BENTON MACKAYE TRAIL
SPRINGER MOUNTAIN TO
BIG STAMP GAP
DECEMBER 5-6, 1999
The Benton Mackaye Trail is a work in progress, and it
currently runs nearly 100 miles from the southern
terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia, to US
Hwy 64 & 74 near the Ocoee River in Tennessee. The
trail is named for Benton MacKaye,
who first published a
proposal for the creation of the Appalachian Trail in the early 1900's while
hiking in Vermont.
The current plan is for the Benton Mackaye Trail to continue
through the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee and
eventually reach the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North
Carolina and rejoin with the Appalachian Trail.
(For more
information, you can visit the Benton Mackaye
Trail Association website.
Its members volunteer
for trail development, construction, maintenance and repair.)
I've hiked this section of the Benton Mackaye Trail
(BMT) twice. In 1997, we hiked a four mile loop that that started at USFS 42, climbed to Springer Mountain,
dropped to Big Stamp Gap, then finished back at the A.T. parking area on USFS 42.
In 1999, we camped at Big Stamp Gap, hiked up to Springer
Mountain, then backtracked to our campsite. Both hikes are fairly easy and
take you to the southern terminus of both the Appalachian and Benton Mackaye
Trails where there are nice views to the south.
