Molloy - 50 Hikes in the North Georgia Mountains

OTHER BOOKS BY JOHNNY MOLLOY

50 Hikes in the Ozarks

50 Hikes in South Carolina

50 Hikes in Alabama

50 Hikes on Tennessees Cumberland Plateau

OTHER BOOKS IN THE 50 HIKES SERIES

50 Hikes in Wisconsin

50 Hikes Around Anchorage

50 Hikes in Washington

50 Hikes in Oregon

50 Hikes in the Sierra Nevada

50 Hikes in Northern New Mexico

50 Hikes in Utah

50 Hikes in Orange County

50 Hikes in Michigan

50 Hikes in Michigans Upper Peninsula

50 Hikes on Michigan & Wisconsins North Country Trail

50 Hikes in Ohio

50 Hikes in West Virginia

50 Hikes in the North Georgia Mountains

50 Hikes in Northern Virginia

50 Hikes in Eastern Pennsylvania

50 Hikes in New Jersey

50 Hikes in the Lower Hudson Valley

50 Hikes in the Berkshire Hills

50 Hikes in the White Mountains

50 Hikes in Vermont

50 Hikes in Coastal & Inland Maine

AN INVITATION TO THE READER

Over time trails can be rerouted and signs and landmarks altered. If you find that changes have occurred on the routes described in this book, please let us know so that corrections may be made in future editions. The author and publisher also welcome other comments and suggestions. Address all correspondence to:

Editor, 50 Hikes Series

The Countryman Press

500 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10110

Copyright 2018, 2013, and 2006 by The Countryman Press

Maps by Erin Greb Cartography,

The Countryman Press

Book design by Glenn Suokko

Text composition by Eugenie S. Delaney

Interior photographs by the author
Series cover design by Steve Attardo
Cover photograph Sean Pavone / Shutterstock

All rights reserved

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The Countryman Press

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A division of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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www.wwnorton.com

978-1-68268-132-9 (pbk.)

978-1-68268-133-6 (e-book)

This book is for all the hikers and volunteers
who use and maintain the hiking trails
in the North Georgia Mountains

Contents

I would like to thank all the people who went hiking with me in Georgia through the decades, including for the third edition of this book. Thanks to Ken Ashley, who was the first Georgia hiker I knew. Also, thanks to Francisco Meyer for hiking down Mountaintown Creek, and to John Cox for hiking both the Bartram and Benton MacKaye Trails with me in their entirety, and for the fishing trips in the Cohutta. Thanks to Hunt Cochrane for coming up from Alabama, and to Karen Stokes, Levi Novey, and Wendy Watts for their help. And thanks to Larry Madden of the Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association. Thanks to Tina Dean for meeting me at Tallulah River Gorge. Thanks to Hans Double H Hollmann for his input, and to Mike Vess for a shuttle on the Chattooga. A special thanks to all the personnel of the Chattahoochee National Forest and the rangers at all the state parks of North Georgia, and also to all the wonderful hikers I met out on the trail. Yall reinforced my enthusiasm for hiking in the North Georgia Mountains. And thanks to the rest of my friends and family for backing me up and helping along the way.

W elcome to the third edition of 50 Hikes in the North Georgia Mountains . What a pleasure it was to add some new hikes and update the information so that your valuable time can be spent on the trail rather than on trying to find a hike that suits you.

Heading to the North Georgia Mountains was a natural extension of my camping, hiking, and paddling obsession that began in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in the early 1980s. My first trip in Georgia was to Cloudland Canyon, led by Calvin Milam. We camped, explored the trails, and enjoyed vistas that opened my eyes to the many outdoor possibilities in the Peach State. More trips covered the Cohutta Mountains and the ridges where the Appalachian Trail (AT) headed from Springer Mountain toward its destination in Maine. Oh, to relive those days of seeing new sights for the first time!

Later, I moved to Atlanta, and adventuring in Georgia became much easier. I explored the mountains from top to bottom, hiking many of the trails included in this guidebook. Time passed, and I was writing outdoor guidebooks, hiking for keeps, if you will. I eventually pitched the idea for this guidebook, then began systematically exploring the North Georgia Mountains for the best hikes.

And since then, I have had the opportunity to add new hikes for this third edition. It was a real pleasure (most of the time) to travel the trails of North Georgia, from quiet and forgotten Chickamauga Creek to busy Blood Mountain, where the Appalachian Trail reaches its highest point in Georgia. Along the way, I found some unexpected hikes, such as Martins Mine Meander at Smithgall Woods, that pleasantly surprised this grizzled veteran. And with the joy of completing a book and the sadness of an adventure ended, I finished my research. After this book came to be, I continued hiking in the North Georgia Mountains and was pleased to add more hikes to the third edition of this book, for it gave me an excuse to head for the wonderful beauty of the Peach States highlands once again.

T his book details 50 excellent hikes in the North Georgia Mountains, from Cloudland Canyon near the Alabama state line to the Chattooga River on the South Carolina border and throughout the mountains in between. Specific emphasis has been placed on the scenic destinations and unique places that make the North Georgia Mountains so special: places like Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the master path of the East, the Appalachian Trail. [