Cherokee County Saddle Club

Page 4

IMPROVING OUR TRAIL RIDING EXPERIENCE THROUGH TRAINING, EDUCATION, & FELLOWSHIP.

Horse Camping Near the Georgia Pinhoti Trail
By Larry Wheat

This article presents a list of equestrian overnight camping and parking locations that offer access to the Georgia Pinhoti Trail (GPT) within the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. These locations are primitive camping locations on U.S. Forest Service (FS) land. Users are expected to take out any materials that they bring in to the location, as there are no trash bins at most of these sites. Likewise, care must be taken to either retain or properly dispose of horse manure, hay, and other horse-related materials in such a manner that keeps the location clean and acceptable to other users (such as bicyclists, hikers, FS personnel, etc.). There is no safe drinking water for humans (without purification treatment), and no toilets. Practice “Leave no Trace.” When you leave the location it should not be obvious that you and your horse had been there!"

There are three large GPT/FS parking lots (High Point on GA 100, Dry Creek on FS 226, and Snake Creek Gap on GA 136) that do NOT allow overnight camping. They have been developed especially to accommodate parking of equestrian rigs, but overnight camping is not allowed at those three locations.

Driving directions are not presented in this article as they can be lengthy, but they may be provided upon request. The locations that accept equestrian rig parking and overnight primitive camping are listed below. Under the location name I have added my opinion on the quality of the site for horse camping.

Location Name	Where is it?	Horse Water	Notes
Strawberry Mountain at dead end of FS 227 Fair	About 2 miles beyond the GPT lot on gravel road FS 227	None	Good turnaround area at end of road, beside woods. Access to GPT that is about ¼ mile away.
Dry Creek area – across E. Armuchee Creek near FS 226 Good	About 6.5 miles south of Villanow off East Armuchee Road. About ¼ mile from new equestrian parking lot.	Stream nearby	Frequently used for horse camping. Can camp on either side of large creek. About 4-6 spots available. Access to GPT via gravel FS road.
Dry Creek area beside FS 310 (multiple areas) Good to fair	About 5.2 miles south of Villanow off of East Armuchee Road	Stream nearby the best area. Another is 200 yards from stream; another is ¼ mile.	End of FS 310 is at East Armuchee Creek and GPT. Room for 2-3 rigs. Additional spots for 1 or 2 rigs along FS 310 further from the creek.
Horn Mountain by Gentry Gap on FS 233 Good	The FS 233 turnoff is about 3-4 miles south of Villanow on the Pocket Road.	Stream nearby	End of FS 233 is at creek and campsite. Room for 4-6 rigs. GPT is couple hundred yards further up dirt extension of FS 233. Frequently used for horse camping.
Jacks River Field Good	Beside FS 64 in the Cohutta area, a few miles south of Watson Gap	Stream nearby	Access to the South Fork trail and loop. South Fork trail connects to the GPT but not sure if that part of GPT is open to horses.

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Location Name

Where is it?

Horse Water

Notes