Hiking on the Blue Ridge/Touching the Appalachian Trail

Hiking is a great reason for travel and travel provides great opportunities to hike.

I've had the pleasure of Hiking all around the country and the world and there are few trails that match the beauty of the Appalachian trail along the eastern part of the US.

The trail starts in Maine and ends in North Georgia. I've had the opportunity to hike portions of the trail not far from Asheville, North Carolina.

This trip took me to Blue Ridge, Georgia where there are a number of trails that lead you to the beginning (or end) of the Appalachian Trial.

Development of the trail began in the early 1920's through the late 1930's. The trail is more than 2200 miles in length. There are folks who try to do the entire trail in a season, I would encourage you to work with professionals if you are considering such a hike.

There are plenty of opportunities for shorter hikes and camping trips.

https://www.blueridgemountains.com/blog/5-hikes-under-5-miles-in-georgias-blue-ridge/

When we travelled to Blue Ridge, Georgia (several hundred miles from Nashville) we grabbed a room at the Hampton Inn. This hotel is fairly new and sits in the heart of this small town in the foothills of some great hiking. We booked a few months out but were in the heart of the tourist season (leaves changing colors) so with taxes and fees the room cost us just under $300 a night. There's plenty of shopping, and a couple of restauruants I'll discuss in a bit. The Hampton Inn is always an easy choice for us. The hotels are consistent and typicall serve a hot breakfast and provide some sort of workout space as part of the room price. Typically the parking is free, but that is not always the case. Parking was tight in this town. There is also a train that takes you through the mountains for scenic views, this is a good alternative to hiking.

We took advantage of two restaurants; Dogwood is a very casual spot and The Black Sheep which was fine dining, but had outdoor seating. We had a dog with us and each restaurant accomodated dogs. We ate at Dogwood's the first night and Black Sheep the second night. Black sheep required a reservation (due to the crowd). I can recommend both. Dogwood's was a good spot for beers or hot drinks by the fire but Black sheep had a more refined menu. For two of us, I spent less than $100 for Dogwood and $250 at The Black Sheep.

In order to hike we drove about an hour each day to trail head-ins. A significant portion of each trip was on dirt roads that were not smooth and had deep pot holes. If you're gonna drive in (and you need to), make sure you have the right vehicle.

Each of our hikes were around 5 miles. There was apporpriate parking and some of the lots will allow you to spend up to 14 days on the trails. Blue Ridge boasts 300 miles of hiking trails I've added a link to Blue Ridge Goergia "things to do".

https://www.blueridgemountains.com/things-to-do/outdoors/hiking/

These trails are for hikers so bring the right shoes, water and pay attention to the paths. In addition to the water you may want some sort of drink to replinish yourself, I did so on the third day and it made a big difference. We were there in mid October, the colors were getting there but the best colors were a week or so away.

Below are some photos from our trip.