New Echota State Park – #21 of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Atlanta

Going into New Echota town

This past Sunday I went with a few friends to New Echota State Park to check another hike off the list.  Prior to going I didn’t look up much info as it was a last-minute decision.  I wasn’t aware at the time the historical significance of the area.  From 1825 until the 1830’s New Echota was the capital of the Cherokee Nation.  In the 1830’s the US government began giving the land away via lottery and forcing the Cherokee to leave via The Trail of Tears.  I was surprised at how small and relatively unknown the site is based on the historical significance.  After the removal of the Cherokee people, the site was mostly untouched for almost 100 years.  In 1952 the land was put up for sale and local residents purchased 200 acres and donated it to the state due to the historic significance.  For more reading please follow the highlighted links, there’s a lot more to the history of the area but I won’t cover that here.

From a hiking perspective the trails are pretty simple.  There is a 1 mile nature trail as well as ~1 mile of trails circling the site.  There is a small museum in the main building and there are several original and recreated buildings on site showing the way the town was setup and how each building played its role in daily life and government.  There is a small lake, created by an active beaver dam, and a small creek flowing through the area.  On the day I went there really was not much to be seen along any of the trail.  It was a pleasant and easy walk through a heavily forested area.  A couple points of interest show one of the lowest spots in GA at 630 feet and an area where one side of the trail is new growth pine and the other is older hardwoods, this was caused due to part of the area being cultivated as a farm until he 1940’s.  When it was no longer farmed the fast growing pine quickly took over.  The leaves on the hardwoods were nearing peak fall colors and made of some nice scenery.  Some of the trees had began to lose leaves and made this feel like a true Autumn hike as they crunched under my feet.

Fall colors at New Echota State Park

If you’re looking for a quick and easy hike this would be ideal.  I doubt the trail gets very crowded at any time and there is a lot of important Native American history at the site.  The trail is pretty open and very dog-friendly so take your 4-legged friends with you when you go.

This post refers to trail listings in the book 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Atlanta.  New Echota Trail is #21/60.

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Related articles

• Volunteers to refurbish former Cherokee capital (m.onlineathens.com)
• Brasstown Bald – Highest point in the state of Georgia (timgetsfit.wordpress.com)

Brasstown Bald – Highest point in the state of Georgia

This past Saturday I took a trip a little outside my usual 60 miles of Atlanta range.  Some friends and I traveled up to Blairsville, GA to Brasstown Bald, the highest point in the state of Georgia at 4,783 feet.  From the top of the mountain you can see four states – Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina.  The English name for the mountain comes from a translation error of the Cherokee name, Itse’yĭ (New Green Place or Place of Fresh Green).  White settlers in the area mistakenly translated it as Ûňtsaiyĭ (brass).

Brasstown Bald is approximately a 2 hour drive from Atlanta, mostly due to the last 45 +/- miles of the trip being on winding mountain roads.  It’s several miles from any city/town so just be aware if you decide to travel up.  Due to stops for lunch at a nice Cuban restaurant, the cigar shop to grab a stogie for the trip up and the gas station for fuel and drinks we headed up a little later than intended.  We arrived close to 5:00 PM just as they were shutting down the small General Store and the museum on the peak of the mountain, no big deal for us but worth noting if these are areas you’d like to see.  Brasstown Bald is also a wonderful place for star gazing.  We were there once it got dark (unintentionally, it’s a long story… I’m still traumatized so I’d rather not talk about it.) and I have to say I’ve never seen a night that dark before.  The sky was crystal clear and moonless and the stars were the most brilliant I’ve ever seen.  Absolutely indescribable how amazing the night sky was, if you get a chance you should definitely check it out.  The trail to the summit is open 24 x 7 for those that would like a night hike to the summit.

View from the top of Brasstown Bald

There are a few ways you can get to the top of Brasstown Bald.  One popular route is via Jack’s Knob Trail, a 4.5 mile trail (each way) with the last 1/2 mile being the trip from the visitor’s center parking lot to the top.  Although I’d like to think I was ready for a 9 mile hike over steep hills I’m not one to lie to myself so I opted to do the short 1/2 mile on this trip.  Fortunately we had a couple others that agreed with me so majority won.  Even the half mile is a tough half mile, very steep hills.   The trail is paved all the way up and is flanked on both sides with trees and plants.  As I pushed my hardest to make it up the mountain I really wanted to trip the kids that were sprinting past me… but I didn’t, even though those little show-offs would have deserved it.  Once I managed to make it to the top I was greeted with an amazing view from the observation tower.  The sky was clear but there was a light fogginess over the mountains, a really amazing sight.  The towns and lakes we could see in the valleys looked more like they belonged on a model train set, very cool stuff.  I snapped a few pics and we wandered around a bit then headed back down.   I was very happy to be trotting 1/2 mile down the mountain rather than back up.

Some technical details for the trip.  There is a lot of winding roads to get to the mountain, we had one person in our group that gets carsick and this trip whipped her around pretty good.  You can ride a shuttle bus to the peak if you’d rather not take the hike.   The shuttle bus is $3.00/person for adults.  If you choose not to take the shuttle bus it’s still $3.00 per adult (anyone over 16) to enter the park, I believe older kids and teens were $2.00 with young children being free.  There is a newly constructed restroom facility at the welcome center and also a small General Store with t-shirts, hats, stickers, magnets, etc.  The day we went they also had a vendor there with a cart selling hot dogs, cold cider and hot chocolate.  There are machines if you’d prefer water or a soda.

Definitely a fun trip and one I’d do again.  We caught it about mid-way through the fall foliage change and there was still a lot of green.  It would be nice to see it when leaves are at there peak, perhaps I’ll take another trip next year.

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• Paper Mill Trail – #10 / 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Atlanta (timgetsfit.wordpress.com)
• Sneak a Peak! A Leaf Peeping Deal at Brasstown Valley Resort & Spa (virtual-strategy.com)
• Night of stars, meteors and the milky way (ireport.cnn.com)