SPRINGER MOUNTAIN
(VIA USFS 42)
|
 |
| LOCATION:
North Georgia |
| HIKE
STARTS: USFS 42 |
| HIKE ENDS:
USFS 42 |
| TOTAL
DISTANCE: 1.8 Miles |
| HIKE TYPE:
In and Out, Backtrack Hike |
| HIKE
DIFFICULTY: Moderate |
| TRAILS
USED: Appalachian Trail |
| TRAIL
TRAFFIC: Heavy |
| TRIP TYPE:
Day or Overnight Hike |
| MANAGEMENT:
Georgia ATC |
HIGHLIGHTS:
The Chattahoochee National Forest is one of two National
Forests in the State of Georgia, and it takes
its name from the Chattahoochee River whose headwaters begin in the North
Georgia mountains. The River and the area were given the name by the English
settlers who heard it from the Indians
that once lived here.
The Chattahoochee National Forest was created when the
Forest Service purchased 31,000 acres in Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin and
Union Counties from the Gennett family in 1911 for $7.00 per acre.
In the beginning, the Chattahoochee was part of the
Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests in North Carolina and Tennessee,
but eventually the Forest Service made additional land purchases and expanded
the Chattahoochee to its current size of nearly 750,000 acres.
Springer Mountain is located in the Chattahoochee, and it
is the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Every spring, 2000-3000
thru-hikers (or individuals that plan to hike the entire A.T. in a single year)
leave from the summit of Springer to attempt a 2100+ mile journey to the
northern terminus at Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
Springer Mountain (3,782 feet) has a bronze plaque (showing a hiker facing
north) that is set in stone next to the first white blaze marking the
Appalachian Trail. There is also a terminus plaque set in a rock behind
the blaze that has a compartment with a trail register of entries from day
hikers, backpackers, and thru-hikers that have visited the area. A shelter
located about 0.2 miles north of Springer on a blue blazed side trail provides
overnight accommodations and has a nearby water source from a mountain spring.
Springer Mountain is crisscrossed by three trails:
the Approach
Trail (a blue-blazed access trail that heads down the mountain to Amicalola
Falls State Park), the Appalachian Trail (which runs northbound to Maine), and
the Benton Mackaye Trail (which runs northbound for 100 miles to the Oconee
River in Tennessee). The area is popular with both day and overnight
hikers, and it gets a fair amount of trail traffic.
I've camped near the Springer Mountain shelter a number of
times, but the most memorable night was in April 1998. I drove my friend Slawdog to
USFS 42 near the southern terminus of the A.T., and we hiked to the bronze
plaque at Springer Mountain to celebrate his start on the Appalachian Trail.
Fog rolled in at dusk, so we headed back to the shelter to cook up some dinner
but a major thunderstorm hit around 10pm. The storm ravaged North Georgia
over the next five hours and the heavy winds and lightening were terrifying.
The Dunwoody suburb of Atlanta had major tornado damage during the night, but
Springer Mountain was sparred for the most part.
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