Fort Mountain State Park

Last week, when Lisa and I went Amicalola Falls State Park, we saw a sign for Fort Mountain State Park. Last Sunday I decided to investigate it, and determine if it would be a better hike for the group.

Sunday, I made a late start of it, and headed towards Amicalola Falls to where I saw the sign. I didn’t go to Map quest because my hiking guild said it was off of US52 and that is were I saw the sign last week. I never imagined that someone would put up a sign for Fort Mountain unless the park was close by. Boy was I wrong, oh so wrong. Fort Mountain and Amicalola Falls are about 50 miles away from each other and not highway miles - noooooo - winding mountain road miles. It took me an extra hour and a half to get there. Had I done a little research, I would have realized it is close to Ellijay and gone up I-575 (I went home that way and it took me an hour and fifteen minutes) and saved myself a lot of time and miles (I am so glad gas is so cheap) (that last comment is sarcasm, in case you thought I was rich and thought $2.78 a gallon is cheap).


Big Rock Trail
Big Rock trail is along and over an old waterfall bed. It is only a ½ mile trail but it is difficult at times. The sign say’s its moderate to strenuous, and it is. It starts off as a rocky/rooty trail that is two people wide. This part of the trail is moderate. At about the half way mark the trail is split. You can continue on the rocky/rooty moderate trail, or you can climb the dried up waterfall (it’s not totally dried up, it still has a little creek running through it). Buddy and I decided to climb the falls. This is where the trail can become strenuous. The falls were made up of platforms of large exposed rocks. If you have bad knees, aren’t too stable on your feet (you’re clumsy), or you have a small or old dog, you may want to stay on the moderate trail that runs next to it.


Lake Trail
The lake trail follows a small lake in the park. It is an easy, wide trail that is a little over a mile long. The lake has a little sandy people beach (I didn’t ask if dogs were allowed) and many camp sites off the lake. This means you will see other people on the trail. At the other end of the lake there is a picnic area with a wide open area for a dog to swim (I am assuming that the lake is OK to swim, considering they built a beach on it). All in all, it’s a nice easy hike for everyone.

Tower Trail
This trail is actually three trails in one. Buddy and I started off up a wide steep trail leading to the top of Fort Mountain. Where the Big Rock trail became strenuous because of the technical difficulty of the waterfall, the Tower trail can be strenuous at places due to the steepness. Before you get to the top you will come to a side trail with a red blaze, this leads to the scenic overlook without taking the steps (I didn’t know that at the time). Closer to the top you will come to the steps that lead to the scenic overlook (once again I didn’t know that at the time). These steps are the same type of grated steps that are at Amicalola Falls. There may not be as many as Amicalola Falls, but there are still a lot of them (this is the way I went, and Buddy was not happy). After taking photos of the scenic vista we headed back up the steps (Buddy was even less happy) and continued on to the tower.

The tower was cool. It is located at the top of Fort Mountain and is old. This is not a park ranger tower; it is an early settler’s tower. Much of the tower’s history is shrouded in mystery, but it’s thought to be built by early Welsh settlers (so bring the Corgis, they might like sniffing some of their history).

Heading down the mountain is easier than going up (duh). The trail that leads down the mountain is the original trail leading to the tower. Old platform steps (not grated steps, thank god (Buddy said you’re welcome; he’s dyslectic)) are made using the rocks from the mountain. Part of the way down you will go by a rock wall. The rock wall goes on for over a mile and at some time reaches 9 feet tall (I read that, I don’t know that for a fact). The portion of the wall by the trail is only 2 to 3 feet tall, but when you see all the rocks used you will be impressed (especially if you ever helped a friend with expanding his patio). After the wall it’s a short way back to the parking lot.

In conclusion I highly recommend Fort Mountain State Park. Along with fun hiking trails, the park offers many miles of mountain bike and horseback trails. It also has a swimming beach, camp sites and cabin rentals. All in all, I think I will try and rent a cabin there one weekend and explore everything Fort Mountain has to offer.