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Hiking
Trail Info:
The Hiker’s Cabin is located in the Blue
Ridge Mountains, surrounded by the Chattahoochee Nat'l
Forest. The Ocoee cabin is in close proximity to The
Appalachian Trail (AT) head and The Benton MacKaye Trail
(BMT). You can access these trails from many different
locations in the area which will provide a vast variety
of hiking trail length and difficulty. Not only are
there the famous trail systems here (AT and BMT) but
there are also many other great trail systems throughout
the local area, such as the ASKA Road trails, the trails
at Amicalola Falls State Park, the State Park trails
around Lake Blue Ridge and the trail to the swinging
bridge plus many hiking trails off Route 60. Some of the
ASKA Trails also cross the AT and The BMT.
The Blue Ridge Mountains offer some of the best hiking
in the USA.
Since the Nat'l Forest and State Park area is so vast,
these trails are not crowded. Trails are filled with
magnificent trees, many rivers, waterfalls and nature
galore. Wildlife includes White tail deer, squirrels,
fox, wild hog, possum, raccoons, woodpeckers and many
different birds, fish and maybe once in great while, a
black bear. These are not seen often. The woods are so
great that crossing paths is seldom.
It always amazes me when on the Benton MacKaye or AT,
that a squirrel in the woods can be so loud. That’s how
quiet it is! Come hike here and find your soul as I did.
You won’t believe how incredible these trails are!
After a long day of hiking, you will be happy to come
back to a great cabin with a steaming hot tub!
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The cabin has maps for all trails in
the area. You can also pick some up at the Blue Ridge
Visitors Center.
http://www.blueridgemountains.com/
Maps below are of the BMT and AT. Larger, interactive
maps of the BMT and AT can be seen on their web sites at
the links above.
Benton MacKaye Trail
Appalachian Trail
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Aska Trails
Area:
The Aska Trails Area is a 17-mile
hiking-mountain biking trail system in the
National Forest near Deep Gap on Aska Road in
Blue Ridge. Trails range from one to 5.5 miles
and vary in difficulty. Trails climb to 3,200
feet with views of mountain ridges and descend
to the shores of Lake Blue Ridge. A hiker can
expect to hike through forested areas with
mature hardwoods and thickets of mountain laurel
and rhododendron. |
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Trailheads are located at Deep Gap, Stanley Gap, Shady
Falls Road and Forest Road 711 by way of Campbell Camp
Road. Parking fee is $2 per vehicle. Bulletin boards at
trailheads show maps of the area and the trail system.
The Aska Trails system includes the following trails.
Stanley Gap Trail
- 5.5 miles
Green Mountain Trail - 4.6 miles
Flat Creek Loop - 5.8 miles
Stanley Gap/Flat Creek Connector - .1 mile
Long Branch Loop - 2.0 miles
Trail to the Swinging Bridge:
The swinging bridge over the
Toccoa River. This 265 foot long bridge is the longest
swinging bridge east of the Mississippi River.
In 1976 the Forest Service, along with the Georgia
Appalachian Trail Club replaced a dangerous ford of the
Toccoa River in this area. The bridge, built by a
private contractor, was completed in 1977 and has become
a landmark in Fannin County and a popular camping spot
in the Blue Ridge Wildlife Management Area. The Benton
MacKaye Trail and the swinging bridge are only open to
foot traffic. To get to the swinging bridge: The
swinging bridge is 14.3 miles from the start of the
Benton MacKaye Trail at Springer Mountain. You can also
get there by car off Rt 60, 4 miles down a Forest
Service Rd to a trail head, then a quarter mile hike to
the bridge. This is a great place to start a hike from,
since it is on the Benton MacKaye Trail.
The Chattahoochee National Forest:
"Barefoot Forest Ranger"
Arthur Woody made an extraordinary contribution to
Fannin County and all of the north Georgia mountains
when he fought to create and protect the vast resources
of the Chattahoochee National Forest in the early
1900's. Woody, a Fannin County native, helped replenish
the dwindling population of whitetail deer in the forest
and introduced new species of non-native trout in the
streams. His work was the foundation for the richness of
the Georgia mountain experience today.
The Chattahoochee National
Forest covers 749,689 acres in north Georgia, managed by
six ranger districts. Over 40 percent of the land in
Fannin County is national forest land (106,000 acres).
40,006 acres are located in the Cohutta Ranger District
and 66,097 in the Blue Ridge Ranger District. The forest
began when the forest service purchased 31,000 acres in
Fannin, Lumpkin and Union Counties from the Gennett
family in 1911 for $7 per acre.
The Chattahoochee-Oconee
National Forests have 37 developed recreation areas, 500
developed campsites, 200 picnic sites, 6 swim beaches
and 530 miles of trails. There are more than 500
wildlife and fish species in the forest. Almost 100
percent of cold water stream fishing on public lands
occurs within the Chattahoochee national forest. 90,000
fishermen generate over $43 million in revenue for
Georgia from national forest land.* The forest receives
more than 10 million visitors each year.
*Source:www.fs.fed.us,
Blue Ridge Visitors Center Web Site
Amicalola Falls State Park:
Amazing Place! Make time to go
here!
Great hike. Very strenuous to climb all those stairs.
Carry water! At trail head from here too!
http://www.amicalolafalls.com/
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