The River Club's marketing has always led with the Chattahoochee. Audubon Sanctuary. Woodlands. The river as backdrop. What that framing tends to obscure is that the same river runs through a 66-mile national recreation area with public trail access a short drive from the gate — and spring 2026 is the first season that corridor has a trail race, a long-awaited restaurant opening, and a string of Town Center events all landing in the same eight-week window.
This is not a roundup of things to do in Gwinnett. It is a specific argument: the Chattahoochee you can see from inside The River Club connects directly to public land worth using, and this spring gives you more reason to use it than any previous one.
The Public Trails on the Same River
The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area spans 15 separate land units along 48 miles of river and more than 7,000 acres across metro Atlanta. Two of those units sit within easy reach of The River Club.
Chattahoochee Pointe Park in Suwanee is the one most residents have driven past without stopping. Its trail system runs along the river on a winding gravel and dirt surface — flat enough to run, interesting enough to walk. The Settles Bridge unit, also in Suwanee, is quieter: a scenic trail that leads to the historic remnants of Settles Bridge, the oldest still-standing bridge over the Chattahoochee in the entire recreation area. Neither requires a long drive.
A daily or annual pass is required for all CRNRA units. Daily passes run $5; annual passes are $40.
April 25: The Trails Get a Crowd
On Saturday, April 25, Loop the Hooch puts Chattahoochee Pointe Park on the race calendar with a 50K, 25K, and team relay built around that same gravel loop. The course is flat and fast — designed for PRs, according to Summit Run Co., which organizes the event. Relay teams run five-kilometer loops and hand off at a designated transition zone along the river.
If racing isn't the point, the weekend still matters. Races like this pull a few hundred people onto trails that are otherwise quiet on a Saturday morning, and the energy is worth being around. Bib and shirt pickup is the Friday before at Big Peach Running Co. in Suwanee at 320 Town Center Ave — which means the weekend technically starts with a reason to be at Town Center on Friday evening.
Old Town Gets Its Restaurant
The more consequential opening of the spring is happening about a mile from Town Center, in the part of Suwanee that predates the amphitheater by about a century.
BOCA Taqueria is opening this spring in the Pierce's Corner building in Old Town Suwanee — a structure built in 1910, acquired by the Suwanee Downtown Development Authority in 2005, and brought up to restaurant-ready condition through significant DDA investment in 2023. The building has been waiting for the right operator since Suwanee first started talking about revitalizing its original city center.
Chef Helio Bernal, who made it to Atlanta via Chicago from his native Mexico, has already proven the concept works in two different formats: Boca Cocina de Barrio in Summerhill and Boca Taqueria at the Politan Row food hall inside The Forum at Peachtree Corners. The Suwanee location is described as an upscale modern Mexican and Omakase restaurant and bar — a step up from the counter-service version at The Forum. The DDA spent years vetting operators before landing on Bernal's team.
Old Town has needed an anchor. For River Club residents who use Peachtree Industrial as their corridor into Suwanee, Pierce's Corner sits directly in the path. A trail morning at Chattahoochee Pointe Park followed by dinner in Old Town is a logical sequence that didn't exist as recently as last year.
Three Consecutive Weekends at Town Center
While BOCA is the opening to watch, Town Center is handling spring with its own sequence.
March 14 is Taste of Suwanee at Town Center Park — 25-plus local restaurants offering tasting samples, free admission, an artist market, live music, and a kids' zone. The festival runs noon to 6 p.m. at 330 Town Center Ave. If you have out-of-town guests this weekend, this is where to take them.
March 21 brings the Suwanee Beer Fest back to Town Center Park — the 15th annual edition, with more than 400 craft beers from around the country, including over 70 Georgia breweries. USA Today named it the number-one beer fest in the country in both 2022 and 2025. That distinction tends to surprise people who think of it as a neighborhood event. It is not. It draws regionally, and Town Center fills in a way that looks nothing like a Tuesday afternoon.
April 11 and 12, the Suwanee Arts Festival takes over the same space with painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture, jewelry, glass, fiber, and live demonstrations on the Town Center stage. It is a juried show, which means the quality level is curated, not just large.
Three weekends, same location, three entirely different crowds.
Where the New Dining Scene Fits
Outside the events calendar, two spots on the Town Center corridor are worth knowing.
Suwanee Social at 350 Town Center Ave runs global flavors and handcrafted cocktails for dinner, and doubles as Bloom Room Social for brunch — a separate concept in the same space, positioned as a slower, more intentional morning. For residents who want something other than a drive up Peachtree Industrial, these two formats cover the early and late ends of a day.
Sheesh Mediterranean opened its first standalone location in December 2024 at 991 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. It is fast-casual, built from the same menu as its Politan Row concept in Dunwoody. For a neighborhood that has historically been better at fine dining than quick weeknight options, Sheesh fills a gap.
The Sequence That Makes This Spring Different
Taken individually, any one of these is worth knowing. Taken together, they describe something specific: The River Club sits between two activated zones — the Chattahoochee trail corridor to the north and the Town Center events circuit to the south — and spring 2026 is the first season both are worth using on the same weekend.
A Saturday in late April could look like this: Loop the Hooch race or a morning walk at Chattahoochee Pointe Park, lunch at Sheesh Mediterranean on the way back, and dinner at BOCA Taqueria once it opens in Old Town. None of that requires getting on I-85. All of it is within the radius most River Club residents already drive for errands.
The river you can see from inside the gate is the same river those trails run along. Spring 2026 is when that connection becomes useful.
If you're considering a move into The River Club or thinking about what your current home is worth in this market, Floyd Real Estate Group brings resident-level knowledge to every conversation. Book a private consultation to start.
