or any other people that have been in the area...
My family and I rented a cabin in Northern Georgia for several days over Christmas. I don't know exactly where yet, just that it's 1.5 hrs north of Atlanta and it's 1 mile from the Benton MacKay trail. How is the hiking and trail running on the BMT? Any recommendations for other nearby trails? Any other must do touristy stuff for while we are in the area?
Imminent Catastrophe
Lots of good choices around here, The Benton Mackaye is nice, and The Appalachian Trail and a bunch of others. I'll get back with more details soon. Let me know where you are and it will help.
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Thank you.
So far the only info I have on the location is from the website we rented it from:
"Just an hour and a half north of Atlanta, located on Cherry Log Mountain off Georgia 515 about halfway between Ellijay and Blue Ridge, Georgia."
They should be sending me detailed directions soon.
MTA - We'll be in Cherry Log, GA about 7 miles south of Blue Ridge, GA
Ostrich runner
Watch out for hillbilly squids.
http://www.runningahead.com/groups/Indy/forum
That's pretty close to me, I'm in Ellijay. There are lots of options around here, depending on how far and what type of trail you're looking for.
The Benton Mackaye Trail runs east-west and crosses highway 515 right near Cherry Log. That would be an out-and-back, I've run west from there but not east. There's an abandoned church on Highway 515 that you can park at. It's got plenty of runnable but also some steeper sections, some places are hard to navigate because it runs along some roads and it's hard to spot the trail blazes sometimes.
45 minutes east is Springer Mountain, the terminus of both the Appalachian Trial and the BMT, they meet again at Three Forks. You can park on Springer Mountain, run down the AT to Three Forks and back up the BMT, or vice versa, that would be about 9 1/2 miles and a good 1200 ft climb/descent. It's kind of cool to go to the AT trailhead. That's a really nice run.
Alternatively, you can park at the bottom and run up to Springer Mountain and back down. Here's a 19-miler that I did, It runs up a forest road to Three Forks, up the AT to Springer Mountain, back down the BMT and back to the start. That's a nice, hard long run:
click
Amicalola State Park is about 45 minutes east, you can run the Appalachian Approach Trail from there up to Springer Mountain, I think it's about 8 1/2 miles one way. It's got a lot of steep stuff and is not easy. $5.00 admission to the Park, but free on Wednesdays.
Fort Mountain State Park is about 45 minutes west and has lots of tough trails, a marathon and 12-mile trail race are held there every October. The Gahuti Trail there is a tough 8-mile loop (I've seen bears on that trail) and the 301 trail is a nasty, VERY tough 13-mile loop. Maps available at the Park office. $5 Park admission but free on Wednesdays. If you decide to do the 301 you need a (free) permit from the Park office.
50 minutes southeast is Dawson Forest WMA, near Dawsonville, which has many nice, runnable horse/bike/hike trails. A 100-mile trail run will be held there next March.
Judging from your log you're too fast for me, but if you want to get together for a trail run and don't mind slowing down a bit, let me know, I'd enjoy showing you one of these trails.
Kalsarikännit
I'm a big fan of the Aska trails in Blue Ridge. (http://blueridgemountains.com/aska_trails.html) The Flat Creek Loop is very runnable (and not flat).
I like hiking at Amicalola, and have done the entire AT through Georgia. They just seem more like hiking trails than running trails (of course, I also had 38 lbs on my back). It is definitely worth going to for the hiking.
Rich Mountain should have some good trails, but I haven't been there yet.
I want to do it because I want to do it. -Amelia Earhart
My father just moved to Blue Ridge. I found these a while back when checking out places to run:
http://www.n-georgia.com/fannin_co.htm
http://www.seriousrunning.com/Trail-Running/Georgia_21.html
I hope they help.
My father just moved to Blue Ridge. I found these a while back when checking out places to run: http://www.n-georgia.com/fannin_co.htm http://www.seriousrunning.com/Trail-Running/Georgia_21.html I hope they help.
Thanks, WG! I'm just a little south of PerfesserR, and this is a great list for me as well. Some of the closer ones are now on my 2011 Wish List.
I keep meaning to try the Aska Trails but haven't gotten around to it. There's also a nice 3.5-mile loop at Carter's Lake, very runnable.
Thanks WG and PerfersserR for all the info, looks like we'll have plenty of options. I'm looking forward to it.
PerfesserR - Thanks for the offer, I'd like that. And if there are hills involved I think it will be me that slows you down.
Well it didn't go exactly as planned but we had fun on our trip. We were able to go on a hike at Amicalola the first day we were there. After that we were snowed in and unable to drive anywhere. Our 4 night stay ended up a 7 night stay. We were a little disappointed we couldn't go see any of the other trails but luckily we were close enough to get to the BMT trailhead without driving. I really enjoyed running on the BMT trying to figure out how to run snow covered hills. It was pretty cool that for several days in a row the only footprints on the trail were mine. I have pictures of some of the trails but haven't figured out how to load them yet. Thanks again for the advise on the trails, maybe next time we get up there we'll be able to check out some of the others.
Yeah, the weather didn't really work out for you. Heaviest snowfall in many years here.
I was there for the big snowfall 3-4 weeks ago. It was a bit crazy tring to get runs in. My "run" at Aska turned into more of a hike (which was still fantastic), and the roads were an adventure. On the bright side, it kept in the yappy, unleashed ankle biters that every home has (and that follow me down the street when I run there), and it nicely covered the fast food wrappers, cigarette packs, and beer cans that line the roads.
It is such a beautiful area, and it is always a great workout because of those hills, but there are definitely things around there that make me want to strangle someone.
Perfesser, I know you have it better in Elijay because you can at least get a beer there on Sundays!
and the roads were an adventure.
A few sections of the trail I was running crossed the roads. I got to find out first hand how much fun black ice is. I hit nice patch on a downhill section and took one of those cartoon type falls and landed flat on my back. Just missed cracking my head on the pavement, so that was good.
Huh? Where? That's news to me. I thought it was a state law--no beer on Sundays. Church and State separation be damned!