On Friday, June 19, a group of children cut the ribbon on the Mulberry Street Covered Bridge. That finished a continuous sidewalk from downtown Watkinsville to Thomas Farm Preserve. For its first year and a half, the preserve at 73 Simonton Bridge Road was mostly a place people drove to. It opened December 14, 2024, and has its own gravel parking lots. Today a resident can start near OCAF, walk downhill on Mulberry Street, cross the bridge, and reach the pastures and ponds without moving the car.
The Athens Banner-Herald reported that the bridge marked the completion of the corridor linking downtown to the $4.55 million park. As a result, the preserve now works as the far end of downtown. You can plan a visit the same way you'd plan a walk to Rocket Field.
The Route, Start to Finish
The city built the corridor in segments. Laid end to end, the city's own figures describe a route a resident can walk at an easy pace:
- The trailhead near OCAF. At the top of the hill near OCAF and the pétanque courts, the city added a landscaped trailhead. Mayor Brian Brodrick told council it was meant as a starting and stopping point that also highlights the arts center.
- Third Street and Mulberry Street. About 1,270 feet of new concrete sidewalk, 8 to 10 feet wide, runs along Third and Mulberry and ends at the bridge. Along the way you pass the new arch at the Watkinsville Cemetery.
- The bridge and its small park. Another 250 feet of sidewalk leads to the bridge itself. It is 105 feet long and 10 feet wide, sitting on three concrete abutments. Parking sits right beside it at the bottom of the hill from Mulberry, and the small park around the bridge includes restrooms.
- Simonton Bridge Road. About 1,880 feet of sidewalk, narrowing from 10 feet to 6, runs from the Cemetery Road area along the preserve's frontage to the Simonton Place neighborhood. The city also buried the power and communication lines along the Thomas Farm Preserve frontage and removed five utility poles.
Taken together, the segments come to roughly 3,500 feet, or about two-thirds of a mile, from the Third Street end to the preserve corridor. A separate 1,186-foot extension continues past Simonton Place to the eastern city limits. The extension explains why city staff described the full project at the 2026 council retreat as "almost a mile" of sidewalk.
All of it is concrete, ADA-compliant, and designed for both pedestrians and cyclists. That means strollers, wheelchairs, and kids on bikes can use the same path to the preserve gate.
Why the Route Follows Mulberry Street
The city didn't choose the path at random. Mulberry Street was the old Stagecoach Road, which the mayor described as Watkinsville's historic entrance from Athens. Interpretive panels along the route cover that road, the history of Simonton Bridge, the Watkinsville Cemetery, and the ponds at Thomas Farm Preserve.
According to Oconee County Observations, covering the crossing at the bottom of Mulberry was Mark Thomas's idea. Clint Gant Construction, IMI Industrial Services, and Mark Thomas Enterprises led the work, with many subcontractors behind them.
At the ribbon cutting, the mayor spoke to more than 100 people about why the bridge was built with children in mind. "We want to build communities that our children want to come back to," Brodrick said. "That's how communities thrive." The Rev. Joseph Nunnally, a Watkinsville native, blessed the bridge.
The financing shows how long the city has been working on this. Oconee County Observations put the full project at $3.7 million, covering the bridge, the Mulberry Street improvements, the small park and restrooms, and the Simonton Bridge Road sidewalk. The city's 2025 accomplishments report lists the funding as a $2,225,000 ten-year loan at 2.59 percent plus a $1,530,405 grant from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank.
Before the dedication, the mayor told council the corridor would connect the Rocket Field area to the cemetery and to the whole Simonton Bridge Road area, giving those neighborhoods a walking route into downtown. The route runs both ways. Residents along Simonton Bridge Road can now walk into town, and downtown residents can walk out to the preserve.
Picking a Loop Once You Arrive
Since you'll arrive on foot, think about distance before you choose a trail. The walk from the Third Street end is about two-thirds of a mile each way, so any loop adds to roughly a mile and a third of round-trip sidewalk. The city's trail map lists these trails:
| Trail | Length | Rough total with the downtown walk, round trip |
|---|---|---|
| Pond Loop | 0.15 mi | about 1.5 mi |
| North Pasture Trail | 0.25 mi | about 1.6 mi |
| Lake Loop | 0.45 mi | about 1.8 mi |
| West Pasture Trail | 0.45 mi | about 1.8 mi |
| East Pasture Trail | 0.38 mi | about 1.7 mi |
| Beech Bottom Trail | 1.0 mi | about 2.3 mi |
| Main Loop | 2.15 mi | about 3.5 mi |
| Backcountry Trail | 2.30 mi | about 3.6 mi |
The map also lists the Waterfall Spur at 0.23 mile, the Calls Creek Connector at 0.20 mile, and the Beech Bottom Bypass Mown Path at 0.10 mile. Trail surfaces get rougher the farther you go. Close in, the paths are accessible concrete. Beyond that they turn to gravel, and the backcountry trails are narrower. The city cautions that from the farthest points it can take more than 30 minutes to get back to the parking area. If you walked in from downtown, the climb back up Mulberry Street comes after that, so leave extra time.
The preserve is open from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. As the days get shorter in October, an after-work walk to the Main Loop needs an earlier start than it did in June.
What's at the Far End Now
The preserve also looks different than it did when it opened in December 2024. In its Phase 2 work, the city built a 30-by-30-foot pavilion behind the main house, added a second bathroom in the dairy barn, and poured a sidewalk connecting the pavilion to the restrooms. Crews also replaced the roofs on the dairy barn and the concrete block garage, stained the four-board fence along the road and at the dog park gravel lot, and built supports for a grape vine more than 50 years old.
The two ponds cover nearly five acres combined, and fishing is catch-and-release unless the city announces otherwise. The Pond Loop and Lake Loop are short enough to add to a walk from downtown without turning it into a long outing.
Dogs are welcome. Outside the fenced dog park, they have to stay on a leash no longer than six feet, and owners are expected to pick up after them. The sidewalk is 10 feet wide in places, so a leashed dog and a passing stroller can share it.
Fall Dates That Use the Whole Corridor
Several dates on the fall calendar sit at one end of the route or the other, so you can walk to them.
- October 17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Oconee Chamber Fall Festival brings arts and crafts to Rocket Field, at the downtown end of the corridor.
- October 31. The downtown development authority's schedule lists WTK Trick or Treat. It gives no location or hours yet.
- November 20 to 22. OCAF's juried Holiday Market runs Friday 4 to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Adult admission is $5. OCAF is at the top of the hill by the new trailhead.
- November 21. The Southeast Striders walking club lists a Mulberry Covered Bridge 5K Fun Walk. It starts downtown, crosses the bridge into the preserve, and comes back. The listing page carries an older publish date, so confirm the details with the club before you go.
The November 21 walk falls on the Saturday of the Holiday Market, so the downtown end of Mulberry Street will have both on the same day.
If you're thinking about how walking access to the preserve fits into a move near Mulberry Street, Simonton Bridge Road, or downtown Watkinsville, Sold by Ashley & Associates would be glad to walk the corridor with you and talk through the homes along it. Schedule a Consultation whenever you're ready.
