HIDDEN TREASURES #2 – Georgia

AV's Intern Team | June 11, 2012

Welcome to part two in our exploration of the most amazing places in the Central and Southern Appalachian Mountains — this time exploring some of our most fabulous Public Lands.

Fort Mountain

Photo by Raymond Truelove

Driving up from the flatlands toward the southern end of the Appalachian Mountain chain in the northwestern corner of Georgia, you can catch occasional glimpses of this imposing mountain looming like a solitary guard in the distance. Up close, it’s even more majestic. Named Fort Mountain because of a mysterious, 800-foot-long fortified wall thought to have been built by early Native Americans, the peak also lies within the rugged and beautiful Chattahoochee National Forest. A tidy state park on the southern side of the mountain provides a range of facilities from backcountry camping to cabins with A/C, and offers hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails and a 17-acre lake. The quaint town of Chatsworth lies just to the west of the mountain, and the nearby 750,000-acre Chattahoochee forest and 29,000-acre Cohutta Wilderness — straddling the Georgia / Tennessee line — means you’ll have plenty to do for a while. — JG