Enthusiast III
Georgia traverse trip
- Thread starter Bhinton
- Start date
Enthusiast III
Keep an eye on the road closures, we have had our fair share of rain throughout North Georgia. Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests - News & Events
Enthusiast III
Enthusiast III
Educator I
We just did the trail a few weeks back and only had one gate closure. Did found an alternate route easily but was amazing! We only got to finish half going east to west but we didn’t rush we did it at our pace and checked out a lot of sites and spots was def amazing! We can’t wait to get back up
Contributor I
Looking to do the Traverse April 6-10 East to west. Coming from NC. Any one have experience doing it with a trailer?
I have never done it but there have been several people who have done it with a trailer. As far as I know it's basically just forest service type roads, nothing difficult.
Traveler III
Anyone looking to do this trip again this spring?
I don't know much about the route. Is it doable over a 4 day weekend?
I don't know much about the route. Is it doable over a 4 day weekend?
Educator I
From most of the stuff I had read prior to doing the trip people did it in 4-5 days. We started our journey a Thursday afternoon and made it to the traverse Friday morning @ 2am when we reached the first camp site driving up from central florida. We took our sweet time and explored several hikes and little spots to check out along the way and only were able to finish half of the traverse. We left camp almost everyday round 10-11am and headed down the trail till about 5:30-6 every day. We are a family of 5 really laid back and were definitely not going to wake up @ the crack of dawn especially being on vacation. It really all depends on how you schedule your driving times, do you guys wake up with the roosters and get in bed when the sun sets? Not saying there's anything bad with that if that's your style but we're just not morning people and its bad enough we have to do that already during the week for work so that's def not gona happen for us when were exploring. I would totally love to do the traverse again and finish it fully. The scenery is amazing, we did not Smokey the bear camp (Designated Pay Campground) we disbursed camped along the way which made it way much more exciting not really having a destination to be at by a certain time and also added to the adrenaline of actually overloading. We did find a lot of smokey the bear campsites along the route which we used to our advantage to empty the trash-a-roo and also resupply water for cleaning and showering. We actually used one of the campgrounds for their showers to get a hot one in since even though is was spring the temps during the day were still in the 50's and we were not about to get into our birthday suits in the 50's to shower outside. In the spring there are a lot of local business along the spots which are road driving that were closed, not sure if its because they only open during the summer or are seasonal but we always kept an idea of where the closest Walmart was and hospital just in case and your never more than 40 miles from civilization other than the super nice folks who live in the mountains and those small little towns we encountered. I suppose if the purpose is to complete the traverse with no stops to check out and just drive and camp it can be done in that time frame but its really up to how you decide to explore and enjoy it. I would totally recommend to check out the sites along the way and there are a TON of trails off the traverse which we also explored that are not mapped and worth checking out. If you are going to smokey the bear camp I would HIGHLY recommend you start looking for sites as of now since early spring is when trout season starts. we must have seen hundreds of people fishing along the way and not a single Smokey the Bear site we used to empty trash or resupply water had any spaces that we could see when we drove around so check early on if that's the type of sites you want to camp at.
Educator I
Smokey the bear are what I call CAMPGROUNDS. Those are where you camp on a pad, have a garbage can a few hundred yards down, facilities to shower and restrooms. I pretty much call that to anything that's a designated camp site. I don't mind paying for a spot if I absolutely have to not saying there's anything wrong with that but for me personally the allure of camping in the middle of nowhere where I have no neighbors or just those on the expedition with me. Smokey the bear sites would be your local camp grounds, national park camp sites anything that's a planned camp site and not disbursed in the middle of no where.
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Enthusiast III
My son and I did a little bit of the traverse today. We came up from 985 and hopped on around Dillard and went East to South Carolina which I guess is the start of the Traverse. We had a blast. I think we were on the trail for about 3-4 hours.
I don’t think 4 days is enough if you actually want to explore some of the trails. There are a lot of forest service roads that look like they’d be a good drive.
I don’t think 4 days is enough if you actually want to explore some of the trails. There are a lot of forest service roads that look like they’d be a good drive.
Educator I
I think your absolutely right! We did about half the trail in the 4 days we were there because there are so many cool little hiking trails to see so many little cementaries hidden dating back to the 1800's that are hidden in the bush of the trails. There were a few really cool hikes to the waterfalls and also the swinging bridge. I would say a good 7 days would do the trail gingerly and exploring at a smooth pace. I would love to have some time one trip to do some fishing. I can't lie I never done trout fishing but they do taste great on the Skottle or over a fire so id like to give that a try one trip
Me and a buddy are planning on a trip Apr 16-19. It will be our first overlanding trip, so anyone with experience would be welcome.
Member I
I want to explore some of the Traverse, little by little. Would like to get some more info on the route you took, sounds like a good day trip!
Enthusiast III
