This post is about all things Atlanta at World’s Toughest Mudder 2019 – If you are looking for live coverage and results for World’s Toughest Mudder, that can be found here.
Let’s get this out of the way first. It’s Atlanta, ATL, The ATL, A-Town, The Big A, The A, or d’ A.
People who live in San Francisco, don’t appreciate “Frisco”. People in Boston, do not call it “Beantown”.
So yeah, no one here likes “Hot-Lanta”, so just leave that shit at home.
Getting A Room
Believe it or not, you can still get a room relatively close to the venue. This link provides a direct google map link to the road that gets you to the World’s Toughest Mudder entrance.
Getting Around
MARTA – It’s not so Smarta. If you are staying downtown, you can take MARTA straight from the airport to your hotel. Outside of that, Atlanta does not have a killer transit system like most major cities. Renting a car is going to be best, especially if you plan on hitting various places outside the city.
RideShare – If you can not afford a rental, some ride-share applications can easily be downloaded and can get you around town. Here are the links for car sharing services Lyft, and Uber.
If you want to ride those little scooters around town, you can download Bird, and Lime.
If you are really short on cash, and really need a ride to the venue for World’s Toughest Mudder. Just ask in the World’s Toughest Mudder Community, as I am sure there is someone staying near you.
ITP/OTP
Speaking of which Atlanta is broken up into 2 separate but equally important groups: The police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. Sorry, that’s not it.
I meant to say ITP- inside the perimeter, in-town stuff. and OTP – outside the perimeter, out in the suburbs stuff.
So in this case, if you are only staying in town, you are fine without a rental car. If you plan on heading OTP, you will absolutely need a car.
Places To Run/Hike
Sweetwater
My favorite trails to run locally are at Sweetwater State Park. It’s only $5.00 to enter. Drive all the way to the back to park. You’ll pay at the gate or at the visitor’s center. (they take credit/debit)
For a nice run, take the 5 mile white loop around and/or the shorter 3 mile yellow loop. You can also just have a nice walk, and walk back in any direction. Here is the Strava for the white and the yellow trails.
Stone Mountain
2nd favorite. I take the Cherokee Trail which is around 5 miles. You can do that and/or just walk up the mountain. I like to go for a nice job around, then walk up and back down. You can also run down at top speed for extra fun! $15 to enter.
Me and my kids at the top of Stone Mountain
Piedmont Park
Atlanta’s own version of central park. If you are staying in town, Piedmont Park is a quick uber away. You can run for a few miles around the park, if you don’t mind running on concrete.
Kennesaw Mountain
I don’t go to Kennesaw near as much. Ask Justin Rose or J.D. Allen though, they go there a lot.
Outdoor OCR training facility.
OCR King Compound – Out of the way if near downtown or airport, may be closer if you are at a hotel near World’s Toughest Mudder venue. Awesome obstacles built literally in someone’s side yard and back woods. Run by fellow WTMers Justin Rose, and Cody and Chrissy King and other OCR peeps. It’s a MUST see for OCR fans if you are here for a day in advance, or a few days after. Watch this video. Then, message them on Facebook to set up an appointment.
Places to Ninja/Rock Climb
-Rock
I am not a rock climber, but I know that a lot of people go to Stone Summit and speak well of it.
You can also try Atlanta Rocks or Wall Crawler.
-Ninja
NinjaKour is run by an OCR dude/Ninja we like a lot named “Doc Ninja” Pruni.
The other two ninja places that people speak highly of are Ninja Quest and Slingshot/Nitro Zone
Places to walk around/shop/eat
The East Side BeltLine. Easy to get to by uber/lyft/bird if staying in town. You can walk and shop and eat for a few miles, I highly recommend eating at Krog Street Market, which is also our Monday bar crawl spot. This is also a place you can run. If you like to combo your day. You can start at Piedmont Park, run down the Beltline for a while, then stop and eat and or drink anywhere along the way. You can uber back at any point.
Little 5 Points. Atlanta’s answer to Haight Ashbury. Record stores, hookah shops, tattoo parlors, you get the drift. All independently owned. There’s a marijuana dispensary NEXT to the police precinct! You can go to The Vortex to eat the biggest burger ever after you claim your brown big. If you go prior to WTM, I would suggest The Porter they have great food, and a gazillion craft beers on tap. If you are ace at finding parking anywhere, give it a shot. I would highly recommend ride/share to and from.
What about Downtown Atlanta?
Not my type of fun. But if you want to do touristy stuff like The Coke Museum and The Hard Rock Cafe, then stay downtown.
Breweries
I know many of you like to hit these types of places when you travel.
West End Brewery District – Several breweries (and a Whiskey place) all next to each other.
The Friday Night Community Dinner is here as well.
There is TONS of free parking here so if you need to drive to the Friday night thing, no problem.
SweetWater Brewery is another choice. They have been a favorite since 1997, way ahead of the hipster brewery curve. It is NOT to be confused with Sweetwater State Park, as they are no where near each other.
Scofflaw – Another popular in-town brewery, and a favorite of one Patty Hansel.
Where To Eat In General?
Tastes and moods vary, so Yelp and Google reviews may be your best bet.
However, someone asked me some of my specific faves so I’ll list them.
Agave – Southwestern Fare. Sotto Sotto – Italian. The Optomist – Seafood. Poke Burri – Hipster sushi and poke.
Fred’s Meat and Bread is my current favorite for amazing and decadent foods. If you go to the Monday Bar Crawl, you can eat there with me!
What did I forget? Let me know your questions, and we will update this article whenever possible.
These videos below are from last year, but still have lots of good info.
Matt B. Davis
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