Black Gap Shelter (via Nimblewill Gap)

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.

Black Gap Shelter is located in the national forest and is on the Approach Trail which leads to Springer Mountain, The shelter sits in a flat and wooded area on a blue-blazed side trail that is only 1.5 miles from the start of the Appalachian Trail.  It is a smaller Appalachian Trail shelter that has room for around eight people and has a picnic table and fire ring in front of it.  On this hike we hiked from USFS 28 (aka Nimblewill Gap) to the shelter and back. The trail makes a steep then gradual climb over 1.3 miles to the shelter which sits at 3410 feet. The shelter was once located at Springer Mountain but was moved here in the early 90s when the Springer shelter was rebuilt. Black Gap has a spring nearby and campsites nearby.