Today's visit to the original Southern Terminus at Mt. Oglethorpe

[Dan Roper]

After a stiff loop hike today on the Tobacco Pouch and Falls Creek trails, I drove to the summit of Mt. Oglethorpe for my first visit to the original southern terminus of the AT.

Due to development in the valley, the terminus was shifted to Springer Mountain in 1958. A good deal of the original trail bed is on private property, and presumably most of it is no longer detectable.

The summit has a few interesting things: one of the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club plaques on a rock by the gravel road a hundred yards below the summit (a circa 1930 photo of Warner Hall with pack was the basis for that famous plaque). Other copies of the plaque are posted at Springer, Dicks Creek Gap, Unicoi Gap, and I think Neels Gap.

There is a gated gravel road with a road sign "Original AT Approach Trail." This leads me to believe that there was no road access to the summit back in 1931, so that backpackers had to hike to the summit to begin, a miniature version of today's modern Approach Trail at Amicalola.

The old monument to General Oglethorpe was moved from the summit circa 1999 and is now in downtown Jasper, Georgia.

From the north viewing platform, you can see (with leaves down) Amicalola Lodge, Frosty Mountain, and Springer Mountain to the northeast. They look far away on the one hand; on the other, Springer is 20 miles distant but looks closer than that.

From a historical standpoint, I was thrilled to make this visit and find vestiges of the original terminus. From an aesthetic standpoing, no. But the loop hike really made everything worthwhile, as Falls Creek Trail has a darned impressive waterfall - it's about 1.8 miles below the parking area.

Federal Aviation Administration towers and facilities cover much of the summit now, so it's pretty unsightly. But folks have built a park with trails and viewing platforms and the like to make the best of it.

[Slugg]

Thanks for sharing. Any pics? Original AT Approach gravel road is cool. Was it private property beyond the gate?

[Dan Roper]

I'll post photos tomorrow.

I found a copy of a 1940 southern AT guidebook that includes a detailed description of the AT from Oglethorpe to Springer. There was a good bit of road walking, including the first 4.5 miles or so. And plenty of the trail walking was in proximity to roads. Those things, in addition to encroaching development, prompted the move to Springer. All things considered it was wise to make that move. But if that corridor could have been preserved as National Forest, Oglethorpe would have been a spectacular ending point. It's the southern-most 3,000-footer, and it has great views in every direction. You can see the Cohuttas to the NW, Sawnee Mountain to the SE, Kennesaw Mountain to the SW, and lots of others, including (we think) the LIttle Frog range in Tennessee.

[Mother Natures Son]

Did Earl Shaffer hike Mt. Oglethorpe at the start of his hike? I know the area was and is over developed even back in his day. Who stood on the summit that we might know of?

[Dan Roper]

Mount Ogelthorpe was the southern terminus from about 1930 until 1958, so Earl Shaeffer, Gene Espy, and Grandma Gatewood started their landmark thru hikes there. Between Shaffer's thru-hike in 1948 and the moving of the terminus in 1958, I think only a score or so thru-hikers began or ended at Oglethorpe. Espy's thru hike, the second ever, was in 1951. Gatewood's was in 1955 (she was the first female thru hiker).

Gene Espy is in his mid or late '90s now, living in a retirement or care facility in or close to Macon, Georgia.

[Dan Roper]

The plaque is about 100 yards downs the gravel access road from the summit. I feel sure it originally was at the summit, but had to be moved when the FAA built its facilities.

[Dan Roper]

From the north platform on Mount Ogethorpe, Springer Mountain is on the horizon to the NE, and Amicalola Lodge down and to the right. I hope the photo annotations will be visiable, but I'm not familiar with the Whiteblaze attachment process.

[Dan Roper]

This is the Old Approach Trail, near the summit of Mount Oglethorpe. I don't know where the distant end of this trail was located.

[Dan Roper]

This is some of the Federal Aviation Administration equipment and facilities on the summit. No doubt this is essential for air traffic, commerce, and all kinds of things vital to everyday life....but it is not an enhancement to the environment to the east's southernmost 3,000-footer (Oglethorpe has that distinction, I think).

[Dan Roper]

This lovely waterfall is on the Fall Creek Trail. The trailhead is, I think, about 1.8 miles north of Oglethorpe's summit via the Monument Road. From the parking area (which is somewhat difficult to find), take the Tobacco Pouch Trail 0.3 miles, then turn down (left) on the Fall Creek Trail, about 1.8 miles to the falls. A loop hike on the Tobacco Pouch and Fall Creek trails is lovely, challenging, and about 6 or 7 miles. The trails are poorly marked and may be nearly impossible to figure out for those unfamiliar with the area. Starting from up high and doing the Tobacco Pouch Trail section first, you drop roughly a thousand feet and reclimb the elevation to finish.

[Mother Natures Son]

This is what happen to a Maryland summit. (Unknown name.) There was a small Civil War battle at the bottom of the hill. We ( the hikers) were kicked off the summit sometime in the 80s due to FAA equipment placed at the top. Anyone know what the summit was called?

[AegisIII]

That's probably Lamb's Knoll, three or so miles north of Gathland State Park.