This summer I plan to try kayak camping for the first time, so this weekend my daughter and I did a one-night scouting trip to a campsite on the banks of the Toccoa River in north Georgia. Sandy Bottoms Recreation Area marks the end of a different kind of trail, the Toccoa River Canoe Trail,… Continue reading Camping at Sandy Bottoms on the Toccoa River in Blue Ridge, GA
The Pine Mountain Trail is one of my favorite local trails. It has the kind of beautiful scenery that you would expect to have to drive further north to find. It has all of what I consider the Big 3 of a great hike- waterfalls, a view, and interesting terrain. (Granted, the waterfalls are tiny,… Continue reading Hiking the Pine Mountain Trail in Cartersville, GA
I grew up in North Carolina and even though the Appalachian Trail runs through my state, I had never heard of it until college when a friend of mine hiked the whole thing with her dad. The entire trail runs from Georgia to Maine and is 2,181 miles long. When I moved to Georgia, I… Continue reading Hiking Springer Mountain on the Appalachian Trail
Today we hiked up to Long Creek Falls near Ellijay, Georgia. I’ve been dragging my kids on hikes since they could walk. I’ve found that there are a few things that help keep them interested in hiking. First, a waterfall. They like some kind of view at the end, some sort of pay off. Second,… Continue reading Hiking to Long Creek Falls on the Appalachian Trail
I heard about a remote fishing spot in a WMA about 40 minutes from my house and decided to check it out. You have to be pretty determined to get there because it requires a 2 mile bike ride followed by a 1/2 mile hike. The WMA stocks the river with trout though, so it’s… Continue reading Fishing at Raccoon Creek in North Georgia
My son had a short break from school, so we headed north for a one night camping trip to Toccoa Valley Campground in Blue Ridge, Georgia, one of my favorite towns in the whole state. I told the kids they could each pick one activity to do in the mountains, so in addition to camping… Continue reading Camping at Toccoa Valley Campground
On Sunday I packed a picnic lunch and we headed north to the mountains. I didn’t grow up in Georgia, so there are many parts of the state that I haven’t seen. Last week I got onto the website for Georgia’s State Parks (www.georgiastateparks.org) to see what kind of activities and attractions are within driving distance… Continue reading Back to Nature… Amicalola Falls and the Appalachian Trail
Simple Southern 