Wagon Train Trail to Brasstown Bald (Towns County, Georgia)

Continuing my preparation for an upcoming Grand Canyon backpacking trip, I decided to post an event to hike up the Wagon Train Trail to Brasstown Bald on the Meetup site. This road and/or trail was built in the 1950's by convict labor and used by locals to travel the seven or so miles from the community of Young Harris to the summit of Brasstown Bald, the tallest peak in the state of Georgia. At the summit, these families would camp and socialize while taking in the magnificent views.

When I arrived at the trailhead, there were already five of the hikers that had signed up there and ready to go. I always try to be early for events that I'm leading and these folks decided to arrive even earlier. I do appreciate their punctuality though. At 10:00 AM, the listed start time, we do a quick round of introductions and I provide an overview of what the group will be in for today. One of the hikers has hiked this trail twice previously, which is twice more than I have, though I have researched it in preparation for today's trip. Still, it's always nice to have someone along that knows the trail when I don't. And with that out of the way, the six of us immediately start our hike.

Leaving the parking lot of Sharp Memorial Church, we walk a short way up the road and then climb a number of steps to a parking lot owned by Young Harris College. At the far side, we can see the red gate, which marks the beginning of the trail. The first couple of miles are double-track and likely where the name comes from, but before too long, the trail becomes single track as it gradually climbs the side of the ridge. 

The views are somewhat obscured here by the spring foliage, but a couple of clearings offer up some outstanding vistas, including one that allows us to see Wolfpen Ridge, which we are currently climbing toward, as it curls around to the summit of Brasstown Bald and the observation tower on top of it. It's an extraordinary view.

The entire way, I've been pushing the pace pretty hard. I had listed this as a 2.5 mph hike and reminded everyone with me that we would be trying to maintain that pace throughout. The entire group seems to be doing pretty well and no one falls significantly behind. It is an arduous climb though and doesn't seem to relent much at all. 

Finally reaching the intersection with the paved summit trail, we begin the steep and popular part of the trail, which will take us to the observation deck. My past two visits to Brasstown Bald have been overcast and the views were hidden by cloud, but today, the skies are clear and the sun is beaming golden rays down on top of us. It should be terrific. Now, we just have to climb to the top up this extremely steep walkway that extends about a half-a-mile from the parking lot to the summit. Luckily, our trail intersects part way up and we have a slightly shorter distance to climb, though we had to hike seven miles to get to that point.

Once we reach the top, I tell the group to take a few minutes to enjoy the view and get a snack. I suggest that we'll reconvene in a grass area that I point to at about 1:15, before heading back to our starting point. Everyone agrees and disperses to do their own thing. There are a lot of other visitors here at the observation tower (of course, the vast majority simply walked the half-a-mile from the parking lot), but not nearly as many as I was expecting on such a gorgeous day. I take a few minutes to walk around the tower ring and get some pictures. The views are as breathtaking as I had hoped they would be. In all directions the green canopy of southern Appalachia spreads out before me. As we are still in spring, some of the trees toward the tops of the nearby peaks have yet to gain their full green foliage and remain in various shades of beige and brown. This gives the landscape a sort of rainbow appearance as the bright greens of the lower elevations around us transition to the darker and browner summits. It's truly spectacular.

At the appointed time, we gather back up and having consumed a few calories in the form of bars or fruit, we all feel ready for the long descent. The return trip will be slightly quicker as downhill always is. As we make our way back to the trailhead, we chat about various topics and simply enjoy each others company and our accomplishment.

After a total of 15.1 miles and approximately, 3,000 feet of elevation gain and loss, we finally return to our cars. The group thanks me for organizing and leading and I thank them for joining me. I was really impressed with this group in that they were all able to keep up the listed pace and we finished the hike just a few minutes before the planned 4:00 PM end time. I believe everyone enjoyed the hike and I hope to seem them again on future trails.