North Georgia suggestions

[cinemaphonic]

Hey guys,

My roommate and I are planning on taking a road trip in a couple of days. We're leaving from Milwaukee, WI and have our sites set on North Georgia, specifically Chattahoochee National Forest. Neither of us have ever been so it was kind of a shot in the dark. So I wanted to ask if anyone has any suggestion for the area? I want to stay away from really bad weather conditions on the road. The reason we're limiting ourselves to North Georgia is because monetarily and time-wise that is all we can afford. We're also looking at Kentucky and Tennessee, but again, we know barley anything and time is running out to make a decision.

Any help would be much appreciated! We know we'll be dealing with the cold, but we just want to get away and enjoy some natural beauty. Thanks guys.

 

[nwprimo]

Check out Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky. Its on Kentucky's western border. I drove through there with my dad on our way from Oshkosh to Tampa

 

[Almost There]

That's a whole lot closer to Wisconsin than Northern Georgia.

What is it that you like doing. It's easier to give suggestions if we know what you're interested in.

Do you like hiking, museums, micro breweries, geocaching or just want someplace scenic to hang out and do nothing?

 

[cinemaphonic]

Exactly--somewhere scenic to hang out and do nothing. Hiking is good, but we're mostly just getting away from home and trying to spend as little as possible.


Thanks guys, I'll look into Kentucky.

 

[Donedirtcheap]

There are several free campsites in that area of Georgia. If you want to do fewer miles and get farther south, head down to the Nashville area and jump on the Natchez trace parkway. It's a beautiful 2 lane scenic highway with several point of interest stops and 3 free campgrounds. It runs 440 miles to Natchez Mississippi. The first free campground is the Merriwether Lewis near Hohenwald Tn. It has nice restrooms and water. From Nashville south you should start hitting temps in the mid 50's.

There is another short (37 mile) scenic hwy to the north west of Natchez called the longleaf. It's in the highest elevation (400 ft) area of la. There are a bunch of free or cheap spots all over that area and many between there and home that would let you create a loop type route when heading back north. Take warm sleeping gear and some cooking gear and party on!!!

If you have a gps unit, store the coordinates before you head out. In many areas you will lose phone connections. This is true in many states. In some areas you may be able to marginally text. You may want grab some paper maps.

http://freecampsites.net/#!(33.64713198667836, -87.14716335764022)

http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm

http://www.americantrails.org/nationalrecreationtrails/trailNRT/Longleaf-Trace-MS.html

 

[Seraphim]

We were here just last night.


http://southcarolinaparks.com/colleton/introduction.aspx

$18 a night water and electric. MUCH warmer than Kentucky. Not Georgia, but SC. Very small CG on a black water river. Directly on a water trail. About 9 hour drive from Cincinnati.

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This one is N. Georgia - closer than the SC campground. Just north of Atlanta, probably about 6 hours from Cincinnati, right of I75


http://gastateparks.org/RedTopMountain

Was there about two weeks ago.

Warmer than KY. In Tennesee tonight. Brrr...

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Have fun.

 

[karl]

Couple of my favorite remote and free campgrounds, both are 1400+' elev.....

Tumbling creek Tn. http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/cherokee/null/recarea/?recid=35030&actid=42

Hickey Gap - Crandall Ga. http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/cherokee/null/recarea/?recid=35030&actid=42

Gap is popular weekend spot for locals- go during week for solitude and choice lots

 

[compassrose]

Chattahoochee National Forest Campgrounds & Descriptions

Our fav campground has been Rabun Beach (paved roads, gravel sites all kept in good shape) for many, many years. We would stay at Rabun and daytrip into Helen and Hiawassee (for the fair). We used to live/work in that area so it can in handy when we worked the backside of the lake. We also liked Sandy Bottom off of Persimmon Road. You will need to make (or buy) a water theif to get water from the unthreaded water post in Sandy Bottom (as well as many of the other NF's in the area). Rabun has threaded water pipes at pretty much every site, but carry a splitter or two with you just to be polite.

DO NOT attempt Wildcat 1&2 unless you are in a very high clearance vehicle.

BTW, all the campgrounds I mentioned are near Hwy 76 west of Clayton GA.

 

[TnTravel]

Exactly--somewhere scenic to hang out and do nothing. Hiking is good, but we're mostly just getting away from home and trying to spend as little as possible.


Thanks guys, I'll look into Kentucky.

I live near LBL land between the lakes it is a terrific place with many trails, campgrounds, lakes nature centers and bison great place to visit