Does anyone here have some good spots in Alabama and Georgia area that they wouldn’t mind sharing with me?
Where about and what are you trying to do? I’m from Georgia so I can dig something up from the archives.
Northern Alabama is one of the most slept on places in country.
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I dont have any area in particular in mind. I have done the GA traverse, and seen a ton of cool spots, but I will have a friend coming meet me, so it would need to be car friendly to get there.
Typing this out I realized my camping has always been objective focused with no consideration to legality or hanging out during the day.
I love the Cohutta area. TONS of gravel roads, good fishing, and less crowded than other spots. This spot might get a little weird in the morning with Mountain Bikers and Hikers coming through but it’s next to a creek and a short hike to Gennet Poplar, the second largest living tree in Georgia.
Bear Creek (Dispersed)
34.82026, -84.56572
There is a ton of dispersed in this area but I included a campground. There’s a good day hike to Jack’s River Falls (34.97162, -84.57283). I would camp dispersed closer to the trailhead (34.99101, -84.58829)
Cottonwood Patch Campground
34.98068, -84.63881
North of Cohutta is the Cherokee Wildlife Management area in Tennessee. I’ve camped all through here bikepacking/motopacking. There is no shortage of dispersed camping. I don’t have a specific section but it’s SUPER quiet back here and it’s near Ducktown. Ducktown is an interesting town that had a copper mine back in the day. The mining practices were so egregious that they started having severe acid rain and it killed all the trees. If you stop by the Ducktown Basin Museum you’ll probably find someone fondly remembering when there were no trees. South of town is Copperhill which has an outsized amount of good food and beer. Northeast of Ducktown is Fields of the Wood, a pentecostal christian themed “amusement park”. It’s…interesting but probably not worth your time.
Tumbling Creek Campground
35.01744, -84.46731
Tallulah Gorge is a cool spot to check out. There’s a country store that has a lookout over the gorge that I loved as a kid.
Tallulah Gorge State Park (Pay Site)
34.73932, -83.39758
Cloudland Canyon has some good views and a nice canyon to hike down to. This is a paid site. Five Forks mountain bike trail is nearby and pretty good.
Cloudland Canyon State Park (Pay Site)
34.81882, -85.48706
Points of Interest to find camping near:
Ravens Cliff Falls - one of my favorite waterfall hikes. 5 increasingly large waterfalls over a short/flattish hike.
Blood Mountain - section of the Appalachian Trail starting from Walasi-Yi Interpretive Center. Pretty tough, albeit not too long, hike to the best vista in Georgia.
Providence Canyon State Park: Another environmental disaster this time caused by poor runoff retention. On the south end of Georgia. Known as Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon. Closest Campground is Bluff Creek (32.18912, -85.01475)
Hope this helps. I’ll try to think of more.
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Holy detailed info! Thank you so much for all of this! I really appreciate it!