View Full Version : Amicalola Falls to Springer
Buzluttyr
12-17-2015, 13:36
Can anybody give me a good idea of roughly an "average timeframe" to hike from the Amicaolola Falls approach trail to Springer Mountain Summit (8.1 miles, rough terrain) at a steady pace? Prepping now, thru-hike in 2017 Thanks! Buz :sun
soumodeler
12-17-2015, 13:40
About 4-5 hours at an easy pace.
Cotton Terry
12-17-2015, 14:40
+1 what Soumodeler says. That said, sometimes it depends on the weather. Last spring, I heard about some that got so bogged down by the rain they had to camp at Black Gap Shelter. Definitely in the minority.
Christoph
12-17-2015, 14:43
Took me around 4 hours last April during the Tornado Warning. Even with all the lightning and torrential rain.
About 4-5 hours at an easy pace.
+1 - I flew to Atlanta from Cleveland, met shuttler at MARTA station and got to Amicalola Fall SP in early afternoon and got into Springer shelter area just as it was getting dark having taken my time on trail and spent some time at the Springer summit.
I have hiked that many times. With a pack you should plan on 4-5 hours but why bother with the Approach Trail. There are plenty of PUDS after Springer.
kimbur96
12-18-2015, 22:15
I have hiked that many times. With a pack you should plan on 4-5 hours but why bother with the Approach Trail. There are plenty of PUDS after Springer.
Pardon my ignorance, new here and trying to learn...what's a PUDS?
kimbur96
12-18-2015, 22:24
Pointless Up and DownS
ah, thank you
MuddyWaters
12-18-2015, 22:33
Not rough terrain at all. If you can average 2 mph going uphill, its downright ez.
So There I Was
12-22-2015, 08:34
I did it again four months ago on a section trip with the kids. It is a gut check. I think the P.U.Ds acronym is about right. That 8.1 is either going up or going down. There is little to no flat spots. We made it in 4 hours with a few breaks along the way.
Flat spots are boring. I didnt realize the AT was ever flat. All my hiking is ether going up, or going downhill.
Slo-go'en
12-22-2015, 12:26
Of course, there have been people that have taken up to 3 days to do those 8 miles.
LetsGoWalk
12-23-2015, 21:51
I just did Amicalola Falls to Springer on Monday. Took me between 4 and 5 hours from the starting arch behind the visitors center. At the top of the falls when you enter the woods, there's a sign that tells you that you have 7.3 more miles to Springer and that the "average hiking time" is six hours one way from that point. From that sign, I'd say it took me approx 3 1/2 hours. And then I headed back to my car.
BTW I just registered here today and this is my first post -- Hello everyone! I've been lurking and reading the forums for about a month. I've just gotten into hiking and I've only ever done day hikes --- my Monday hike from Amicalola was by far my longest and most ambitious hike to date.
MuddyWaters
12-23-2015, 22:38
I just did Amicalola Falls to Springer on Monday. Took me between 4 and 5 hours from the starting arch behind the visitors center. At the top of the falls when you enter the woods, there's a sign that tells you that you have 7.3 more miles to Springer and that the "average hiking time" is six hours one way from that point. From that sign, I'd say it took me approx 3 1/2 hours. And then I headed back to my car.
BTW I just registered here today and this is my first post -- Hello everyone! I've been lurking and reading the forums for about a month. I've just gotten into hiking and I've only ever done day hikes --- my Monday hike from Amicalola was by far my longest and most ambitious hike to date.
Both ways out and back? Thats a pretty good day. Did you do the stairs as well? Not as hard as people make it out to be in their heads.
Welcome to the forum LetsGoWalk. So much info and advice here.
I love the AT approach trail. Great way to kickoff an AT hike. Like they said, usually 4 hours, but have met some 'thru hikers' who took 2+ days to make it, usually those end up camping/resting up at Black Gap shelter before the 'summit'. Met a group of young 'thru hikers' from Ohio at Springer Shelter back in April 2010 that had one guy with a badly sprained ankle....they laid up at Springer Shelter for 3-4 days letting him recover. They got drunk their first night at that Max Epperson Shelter and the dude fell off a boulder and sprained his ankle. Fun way to start a thru hike.
bigcranky
12-24-2015, 15:19
i like the Approach Trail too, but dragging a 12 year old with us it took closer to 8 hours. Not learning our lesson on that hike, we proceeded to drag her the next couple of years, finally giving up after a particularly bad outing in the summer of 2005. Just hiking by ourselves, sans fille, works so much better. :)
LetsGoWalk
12-24-2015, 20:29
Both ways out and back? Thats a pretty good day. Did you do the stairs as well? Not as hard as people make it out to be in their heads.
Yeah, out and back in one day. Did the stairs too -- I love stairs!! Roughly, I passed through the arch behind the visitors center around 9:40am and I finally made it back to my car around 7pm. That includes a quick visit to the lodge once at the top of the falls and I also hung around the Springer summit area for about 30 minutes.
I enjoyed the hike very much even though it was pretty foggy and rainy most of the day
It takes me hours with pack.
It takes me 5.5 hours with a pack.
Don't know why the previous post left out the 5.5
RavensFan
01-01-2016, 11:36
One of my first hikes was the approach trail and I vastly underestimated the time needed to get to Springer... amazing how fast you can hike when you're afraid you're not going to make it to your destination in time. It's tough - but if you take your time - it's a nice tough hike.
LetsGoWalk
01-12-2016, 15:20
Does anyone know if the Approach Trail -- at least the portions on Amicalola Falls Sate Park - actually closes at 5pm?
I went back to the park to do another day hike to Springer, this time planning to incorporate the Hike Inn trail.
This time I checked in with the visitors center -- hadn't even occurred to me to do that last time I did my day hike. The person working there (ranger?) told me I had to return and check back in with them by 5pm, when the visitor center closes. Why? The park is allegedly open until 10pm. And sunset was at 5:45pm yesterday and is getting later every day now. But I still promised to return by 5pm.
So I didn't make it to Springer this time -- I had to cut my hike a little short in order to guarantee that I'd be back to the visitors center by 5pm.
I made it back there by 4:56pm to find that it had already closed for the day!! Oy. So I could have been out there for longer, since I was unable to check back in anyway....
The park worker also seemed to want me to park at the top of the falls, when i wanted to start my hike with climbing the stairs up the falls --- that's my favorite part. Why should I be forced to skip that? Or what if I had wanted to start my hike with the archway behind the visitors center? Seemed so strange. It was not a busy day and there was a ton of parking.
Maybe next time I go there I won't stop by the visitors center first... doesn't seem to be much point.