US Southeast Georgia Meetup

[RedClay]

The Real McCoy was asking about hotels. Since I live here I don't have any personal experience in the local hotels, but they rank pretty highly on all the ranking services.

In Canton itself, both the Comfort Inn & Suites and the Hampton Inn are both pretty well rated (4.4 and 4.3 stars out of 5) and only a mile or so from the brewery. I think the Comfort Inn runs about $100/night and the Hampton Inn looks like it is closer to $125 a night. Both are adjacent to each other and next to a Cracker Barrel (in case that is worth something either way to you.) If you are looking for other stuff to do let me know. We do have an exceptional seafood restaurant in town (Going Coastal...get a reservation for Sat night), and a disproportionate number of really good restaurants (for a town outside of the city) due to some demographics anomalies.

About 12 miles away is Woodstock, GA, which has a lot more choice in terms of Hotels and has a bit more of a "scene" if that is your thing. The closest 'really nice' hotels are over in Alpharetta & Roswell, which is about 18 miles away.

Also, we discussed shopping options for Overlanding stuff in the area. I'm no expert, but I am aware of a few places locally:

Jasper has The Jeep Hut. (~20 minutes)
Summit Racing is in McDonough (~75 minutes...south of Atlanta near Road Atlanta)
Marietta has 4WP and Fortec 4x4 (~30 minutes)
Alpharetta has Southern Off-Road Specialists (~25 minutes)
Cumming has Southern OffRoad (different from above) (~20 minutes)

 

[RedClay]

Sweet! Good to know! Will deffinately be doing that thanks for the info!!

Sure thing. I'll try to run it this weekend just to make sure it's open and okay. Sometimes the FS closes roads here in the winter. The high altitude FS roads up around the Cohutta Wilderness have already been closed for the season.

 

[RedClay]

Sounds like we might be able to have a special guest at the meetup. I'll post more when it is confirmed...RSVP if you can make it!

 

[duneseajeep]

Sounds like we might be able to have a special guest at the meetup. I'll post more when it is confirmed...RSVP if you can make it!

I like how this is shaping up. I’ve got two extra trucks coming with me. They are thinking about this overland thing.

 

[Mike harpe]

Sounds like we might be able to have a special guest at the meetup. I'll post more when it is confirmed...RSVP if you can make it!

That's soo not fair. Please make this a monthly thing so I can come. Damn wedding was planned months ago for me to attend lol

 

[dwayneturner70]

I will be there. Kids don't have school on Monday so we gonna do some camping.

 

[RedClay]

Great! The plans for this one is to meet, greet and talk overlanding, rigs and routes.

 

[RedClay]

For those of you looking to do a little exploring while you are in the area, I did a bit of scouting today of a forest service road based track that's about an hour away from Canton.

It's the Nimblewill Gap to Old Bucktown route, and it climbs and crosses the Appalachian Trail just north of Amicalola State Park. It's about eight miles of track, with about five miles of that being fun forest service roads and the rest county maintained gravel.

The two miles on either side of the gap requires a high-clearance 4x4 with about 9" of low-point...maybe less if you are willing to dodge large rocks and are willing to scrape once or twice. My Commander on 30's hit the skid plate once hard enough that we both went "ugh...that didn't sound good...are all the lights green?"

It is supposed to rain some late this week, so I would move the difficulty in those circumstances up to a solid "moderate" trail with possible sections that tip over into "hard". There are several long boggy spots that weren't too bad today, but it hasn't rained in four days. I imagine by Saturday it will be "fun".



I'd recommend doing the trail from Northwest to Southeast (we did it the other way), since all the great views are looking southeast on this trail (and the driver will be slopeside not mountainside for the steep parts.) In that case go to the Old Bucktown area by travelling up I575 to Ellijay. You'll want to use your favorite GPS to get the entrance to the trail.

There are half a dozen great camping spots along the creek on the Nimblewill side of the gap before it begins the serious ascent. It might not be a bad spot to go Friday evening if you are looking for a place to pitch. There is also one high up near the gap on the Nimblewill side as well. Unfortunately, I was paying attention to not sliding several hundred feet down the side of the mountain and didn't mark it on my GPS :) But it would be a great spot if the wind isn't bad.

I've attached the GPS coordinates and a link to the GAIA map for any interested.
GaiaGPS - Nimblewill Gap to Old Bucktown

GPX viewer

 

[Mike harpe]

Any word on if we can make this a monthly thing? I really want to meet up monthly and get to know you all in person. Plus I think I have the only power wagon around the area.

 

[RedClay]

I'm game to make it monthly, so if at least one other person is interested then I'd say it's a go!

 

[Redwin]

I'm game to make it monthly, so if at least one other person is interested then I'd say it's a go! [emoji2]

That would definitely give us that are a little further away more opportunities to attend.

 

[RedClay]

David Giguere, who researched, routed and shared the Georgia Traverse and runs Georiga Overland will be attending to talk about how he created the route of the Traverse. David spent hundreds of hours researching and testing the route, and has given Georgia a legitimate overland route worthy of name. Join us if you can make it hear his story and discuss how we can enjoy and protect the route.

I'm sure we'll have at least one trip planned as a result of the meetup, and I hope to organize a trail cleanup or two for 2020.

Stop by even if you can't stay long!

 

[Mike harpe]

I'm game to make it monthly, so if at least one other person is interested then I'd say it's a go! [emoji2]

If I didnt have the wedding I would be there. I definetly will come monthly. Just give us enough notice on if the dates will change. If they are always on the same weekend then no notice needed for me. Either way I'm in for a penny in for a pound. Plus I wanna show off my power wagon.

 

[RedClay]

My new rig arrived from Detroit, so I'll be able to show it off in its nekked state. :)

 

[Viking1204]

I'll be vacationing with the family in Helen, GA December 12th - 16th. If you guys do your meetup for December that weekend in the same area I might be able to get away and meet up with you guys for bit!

 

[RedClay]

I'll be vacationing with the family in Helen, GA December 12th - 16th. If you guys do your meetup for December that weekend in the same area I might be able to get away and meet up with you guys for bit!

That sounds great. We'll try to make that happen! That was around the date I was going to suggest for the Dec Meetup when we get together Saturday.

 

[Viking1204]

That would be awesome, we love the Northern part of your state! Unfortunately Florida doesn't have any mountains. We're looking forward to visiting Helen, Dahlonega, and Blue Ridge to see them decorated for Christmas. We plan to take a trip to the TN border on the Blue Ridge Train on Friday but the rest of our trip is open, no set plans, just have a good time with the family!

 

[duneseajeep]

That sounds great. We'll try to make that happen! That was around the date I was going to suggest for the Dec Meetup when we get together Saturday.

That weekend works for me too. Looking forward to Saturday.

 

[MichaelWadsworth]

Won't be able to make it this weekend, helping pops cook some turkey for a Sunday thanksgiving. Maybe next time.

 

[Raisinhead]

I am going to try to come stop by this meetup. Are a lot of people bringing setups?
Also, okay to bring kids?


I’m in the beginning stages of my project, so looking forward to seeing some different ideas.