center is a great way to spend the day and experience nature up close and personal – at your own pace – as often as you care to get away from it all.

This article originally appeared on Norcross Patch.