Blackwell Creek

The Chattahoochee National Forest is one of two National Forests in the State of Georgia, and it takes its name from the Chattahoochee River whose headwaters begin in the North Georgia mountains. The River and the area were given the name by the English settlers who heard it from the Indians that once lived here. The Chattahoochee National Forest was created when the Forest Service purchased 31,000 acres in Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin and Union Counties from the Gennett family in 1911 for $7.00 per acre. In the beginning, the Chattahoochee was part of the Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests in North Carolina and Tennessee, but eventually the Forest Service made additional land purchases and expanded the Chattahoochee to its current size of nearly 750,000 acres.

This hike to Blackwell Creek starts at Gooch Gap (US Forest Road 42) in the Chattahoochee National Forest and climbs out of the gap heading southbound toward the Gooch Gap Shelter.  After a two hundred foot ascent, the Appalachian Trail gradually drops down past the shelter and to Blackwell Creek (2600 feet). Before you cross the stream, there is an overgrown trail to the left (which may have been the old A.T.) that leads to a campsite on the stream. It is most easily found in the winter or spring, otherwise it is recommended that you camp at the shelter.