Northeast Georgia contains some of the best hikes in the southeast. This article covers the Arkaquah Trail hike, starting at the Track Rock Gap Petroglyph Site, heading up to the state’s highest peak, Brasstown Bald.
5.5 miles up, 5.5 down for an 11 mile total trip can take the better part of a full day. You can drive to the top as well, but you’d be missing 80% of the amazing views. Some of the best ones start a mile or two into the hike from the bottom. Be advised that this parking lot only has space for about 4 to 6 cars.
A Quick Detour to Petroglyphs
To be entirely honest, the petroglyphs are… not super noteworthy, in my opinion. I probably would have walked right by them if there wasn’t some kind of indicator, but you can still stop by. The signs describe a couple different images and ask you to take a look for yourself to identify them, which is fun for about ten minutes. I think starting at the top and heading down to them would have ended up with a disheartened group of hikers, knowing that the most strenuous part of the hike is still to come.
The walk from the Track Rock Gap parking area at the bottom, however, is reasonable. It’s an easy five minutes, so you may as well take a look. That way you can also tell your friends you saw ancient carvings from Native American groups from the near dawn of human civilization. Or something.
Enroute to Brasstown Bald
Start the hike across the road from the lot, and north up the road (if you’re facing the road from the parking lot, that’s to the left). For whatever reason, google maps has the trailhead misplaced slightly, so check out the image below for better navigation.
Once you get to the ridge line after the 1st part of the hike, the trail is pretty clear. It would be very hard to get lost right here. The first mile and a half of the hike is also the most strenuous, so you’ll be happy to know that the roughest part is out of the way once you reach the first mini-summit. Here’s where the good views start.
Be advised, as of January 2019, there was tree fall damage throughout the middle mile of the hike. Often, you have to do a bit of backtracking or upward walking to get to the trail again. However, the detours are at least somewhat well beaten by now. For us, the trail was further untraceable due to the recent snowfall, but after a bit of searching, we didn’t have much trouble connecting to the original route. When in doubt, go uphill and you’ll usually find where you need to be.
The Views at the Top are Spectacular! (So I’ve heard)
The pros to hiking after recent rare snowfall is the amazing winter wonderland scenery. The cons are visibility, prominently paid at the top. I’m sure in clear skies, the views from the summit of Brasstown Bald are incredible.
All things considered, this was a fantastic way to spend a cold blustery day, if solely for the fact that it weeded out so many people that otherwise would have driven to the top on a clear sunny day. Not that we were exactly vying for great views at the top, but the surreality of isolation was neat. No matter the visibility, the hike was worth dedicating a day to. Weather allowing, I would recommend it.
for more information on Brasstown Bald, visit these links:
Georgia Trails Webpage on Brasstown Bald (once you get there)
Atlanta Trails Article on the Same hike, just backwards
Alltrails Page, with user reviews
As always, thanks for reading!