New B – want to plan Georgia traverse trip

  • HTML tutorial

Mark Swain

Rank 0

Traveler I

I would like to plan a 2-3 day trip on the Georgia Traverse and would like to get input for planning a ride, a good entrance and exit location.
Looking for something to get my feet wet, my 97 XJ upcountry is stock so no rock climbing lol.
Because there is a lot of information regarding the GT I am looking for a good starting point so any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
 

Jkk

Rank IV

Pathfinder I

1,008
Georgia
To experience all of the water crossings I suggest starting on the eastern side at Burrells Ford Road. The western side mainly the Cohutta has got a lot of the great views. The only section that can be tricky for stock vehicles is Tray Mountain Road. But w the right line and some spotting nothing stock jeeps and trucks can’t handle
 

Mark Swain

Rank 0

Traveler I

Great water crossings would be a blast and views are what’s it about. Thank you for the recommendation.

Maybe after a few runs I will tackle Tray Mountain.
 

JBWhelchel

Rank I
Launch Member

Member I

263
Decatur, GA, USA
First Name
Brian
Last Name
Whelchel
Member #

17214

Ham/GMRS Callsign
KF4YSB
I'm in the same boat. Fairly stock truck and I'm looking to try out some GT routes to get my feet wet (or tires in this context). I'm around Atlanta, so if you decide to plan a trip, I'd be interested to partner up.
 

Mark Swain

Rank 0

Traveler I

That would be great, Turned out the hardest part is finding a date and dealing with all this rain, I am concerned that the water crossings may a issue with stock rigs.
 

dougie117

Rank V
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

1,421
Charlotte, NC
Member #

12040

I would like to plan a 2-3 day trip on the Georgia Traverse and would like to get input for planning a ride, a good entrance and exit location.
Looking for something to get my feet wet, my 97 XJ upcountry is stock so no rock climbing lol.
Because there is a lot of information regarding the GT I am looking for a good starting point so any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
As for the west half I wouldn't sweat anything with a stock SUV/Truck. Fire roads abound. I saw a Chrysler 300 drive past me at one point early on in. I do hear the east has more terrain to deal with but can't speak on the difficulty.

I did about half in 2.5 days starting west and working east up until we peeled off for Blairsville, GA where we got some lunch and headed home. And that is with stopping for some hikes, enjoying the journey and setting up camp kinda early due to the lack of sunlight (went in mid-October). I'll be going back to do the second half with the intention of 2.5 days again. Enjoy the trip. No need to rush it and cram the whole thing in 3 otherwise you'll be missing out on some cool stuff and will spend three days driving and doing nothing else.

First site: 34.813275, -84.657945
Located on a horseshoe bend on Sumac Creek. We were looking to set up at Hickey Gap (we approached from the West coming off 411) but after a quick drive by we saw that although there were a few sites available it wasn't for us. Too close and too many people. Wanted to be able to have our own space, let the dogs run around, etc. Take a right out of Hickey Gap Campground and continue straight through the 4-way intersection. You'll soon (a mile or less) come to a horseshoe with a pull off on the right at the apex of the turn. Park there and there will be a primitive site/flat spot about 25 yds into the trees to the right of the creek (prolly see remnants of a campfire ring). The other half of our group set up there while we set up our tent in between the split of the creek a little further in. Essentially had our own private island. Heavy tree cover so don't get your hopes up for star gazing here. Real nice to have the sound of the creek flowing all night.

Second site: 34.813275, -84.150592
If you're travelling West to East like we did it'll be on your right side. You'll climb a hill for quite some time and then it'll flatten off where the clearing is off to your right. Then the road continues on turning down. You can't miss this one. It's a big clearing about 1/4 of the size of a football field. There is a trail leading out the back of the clearing into the woods - we checked it out and had a hard time turning around after it got too tight for the Wrangler and LC60 we had. Assuming some sort of hunting trail that you'd navigate either on foot or with a buggy/polaris/gator type of vehicle.

