Best Hikes of the Appalachian Trail: South

by Johnny Molloy

Overview

Best Hikes of the Appalachian Trail: South details 45 hikes along the AT from the trail's southern terminus atop Georgia's Springer Mountain north through North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. These superlative treks visit overlooks, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and wildernesses, as well as scenic, cultural, and historical sites — even trail towns. This selection of hikes reflects the great variety of features the southern AT provides, and the guide is authored by the Southeast's most experienced outdoor writer, Johnny Molloy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634041812
Publisher:	Menasha Ridge Press
Publication date:	07/01/2018
Series:	Best Hikes of the Appalachian Trail
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

JOHNNY MOLLOY is a writer and adventurer based in Johnson City, Tennessee. His outdoor passion ignited on a backpacking trip in Great Smoky Mountains National Park while attending the University of Tennessee. That first foray unleashed a love of the outdoors, which led the native Tennessean to spend more than 3,500 nights backpacking, canoe camping, and tent camping over the past three decades. Friends enjoyed his outdoor adventure stories; one even suggested he write a book. He pursued his friend’s idea and soon parlayed his love of the outdoors into an occupation. The results of his efforts are more than 60 books and guides. His writings include hiking guidebooks, camping guidebooks, paddling guidebooks, comprehensive guidebooks about a specific area, and true outdoor adventure books throughout the Eastern United States. Though primarily involved with book publications, Molloy writes for varied magazines and websites and is a columnist and feature writer for his local paper, the Johnson City Press. He continues writing and traveling extensively throughout the United States, endeavoring in a variety of outdoor pursuits. A Christian, Molloy is an active member of First Presbyterian Church in Johnson City. His wife, Keri Anne, accompanies Johnny on the trail and at home. Johnny’s non-outdoor interests include reading, American history, and University of Tennessee sports.

Read an Excerpt

Springer Mountain Circuit

SCENERY: ★★★★

TRAIL CONDITION: ★★★★

CHILDREN: ★★

DIFFICULTY: ★★

SOLITUDE: ★

GPS TRAILHEAD COORDINATES: N34° 38.254' W84° 11.709'

DISTANCE & CONFIGURATION: 4.7-mile loop

HIKING TIME: 3 hours

HIGHLIGHTS: Southern terminus Appalachian Trail, views

ELEVATION: 3,370' at trailhead; 3,780' at high point

ACCESS: No fees or permits required

MAPS: Trails Illustrated #777 Springer and Cohutta Mountains; Appalachian Trail Conservancy Chattahoochee National Forest; USGS Noontoola

FACILITIES: None

CONTACT: Chattahoochee National Forest, Conasauga Ranger District: 706-695-6736, www.fs.usda.gov/conf

Overview

This hike takes you to famed Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the entire Appalachian Trail (A.T.), then joins the trail named for the man who originated the idea of the Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye. Enjoy views from Springer Mountain and Ball Mountain. Finally, throw in a visit to a memorial to Benton MacKaye and you have a lot of A.T. history thrown into one loop hike.

Route Details

This trailhead is where most Appalachian Trail thru-hikers start their journey, even though it is 0.9 mile from the actual start of the trail atop foot-accessible-only Springer Mountain. Therefore, you begin the hike by crossing FR 42 and heading southbound on the Appalachian Trail. It is an exhilarating feeling working up Springer, clambering over open bedrock and smaller stones in oak-heavy woods. Partial views open right (west).

At 0.7 mile, reach a trail junction. Here, the white diamond– blazed Benton MacKaye Trail leaves left and is your future route. For now, go ahead and walk 0.2 mile farther on the A.T. to the top of Springer. En route, you will pass the side trail left leading to the Springer Mountain trail shelter and a spring. This shelter has a loft and picnic table. Other campsites are strung along this spur trail.

Open onto a rock slab at 0.9 mile. You are at the official southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. This is where many hikers start or end their quest to hike the A.T. Two plaques are located up here. One, erected in 1934 by the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, marks the exact A.T. terminus, with the words to all those who come here, “Appalachian Trail, Georgia to Maine, a footpath for those who seek fellowship with the wilderness.” The Georgia Appalachian Trail Club was founded in 1930 in nearby Dahlonega, an official Appalachian Trail Community, and still promotes and maintains the A.T. in the Peach State.

A metal U.S. Forest Service marker maps the Appalachian Trail’s pathway to Maine. Finally, the most southerly white blaze marking the route is painted on the rock slab here. This rock slab sports a view. Ironically, the vista opens to the west, the opposite direction the A.T. travels for the first several miles. Nevertheless, photos are taken by the dozen at this locale, making it one of the most photographed vistas on the Georgia A.T. You will notice a path leading south from here. The Appalachian Approach Trail winds 7.5 miles down to worth-a-visit Amicalola Falls State Park.

