Springer Mountain (via Big Stamp Gap)

The Benton MacKaye Trail is a work in progress, and it currently runs nearly 100 miles from the southern terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia, to US Hwy 64 & 74 near the Ocoee River in Tennessee. The trail is named for Benton MacKaye, who first published a proposal for the creation of the Appalachian Trail in the early 1900’s while hiking in Vermont.

The current plan is for the Benton MacKaye Trail to continue through the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee and eventually reach the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and rejoin with the Appalachian Trail. (For more information, you can visit the Benton MacKaye Trail Association website. Its members volunteer for trail development, construction, maintenance and repair.)

This loop hike uses both the Benton MacKaye and Appalachian Trails to run a moderate 4.4 mile route with nice views from both Springer Mountain on the A.T. and Ball Mountain on the BMT. The Benton MacKaye vista is located at a small clearing just past Ball Mountain as you approach Big Stamp Gap. The hike starts and ends at a gravel parking area on USFS 42 at the Appalachian Trail.