Woman falls to her death walking dogs on unauthorized Sandy Springs trail

ROSWELL, Ga. - An unauthorized hiking trail in Roswell has been shut down after a fatal accident. Last month, a Sandy Springs woman fell to her death while walking with her dogs.

The path is not one of the marked trails at Vickery Creek. It is more of a cut through made by hikers using it as a shortcut to connect to another trail. Along the way, people have to navigate some narrow ledges along some cliffs.

"They're pretty treacherous. They can be slick and scary," said Christine Vance who hikes the trails in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation area.

Park Rangers say last month a 46-year-old woman from Sandy Springs was with her 2 dogs on this trail when she fell 15 to 20 feet to her death.

"Something happened that caused her to slip and fall and hit her head, and [she] landed in the water," said Chief Ranger Jeston Fisher.

Chief Ranger Fisher says over the years, others have been injured using this unauthorized trail. He says they've tried in past to stop people from using it.

"By using the closure sign, a split rail fence and putting small debris on the trail to make it look like the trail doesn't exist," said Fisher.

None of that worked. So this time, they've put larger debris to block it off.

"Larger tree limbs, rocks, things from the natural environment that will make the social trail, or unauthorized trail blend in.  So when you come up to the intersection that used to exist, you know hands down you're not supposed to go that way," said Fisher.

"I think the sign helps too," said Vance.

Chief Ranger Fisher says he hopes this will keep people off the path. If not, they'll have to do something more permanent.

"Just stay on the path and be safe," said Johnny Vance, who was hiking with Christine.