The Appalachian Trail extends around 2,100 miles to Maine. The precise mileage changes with yearly reroutes. You walk northbound from the top of Springer only 0.2 mile, backtracking to meet the Benton MacKaye Trail, also known as the B.M.T. The B.M.T. stretches 290 miles in length and was completed in 2005. It winds north through the Southern Appalachians, terminating at Davenport Gap on the Tennessee–North Carolina state line at the eastern end of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Far fewer people have thru-hiked the B.M.T., though it is much shorter. The B.M.T. is simply less known, less “glamorous,” and seemingly less difficult. But mile for mile, the B.M.T. is every bit as challenging as the A.T., due to steeper ups and downs, fewer resupply locations, and no hiker hostels.

Turn right on the Benton MacKaye Trail, walking among young oaks growing over rock outcrops and ferns. Notice how much more slender and less used is the B.M.T. At 1.1 miles, on the right, a plaque commemorates Benton MacKaye and his contributions to the outdoor life. Drop off Springer Mountain, hitting a gap at 1.7 miles. The mountain drops off sharply to your right. It is a short climb over Ball Mountain. Resume the easy but prolonged downgrade, bordered by grass and mountain laurel. At 2.5 miles, reach an intersection. Take the spur right to a view at the edge of a steep rock face, where you look east toward Little Sal Mountain and into the Etowah River headwaters—and beyond to flatter terrain. Locust, oak, and hickory frame the panorama.

Resume the B.M.T. and drop to reach FR 42 and Big Stamp Gap at 3 miles. Cross the forest road and enter ferny woods. The trail curves westward, crossing over a hill. Drop to cross a mountain laurel–choked tributary of Chester Creek at 3.5 miles. A small campsite lies just beyond the creek crossing. The B.M.T. joins an old roadbed and the walking becomes easier.

Ascend away from the stream to surmount another gap. Ahead, the shaded B.M.T. crosses Underwood Creek at 3.9 miles, then passes just above a slide cascade on a tributary at 4 miles. Meet the A.T. at 4.4 miles. Turn left (southbound) here on the A.T., again noticing the difference in the trail treads—the A.T. is much more heavily used. Reach the parking area on FR 42 and the end of your loop at 4.7 miles.

Nearby Attractions

Amicalola Falls State Park boasts the highest falls in the East at 729 feet. It also has a lodge, a campground, the Len Foote Hike Inn, and numerous hiking trails, including the Appalachian Approach Trail that links the park to Springer Mountain.

Directions

From Dahlonega, Georgia, take GA 52 West for 5 miles to the split of GA 52 and GA 9. Here, stay right on GA 52 West for 4.6 more miles to Nimblewill Church Road. Turn right onto Nimblewill Church Road and follow it 2.3 miles to Forest Road 28-1. Turn right onto FR 28-1 and follow it 2.1 miles to FR 77. Veer left onto FR 77. Follow FR 77 for 5.1 miles to Winding Stair Gap. At Winding Stair Gap, make a hard left onto FR 42, and follow it for 2.7 miles to the trailhead.

Table of Contents

Overview Map

Overview Map Key

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Preface

Hiking Recommendations

Introduction

Georgia

1 Springer Mountain Circuit

2 Long Creek Falls

3 Preaching Rock

4 Slaughter Creek Loop

5 Blood Mountain Loop

6 Rocky Mountain

7 Tray Mountain Wilderness

Tennessee and North Carolina

8 Standing Indian Mountain

9 Silers Bald

10 Wesser Bald Tower

11 Shuckstack Loop

12 Spence Field–Russell Field Loop

13 Clingmans Dome Vistas

14 Charlies Bunion

15 Mount Cammerer

16 Max Patch

17 Lovers Leap

18 Big Firescald Loop

19 High Rocks Vista

20 Highlands of Roan

21 Big Hump Mountain

22 Laurel Falls

23 Watauga Lake Hike

24 Views from Vandeventer

25 Cross Mountain

Virginia

26 Damascus Loop

27 Mount Rogers via Elk Garden

28 Mount Rogers High County

29 Chestnut Knob

30 Angels Rest

31 Mountain Lake Wilderness

32 Kelly Knob

33 Dragons Tooth

34 McAfee Knob

35 Apple Orchard Falls Loop

36 Ottie Powell Memorial

37 The Priest

38 Humpback Rocks Loop

39 Blackrock Summit

40 Falls Loop from Browns Gap

41 Rapidan Camp Loop

42 Lewis Spring Falls Loop

43 Stony Man Loop

44 Marys Rock via The Pinnacle

45 Sugarloaf Loop

APPENDIX A: Contact Information

APPENDIX B: Appalachian Trail Communities

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY