January 19, 2015
The Chattooga River Trail is beautiful beyond words. My friend Perry and I set out on a wonderful, sunny day off from work to explore this Wild & Scenic River in Nantahala National Forest. We started at State Road 1107 and hiked one mile down to the Chattooga River Trail. This trail is appropriately called the county line trail, as it traverses the border of Macon and Jackson counties. Unfortunately, it appears that the Forest Service is allowing companies to log some of the timber on the upper portion of the trail. At the Chattooga River Trail we turned south. The trail runs over bridges and streams and under boulders with the river on our left. Throughout the hike we saw wild ginger, rattlesnake plantain, galax, rhododendrons, and mountain laurel. Perry is great at identifying plants and wildlife, and I am learning much. At the southern end of the trail is Bull Pen Bridge and after a short rest, we headed back north to the car.
The Chattooga River Trail is quite long, and we were only able to explore a tiny northern portion above Ellicott Rock Wildnerness.
Total mileage is 9 miles.
sweetwilder 