Читать книгу Afoot & Afield: Atlanta. 108 Spectacular Outings in North-Central Georgia онлайн

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If you wish to use a shuttle for your hike, you can make arrangements with commercial shuttle operators or members of the Benton MacKaye Trail Association. For a list of commercial vendors or to get contact information for individual volunteers, check out “Hiker Resources” at bmta.org.

FACILITIES/TRAILHEAD There are no facilities at the trailhead. There are also no shelters along the trail, but you can camp at any of the several clearings along the way. Water is available at the many stream crossings, but be sure to treat it before using it. If you camp overnight, be sure to hang your food out of reach of bears and other animals.

From the parking near the junction of FSR 64 and FSR 64A (Waypoint 1), turn right onto FSR 64 and walk north. At 0.1 mile (Waypoint 2), turn right at a post with double white diamond blazes and enter a narrow path. The path descends gradually through hardwoods and hemlocks and enters shaded forest with mountain laurel and rhododendrons.

At the half-mile mark, the trail follows a stream, winds among moss-covered logs, and passes through a striking grove of rhododendrons with thick, twisted trunks. At 0.6 mile (Waypoint 3), the Benton MacKaye Trail joins the South Fork Trail. (If you turn left onto the South Fork Trail, it proceeds 0.2 mile to Shadow Falls.) To continue the hike from Waypoint 3, turn right to travel north and immediately cross a narrow stream. The path visits a scraggly forest that has been heavily logged and then ventures into a mature forest of towering hemlocks and thickets of rhododendrons. The South Fork River occasionally comes into view, and you can peer through the heavy foliage to see the wide water sliding through the forest.