From Wellesley at Towne Lake, the trail route heading south is one project away from Cobb County. It is still two projects away from Kennesaw Mountain. Woodstock's Noonday Creek Trail Extension covers the first project. The second is a gap on the Cobb side, and Cobb's current trail guide doesn't show that gap as closed.
The ride to Alabama that the city described in 2024 depends on that gap. On the way to it, there's a fall ride from the Towne Lake side of I-575 that holds up well as it stands today.
Where Wellesley sits on the trail map
Wellesley is a 169-home swim-and-tennis community whose clubhouse is at 1001 Wellesley Crest Drive. By car, you get there from I-575 Exit 8. Take Towne Lake Parkway, which turns into Eagle Drive, then Rose Creek Drive to Wellesley Crest. That puts the neighborhood on the same corridor where the city's Towne Lake trail starts.
The trail is called Towne Lake Pass. It runs 1.94 miles, starting at Towne Lake Parkway and following Towne Lake Hills South toward Woodstock High School. Near the school complex it turns into the woods and follows the Noonday Creek corridor under I-575 to Woofstock Dog Park.
Woofstock Park is at 150 Dupree Road. The city lists it as the trailhead for both Towne Lake Pass and the Noonday Creek Trail, with separate areas for large and small breeds. Visit Woodstock lists both a free lot and free street parking there.
The chain, segment by segment
Strung together, the southbound route from the Towne Lake side has four pieces. Each one has a different status.
- Towne Lake Pass, 1.94 miles. Open. Towne Lake Parkway to Woofstock Park, passing under I-575.
- Noonday Creek Trail. Open. It links downtown Woodstock to Highway 92, with a bridge over Noonday Creek to Woofstock. Downtown, you can get on at Market Street.
- Noonday Creek Trail Extension, 1.5 miles. Under construction and 90% complete in the city's latest posted report. It runs from the trailhead near Reformation Brewery and Elm Street Green to Noonday Creek Park in Cobb County.
- Bells Ferry Road to Noonday Creek Park. Not shown as built in Cobb's trail guide. This is the stretch that would reach Cobb's existing seven-mile Noonday Creek Trail.
The first two pieces are open today and the third is close to done. How far a ride south can go depends on the fourth.
What the city promised, and when
The extension broke ground on December 20, 2023, as a joint effort of Woodstock, Cherokee County and Cobb County officials. The plan was to start near Noonday Park in unincorporated Cobb and build north under Highway 92 to meet Woodstock's existing trail.
In August 2024, the City of Woodstock described the payoff in big terms:
"From Noonday Creek Park, Cobb County is tying into the iconic Silver Comet Trail, one of the longest paved trails in the United States. This means that soon, you'll be able to ride your bike from the heart of downtown Woodstock all the way to Alabama."
The same announcement said the segment would "officially open to the public around this time next year," meaning about August 2025. The date has moved several times since then:
- August 23, 2024. The city expected the trail to open around August 2025.
- June 20, 2025. WSB-TV reported that a city official expected completion by spring 2026, a few months later than the earlier target.
- March 25, 2026. An article on Travel Media Press Room said the city's portion into Cobb was expected to be complete in fall 2026.
- August 17, 2026. The city's Capital Projects Status Sheet listed the extension as under construction, 90% complete, with a target completion of September 2026. The contract sum was $8,480,255.95.
That August sheet is the newest status the city has posted. The capital projects report in the September 28 council packet was still the August version. As of October 12, 2026, we haven't found a ribbon cutting or opening announcement. Until the city posts one, the accurate description is nearly finished but not confirmed open.
The gap on the Cobb side
Cobb County's own trail guide, published in September 2026, describes its paved Noonday Creek Trail as running 7 miles from Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park to the Noonday Creek Trailhead on Bells Ferry Road. The trailhead has parking and restrooms, and so does Aviation Park. From the trail you can connect to the West Cobb/Barrett Parkway, Mountain to River and Big Shanty Road trails. CobbLinc Route 45 stops along Cobb Parkway, Roberts Boulevard and Vaughn Road, plus Route 40 and 45 stops on George Busbee Parkway near Town Center Drive, give access to parts of the trail.
Cobb's guide ends that trail at Bells Ferry Road, not at Noonday Park.
Cobb's greenway planning page treats the missing piece as its own project. The Noonday Creek Trail Extension Scoping Study started in spring 2022 to look at extending the trail north from the Bells Ferry Trailhead to Noonday Creek Park. The county calls it "this critical gap in the regional trail network between Bells Ferry Road and Shallowford Road." The page says the study was expected to wrap up in summer 2023. It doesn't give a construction date.
Woodstock and Cobb both call their projects the "Noonday Creek Trail Extension." They are two different projects. When Woodstock's segment opens, it connects downtown Woodstock to Noonday Park. Cobb's segment is the one that would connect Noonday Park to the seven miles toward Kennesaw Mountain, and Cobb's September 2026 guide doesn't show that connection yet.
One small mismatch is worth knowing before you plan a ride there. Woodstock's releases put Noonday Creek Park on Shallowford Road. Cobb's current listing calls it "Noonday Park" at 489 Hawkins Store Road and lists access to the Noonday Creek Trail, concession buildings and restrooms. Check the address in your map app before you go.
A fall route that works with what's open now
Today, the open trail route from Wellesley's side of I-575 goes north and east. Start at Towne Lake Parkway, take Towne Lake Pass under the interstate to Woofstock, then pick up the Noonday Creek Trail toward downtown Woodstock and its Market Street access. If you'd rather have a car at the dog park, the free lot at 150 Dupree Road lets you split the ride into shorter out-and-backs from Woofstock.
The same route goes right through the end of downtown's October calendar:
- Ghouls Night Out, Friday, October 30, 4 to 7 p.m., a downtown trick-or-treat event. Visit Woodstock says the 2026 list of participating shops and restaurants hadn't been announced when the page was posted.
- Halloween Skelebration, Saturday, October 31, 4 to 8 p.m., at the Northside Hospital-Cherokee Amphitheater, per the city's special events calendar.
Once Woodstock's extension is confirmed open, the same ride can keep going past downtown, under Highway 92 and on to Noonday Park. That adds 1.5 miles each way and ends at a Cobb park whose listing includes restrooms. Until Cobb closes the Bells Ferry gap, getting onto the seven-mile Cobb trail still means starting from the Bells Ferry Road trailhead.
The other Towne Lake connection still in design
One more project would affect the Towne Lake side directly. The Buckhead Crossing Trail is meant to connect Towne Lake Parkway across Noonday Creek. North Atlanta Star reported on October 5, 2026 that the project is still under review after bids were rejected over cost and complexity, and that the city is looking at alternative routes and designs. No construction date has been announced, so for now Towne Lake Pass is the trail from this corridor to Woofstock.
Questions about the Towne Lake Pass corridor, or about how close a particular street around Eagle Drive is to the trail? Ask the team at Broadus Realty Group. We'll also keep watch for the city's next capital projects report and let you know when the Noonday Creek extension officially opens.