The next day we continued on looking to stop for a few hikes before heading home and passed a couple of potential sites. Need to try and find them on the map and log them. But yes, again, get the Gaia app and download the map. Be sure to unzip it. We did it on the fly with our iPad on the road and were stumped as to why it wasn't working. Figured out that it had to be unzipped to load.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jkk and Mark Swain

Mark Swain

Rank 0

Traveler I

As for the west half I wouldn't sweat anything with a stock SUV/Truck. Fire roads abound. I saw a Chrysler 300 drive past me at one point early on in. I do hear the east has more terrain to deal with but can't speak on the difficulty.

I did about half in 2.5 days starting west and working east up until we peeled off for Blairsville, GA where we got some lunch and headed home. And that is with stopping for some hikes, enjoying the journey and setting up camp kinda early due to the lack of sunlight (went in mid-October). I'll be going back to do the second half with the intention of 2.5 days again. Enjoy the trip. No need to rush it and cram the whole thing in 3 otherwise you'll be missing out on some cool stuff and will spend three days driving and doing nothing else.

First site: 34.813275, -84.657945
Located on a horseshoe bend on Sumac Creek. We were looking to set up at Hickey Gap (we approached from the West coming off 411) but after a quick drive by we saw that although there were a few sites available it wasn't for us. Too close and too many people. Wanted to be able to have our own space, let the dogs run around, etc. Take a right out of Hickey Gap Campground and continue straight through the 4-way intersection. You'll soon (a mile or less) come to a horseshoe with a pull off on the right at the apex of the turn. Park there and there will be a primitive site/flat spot about 25 yds into the trees to the right of the creek (prolly see remnants of a campfire ring). The other half of our group set up there while we set up our tent in between the split of the creek a little further in. Essentially had our own private island. Heavy tree cover so don't get your hopes up for star gazing here. Real nice to have the sound of the creek flowing all night.

Second site: 34.813275, -84.150592
If you're travelling West to East like we did it'll be on your right side. You'll climb a hill for quite some time and then it'll flatten off where the clearing is off to your right. Then the road continues on turning down. You can't miss this one. It's a big clearing about 1/4 of the size of a football field. There is a trail leading out the back of the clearing into the woods - we checked it out and had a hard time turning around after it got too tight for the Wrangler and LC60 we had. Assuming some sort of hunting trail that you'd navigate either on foot or with a buggy/polaris/gator type of vehicle.

The next day we continued on looking to stop for a few hikes before heading home and passed a couple of potential sites. Need to try and find them on the map and log them. But yes, again, get the Gaia app and download the map. Be sure to unzip it. We did it on the fly with our iPad on the road and were stumped as to why it wasn't working. Figured out that it had to be unzipped to load.
Thank you this is great info for me being a newbie.
I was wondering how good the maps worked on a iPad so this me feel all that much more Comfortable/confident.
 

JTW5

Rank V
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

1,845
Birmingham, Alabama
First Name
James
Last Name
Watkins
Member #

11860

When are you thinking about going? I want to do it really bad. Have been trying to set aside the time to get over there to do it. Let me know some dates I could be in for ridding it along with you.
 

ademoulpied

Rank 0
Launch Member

Traveler I

60
Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA
Member #

16252

If I have my new rig ready by the time a trip is put together, I would be happy to go along. Looking for a good weekender trip to break in the new Forester when I get her picked up and the initial mods on.
 

RootedWanderers

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate II

2,306
Pelham, Alabama 35124
First Name
Wayne
Last Name
Sullivan
Member #

5808

It's a great route. Nice 3-4 day trip. I have taken it East to West and West to East, going to and coming from Overland Expo East. There are some seriously great views. Depending on when you go, some of those water crossings can be kinda deep. Just be alert and pay attention to the area you are crossing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jkk

Overland_Serenity

Rank V
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

2,258
Middleburg Florida
Member #

10973

So I have been trying to start a rally point for this and everytime I try and submit it it clears all my info so I'm done with that crap. I'm going to start a thread and all are welcome.