Fort Yargo - Mountain Bike Trail (Barrow County, Georgia)

 

As I'm starting to warm up for a big Grand Canyon adventure in a couple of months, I really need to start putting the miles in. So to follow up to Monadnock Madness yesterday, I decided head out with one of the hiking meetup groups I belong to here in Atlanta to explore Fort Yargo, which I have heard of, but haven't yet visited. It's only about twenty miles from my house and so, I probably should have visited before now, but it's never too late.

Arriving at the state park's visitor center just a little before noon, I find the group starting to form. We do a quick round of introductions and then shortly thereafter, hit the trail. The trail essentially follows the shoreline of the lake. Instead of doing the yellow trail though, which is the interior loop, we will mostly follow the blue trail, which is intended for mountain bikes and strays a little ways from the lake in parts making for a longer trail overall. At the start though, we begin on the Bird Berry Trail, which supposedly has a lot of bird watching available, though at this time of year, there doesn't appear to be much to see. 

The trail continues on around the lake. The terrain is easy and the landscape looks very much like many other hikes I have done in Georgia. Soon though, the spring colors will begin to take hold and banish this brown for a few months. As always, the members of the group break off into various conversations, all while maintaining a very good pace.

For such a beautiful late winter day, there really isn't a lot of traffic on this trail, though we do encounter a few mountain bikers. While on a section known as the 'Monster Mile' our leader points out a couple of really tough climbs, just as a couple of bikers come through and make it look easy. He comments about about how easy they made it look. 

There are a number of trails and junctions throughout the woods here, but our leader knows them pretty well and steers the group along the proper path. As we near the end of the trail, we pass the log cabin that was the basis of Fort Yargo. Reading up on it a little bit, the structure was built in 1793 to help protect settlers from attacks by the Creek Nation, though I imagine the attacks were completely justified knowing how 'well' (/sarcasm) we treated the First Nations as we stole their land and resources. Still though, it's an interesting bit of history to be able to see in person.

Arriving back a the trailhead, we say our goodbyes and head our separate ways. As always, it was good hike with good company. We managed to put in just over 10.9 miles on the trails today and I'm glad for it. I really need to get the miles in as I prepare for some more challenging adventures in the coming months.