Monday, June 20, 2005
Hiked Logan Turnpike 6/19/05 and found that many parts of the path (turnpike) had been washed out by heavy rains. We were also unable to drive our car to the parking area by the trail head. We parked in one of the hunting lodges near by. The upside of all the rain was Towns Creek was beautiful with its many small water falls.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Hiked Logan Turnpike 6/19/05 and found that many parts of the path (turnpike) had been washed out by heavy rains. We were also unable to drive our car to the parking area by the trail head. The upside of all the rain was Towns Creek was beautiful with its many small water falls.
Monday, February 2, 2004
I hiked this trail on Superbowl Sunday (2-1-04) in the late morning / early afternoon. I started at the lower end of the trail, off Kellum Valley Road. It was wet and muddy, and I was glad to have a truck driving into the trailhead parking area; it's good to have a vehicle with clearance to get over the rocks and bumps on the dirt road. If you think the road is getting too narrow and you may have passed the parking area, keep going! You'll know when you are there since logs block the road and there is a small clearing for parking. The day was cold (~35F) and crisp, with a stiff breeze from the south up into the valley. I even encountered some patches of ice in the shade. The trail starts out level and rocky before a rapid ascent after about one mile. As I climbed, the views back thru the valley were awesome. I didn't see anyone else on the trail, though when I go to the top, there were two vehicles parked there probably by day/weekend hikers hiking along the AT. There was a lot of trees debris ( probably from ice storms ) littering the trail and I had to climb over several trees. This was a great hike, I would rate it strenuous due to the last mile or so as you climb out of the valley. I recommend starting at the bottom and walking up, but next time I'll start at the top and walk down to see what that's like. The sound of running water from the creek was very soothing and powerful at the same time. Water runoff often ran along the trail or crossed it, so be prepared to get a little muddy or wet. It never got above the ankles of my boots, though. The trees were awesome and you could see their majestic heights with the leaves gone in the middle of winter. Some must have been close to 200 years old. The conifers provided shade from the sunlight and a break from the wind. The views up the mountains on either side of the valley were also clear and spectacular - you could see cliffs high up on both sides. It's hard to believe this was a main thoroughfare a hundred or more years ago and as I walked, I often thought of what that would have been like with a horse and buggy or a model T. It was also neat retracing the steps of John Muir on his way to the Gulf. I would rate this as a great hike that I would highly recommend. Questions? Email me at red_5@charter.net. red5
Sunday, July 21, 2002
My husband and I are not professional hikers. We have different opinions on the difficulty of the trail. It had overgrown plants, trees, etc that made it difficult at times to follow the path. It became steep for awhile too. All of which made it more adventurous. There were blue markings on the trees, which helped alot. Also were some cleared areas for camping, with fire pits already built right next to the creek. There were no people at all on a Saturday, which was awesome. There was also no trash, bottles or anything like that, so it seemed fairly well kept. It was kind of hard to find. The last road given on the directions you have to follow until you can't go anymore. And at first it looks odd, because to the right are a couple of houses, that looked like rentable cabins and then right past them on both sides of the gravel road were no trespassing signs. So we thought we must have gone to the wrong place, but then we asked some people in a car passing us on the way out, they told us that that was right so we went back parked, and found it fine. We didn't go all the way. We had not dressed appropriately for such an overgrown path, and were worried about poison ivy when it got real bad. I think we went about 2-3ish miles into it. My husband found it to be more strenuous than I did. Only because he never ever exercises or anything. We both found the path hard to follow at times, due to the overgrown stuff. But overall, it was a great experience, and very beautiful. Oh and when your leaving there is this really cool little country shop, with drinks, food, and old style candy. PS The only way you can get to the real begining of the trail, is if you have a 4x4 because the road gets so bad.
Monday, January 29, 2001
This is a very nice trail, once you get to it. If you do not have a truck, don't try to get to the trailhead (I roughed up the bottom of my car on a stream bed.) Very nice streams along the trail with several side paths. Lots of stuff on trail (downed trees etc.) overall a good trail.
Friday, February 18, 2000
Friday Feb. 18, 2000 A friend and I hiked the Logan Turnpike trail today. We were expecting the worst. The trailhead was easily found (129), the trail was well marked and pretty cleared. It was not as strenous as we expected from other reports. I recommend this to all.
Wednesday, January 5, 2000
In hiking the trail from south to north (bottom to top) the first mile borders Town Creek with its many cascades, making the trip very enjoyable. The trail head is well marked at its beginning but not so well marked as you proceed upwards. I particularly enjoyed hiking the roadbed where it left the trail on up the mountain. I can't imagine a T-model traversing the turnpike from bottom to top without occasional extreme difficulty. I have also heard that when the vehicles came down the mountain, they often drug logs behind them to help them slow down, and to keep from burning up their brakes. I hiked it in the winter time (January) and the views were very nice looking back toward Kellum Valley and westward toward Cowrock Mountain.
Monday, May 17, 1999
We hiked this trail from the AT access down hill, to the "toll house". the hike up hill on the way back was what made this hike strenuous but it was well worth it. The many streams/water to cross was fun but we wished it was marked a little better. It seemed much longer than a 4 mile out and back hike.
Trail Length:4.0 miles (RT)
Location: Union White County
Features:ATaccess, historic, stream.
Last hiked:09/19/1997 | Type of trail:In and out
Our rating:Hard
Your rating:Hard (27)
Date added:05/18/1995
Trail Usage:
About these ratings |
Hikers looking for a great vacation rental centrally located? Georgia Trails recommends Whispering Winds Lodge and Vacation Rentals
Front page
Maps and directions
Rate a trail
Add a trail report
View Trail Reports
Create a link to this page
All material copyrighted unless otherwise noted
Copyright 1996-2007 Golden Ink
