DIRECTIONS From Atlanta, take I-75 north to I-575/GA 5. Travel north on I-575/GA Highway 5 to East Ellijay, and then continue north on GA 5/US 76 to Blue Ridge. At the intersection near Walmart and The Home Depot, turn left and travel north on GA 5 for 3.7 miles. Turn left onto Old State Route 2 and drive 10.5 miles to Watson Gap. Turn right onto Forest Service Road 22 and go 3.3 miles to the parking area for the Dally Gap and Jacks River Trailhead.
FACILITIES/TRAILHEAD There are no facilities at the trailhead for Hemp Top. Double Spring Gap is the only location with water, so be sure to bring enough for a day’s trek. Camping is allowed anywhere in this wilderness area, though this stretch of the Hemp Top Trail has few wide spots for pitching a tent. Double Spring Gap is the best bet due to the water source. Black bears frequent the ridges of the Cohutta, so hang your food at night. As an added precaution, give your itinerary to a friend or ranger, especially if you hike solo.
The hike begins on the eastern side of the wilderness at the Dally Gap parking area, where you’ll find trailheads for the Hemp Top and Jacks River Trails. From the parking area, the Hemp Top Trailhead is to the right (Waypoint 1). Pass the metal gate and ascend gradually, traveling north through second-growth forest of hemlocks, pines, and hardwoods. To the right, ferns and oaks fill ravines that run deep, and at 0.6 mile an open spot in the foliage frames a distant ridge—your first clear view to this point.
At 0.9 mile, the Benton MacKaye Trail enters on the left and shares the Hemp Top treadway to the border with Tennessee. Continue straight, and take the bend to the north, passing beds of creeping cedar. Steady and easy, the trail rises to the spine of Blue Ridge at 1.4 miles, and you can gaze down slopes to the left and right. Keep alert, as you might encounter a bear along this stretch. I scouted this section following a summer drought that depleted food resources for local animals, and bears were roaming the ridges scrounging for food. The first evidence of this was the frequent swarms of yellow jackets; spots along the trail were scarred from where bears had dug up their burrows in search of yellow jacket larvae. The surefire evidence was the bear that came cruising around my tent at 2 a.m.—a heart-pounding moment to say the least.
At 2.3 miles, you reach the junction with the Penitentiary Branch Trail (Waypoint 2). Bear right to stay on the Hemp Top Trail, which is flat and bordered by pines and oaks. Traveling this section on a summer morning, I saw sunlight breaching the ridge on my right and setting the woods to the west aglow. From here the path is covered in grass and alternates between flat sections and slight upward grades, and along the trail you can see the tattered, gray trunks of shagbark hickory.
A window to distant mountains on the Hemp Top Trail
Continuing your ascent, you climb above 3,400 feet of elevation at 3.7 miles. At 3.9 miles, a side trail to the right extends 400 feet to the summit of Hemp Top at about 3,540 feet (Waypoint 3). On top you’ll find a patch of bare ground in the shade of a tree. I paused here and found it to be a peaceful spot with high grasses all around bending in calm wind. As you look down the ridge to the northeast, there is no longer any sign of a fire tower that once stood on this perch.
When you’re ready to continue, walk back down to the Hemp Top Trail and turn right to take a moderate descent. The trail crosses a series of hills and saddles, dropping to Double Spring Gap at 5.4 miles (Waypoint 4). The gap lies on the state line and also the Tennessee Valley Divide. The spring to the west eventually joins the river system that drains into the Gulf of Mexico, while waters from the eastern spring eventually flow to the Tennessee River. From the state border, the Hemp Top Trail continues north, up Big Frog Mountain, but for this trip, Double Spring Gap is the turnaround point.
WAYPOINTS
1. N34º 56.013' W84º 31.139'
2. N34º 56.423' W84º 31.542'
3. N34º 58.277' W84º 31.232'
4. N34º 59.287' W84º 31.102'
4 COHUTTA WILDERNESS: Penitentiary Branch Trail
Distance 11.8 miles, out-and-back
Hiking Time 5 hours
Difficulty Easy to moderate
Elevation +2,270'/–2,280'
Trail Use Backpacking and horseback riding
Best Times Year-round (good views in winter)
Agency Chattahoochee National Forest, Conasauga Ranger District
Recommended Map National Geographic Trails Illustrated Springer and Cohutta Mountains Chattahoochee National Forest
HIGHLIGHTS Isolated in the wilderness for days on end, the men who logged the Cohutta in the 1900s felt as if they were stuck doing time. And this is how the trail known as Penitentiary Branch received its name. But for modern-day travelers, this trail on the east side of the Cohutta Wilderness can be liberating as it provides fairly easy access to the banks of the beautiful Jacks River. Though the trail drops about 1,400 feet to the bank of the river, the descent stretches more than 5.9 miles, so the going isn’t too tough. When the days stretch long in the warmer months, you could soak in the rushing waters or try to reel in a trout, and still have time for the walk back to the car. And if you’re seeking a night out in the forest, a wide campsite with room for several people lies beneath hemlocks along the riverbank.
DIRECTIONS From Atlanta, take I-75 north to I-575/GA 5. Travel north on I-575/GA Highway 5 to East Ellijay, and then continue north on GA 5/US 76 to Blue Ridge. At the intersection near Walmart and The Home Depot, turn left and travel north on GA 5 for 3.7 miles. Turn left onto Old State Route 2 and drive 10.5 miles to Watson Gap. Turn right onto Forest Service Road 22 and go 3.3 miles to the parking area for the Dally Gap and Jacks River Trailhead.
FACILITIES/TRAILHEAD There are no facilities at the Dally Gap Trailhead for Hemp Top. On the Penitentiary Trail, water is available at the Penitentiary Branch stream and of course at Jacks River. Be sure to treat water from all streams and the river. Camping is allowed anywhere in the wilderness area; during your trek down Penitentiary Branch you will see a couple of small clearings, though the flat area along Jacks River provides enough room for several people. This is bear territory, so hang your food at night, and before you hike, give your itinerary to a friend or ranger, especially if you hike solo.
Penitentiary Branch is an interior trail in the wilderness that you can reach via the Hemp Top Trail, as detailed below, or the Jacks River Trail. To reach the Penitentiary Trail from the Hemp Top Trail, begin at the Dally Gap parking area on the eastern side of the Cohutta Wilderness. This is the location of trailheads for the Hemp Top and Jacks River trails. Hemp Top is the trail to the right (Waypoint 1). Pass the metal gate and ascend gradually, traveling north through hemlocks, pines, and hardwoods.
Travel on the Hemp Top Trail for 2.2 miles to a Y intersection (Waypoint 2). Bear left to descend on the Penitentiary Branch Trail. At first, you may feel hemmed in as Virginia pines and hemlock trees form green walls on each side of the path. But the 3-mile mark brings slight views of Hickory Ridge to the west. You may detect the pungent odor of galax, a heart-shaped evergreen plant that thrives in shaded forest.
At 3.6 miles, a small opening used as a campsite lies to the right, just before the trail drops briefly and crosses a drainage. The views to the west come and go as you move deeper into the ravine, and at 5 miles you’ll hear the first whispers of Jacks River. After another 0.3 mile, the forest opens as high-rise hemlocks dominate the land to your right.
Cross the shallow Penitentiary