Chattahoochee National Forest

Florida guy here. I'm planning a trip for my vacation in August and my ultimate goal is to overland through the Chattahoochee National Forest up into Tennessee and through the Cherokee NF and back down through Pisgah, Uwharrie, and Sumter NF before coming home. Any suggestions or recommendations?

Initially I'm planning to hit the Three Forks area and Nimblewill Gap, Winding Stair Gap, and do the Wildcat Loop before heading up Tray Mountain from Helen on my way to Hot Springs, NC where I'll start heading south.

Do most of the FSR's have free camp sites like the ones on the roads near springer mountain?

I'm doing this 8/4 through 8/11 if anyone is interested in making it a group thing.

 

I'm going to NY august 5 and starting to head back down the 8th. So the 10th 11th and 12th I'll be in the area and would like to hit some trails in chattahoochee national forest

 

I don't have a ton of experience for the majority of the national forest, but if you plan to travel Tallulah River Road along your route you absolutely will not be disappointed. There are also multiple free campsites when you cross over into North Carolina. They're actually better than the designated camping sites in GA because they're more private, but there's no bathrooms or anything like that. From those NC campsites, you'll have to double back a few miles into GA, then you can take Charlie's Creek Road/Trail headed west deeper into the forest for some slightly more aggressive offroading and a shallow, but wide, river crossing.

I think there are some trails with creek crossings and such in the Warwoman WMA, too, but I've never been there myself.

Also use this resource to plan your trip:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zAXyjc-yXFOw.kS16CJNOulMk&authuser=0&hl=en

 

Good stuff! Thanks! My plan is to start in the Nimblewill Gap area and work east into NC. Charlie's Creek Rd and Tallulah River Rd aredefinitely in the plans.

 

How did the trip go?

 

Trip was awesome. I camped up near Three Forks off of FSR58 and Winding Stair Gap Rd. Hit Flatland Rd, Dicks Creek Rd, Tray Mountain, Corbin Creek, Chimney Mountain Rd, Indian Grave Gap, and Charlies Creek. Great time and trails were a good ride.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S3oCistnloc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Awesome Video!!!!

 

Haha...Clayton is my hometown. Good stuff up there for sure

 

It's my favorite place in the state. My wife and I normally take a camping trip up there about once every 3 months or so and camp by the Tallulah river.

Also I did some trail running in Warwoman WMA last time we went up there. Everything was mostly well graded dirt/gravel roads. I didn't find anything you couldn't handle in a 2wd vehicle. I hope to explore more of it on my next trip.

Do you know the trail that runs up the mountain near Minnehaha Falls? It's like 1 or 2 curves before you reached the falls. Looked like a really good aggressive trail, but we were stopped by a lady walking her dogs who said it got really rough and rocky so we turned around before we got to see the good stuff.

 

It's a beautiful area and a great place to raise a family. My end goal is to get back there, or close by.
No I'm not familiar with that trail. Honestly when I was living there and through high school my friends and I spent more time out in the more northern areas of the county and FS roads. Tallulah River, Warwoman, Dicks Creek, Sky Valley areas. None of us had capable rigs, or the money to afford breaking stuff so we usually just stuck to the FS roads. For any remote travels we just headed out on foot and via mountain bikes or dirt bikes. Not to mention we were more concerned with girls and behaving poorly rather than wheeling

 

Gotcha, yep I know what you mean. I'm hoping to move up to Clayton when I retire in 30 years haha. There's some beautiful houses and land up there.

 

Dirt has gotten expensive up there. My folks know the areas I'd want be eventually so they're always keeping an ear out for me in the real estate realm of things. The good ol' boy network is about the best way to come by good deals these days. Of course that can be true for most anywhere and anything.