Camping (Atlanta, North Atlanta, Cohutta: travel, house, bathroom)

[AtlantaCruiser]

Anyone have any recommendations on good camping areas? I am not talking about places with RV hookups or bathrooms. Any places that range from hike-ins to car camping and is within 2 hours of North Atlanta is much appreciated. Its one of the things I miss from Colorado.

[jkmewright]

I don't know how avid a hiker you are but come on up this way a bit and check out Cohutta/Big Frog. Amazing trails. Avoid Tearbritches if you don't want to break down in tears in front of your friends lol but the river trails are great. Here's a link for you:

http://www.greatgeorgiaproperties.co...he-Cohutta.htm (broken link)

Here's the Conasauga River Trail as done by some locals. Amazing! Leave a 6 pack of your liking in the creek and enjoy on your return

Reports from the Field

Here's another good place if you want to travel a bit further and fight some boy scouts for a first come/first serve cabin:

Savage Gulf

PS don't read the journal in the cabin's mailbox unless you want to laugh and cry on the same day.

[OhioNative]

Check out the book "The Best in Tent Camping - Georgia" by Johnny Malloy. There are also many undeveloped camping areas throughout the North Georgia Mountains - we do have 500,000 acres of national forest with several wilderness areas including the Cohutta, Blood Moutain, and Mark Trail Wildernesses. Many wilderness areas are also available in Tenn. and NC, including the Big Frog Wilderness, Slickrock/Joyce Kilmer, and Shining Rock Wilderness. There are also great long backpacking trails throughout the state, including the AT, Benton MacKaye, and Bartram Trails, as well as many connector trails such as the Coosa Backcountry Trail, Duncan Ridge Trail, and many, many others. Get the book Hiking in North Georgia by Tim Homan. Backpacking opportunities are endless. You can also be to the Smoky Mountains National Park in 2-3 hours depending where you are in metro Atlanta - from my house I can be to the south entrance of the park in Cherokee NC in 2 hours.

[AtlantaCruiser]

Great, thanks.

[goozer]

I highly recommend the Coosa Backcountry trail that starts and ends in Vogel State Park. It is a pretty rigorous two-day backpacking trip that will require about 8-10 miles of hiking each day, some of it on steep ground, but there are a lot of backcountry campsites along the way that make great places to camp (first come, first serve).

If you want something shorter, Fort Mountain State Park near the Cohuttas has a 7 mile backcountry trail with 4-5 backcountry campsites that you can get a permit for in advance. It's an easier hike in and out than the Coosa trail.

If you are hiking in the spring, make sure to take precautions with hanging your food b/c black bears are prevalent.