North Georgia Mountain Bike
Trails and Riding Areas

Purpose of this Page
This part of the Southeast contains many great places to ride Mountain Bikes. The purpose of this page is only help those not familiar with it to get more information on the trails and services there. I do not have enough first hand knowledge to describe each trail, how to get to them, how much it costs, the quality of the trail, or its suitability for each type of rider. If you are traveling to that area, before you go, arm yourself with a good Mountain Biking Guide book and obtain the latest maps and information by writing or calling the US Forest Service. They are great people who do much to promote recreation in the Chattahoochee and Ononee National Forest. You can get first hand knowledge from the local bike shops there.
Important Note: Many of the riding areas are Wildlife Management Areas and are open to hunting. Some of the areas and trails have restricted riding times and days during hunting season. For example they may be closed on days of gun and primitive weapons deer hunts. Some are closed until after 10 AM during Archery season. Get all the information about this before you plan your trip to this great riding area.

North West Georgia
There are several good riding places located around LaFayette, Ga. or at least in the North Western part of the state. Some of them are:
Pinhoti Trail - This trail runs from Holland, just south of Summerville, to Dalton, Ga. and is almost all open to Mountain Bikes. Note that some sections are closed to bikes.
John's Mountain WMA - This area is located 10 miles East of LaFayette and 10 miles West of Calhoun, Ga. At the time of this posting there was no actual bike trails here, but there is some good riding on the open and closed roads here.
Pigeon Mountain WMA - This area is West of LaFayette and North of Menlo, Ga.
You can get information and a map of all of these trails from the Armuchee Ranger District.

Cohutta Area of North West Georgia
Most of the trails here are mentioned on a Cohutta Area page devoted to the Cohutta area around Chattsworth, Ga. Or more accurately between Chattsworth and Ellijay, Ga. Eleven of them are mentioned on that page.
Fort Mountain State Park - This park is in this area also and has many things to offer. It has great camping, activities and two bicycle trails. They are the Gold Mine Loop and Cool Springs Loop. Information about biking trails and what the park has to offer can be obtained from:
Fort Mountain State Park, 181 Fort Mountain Park Road, Chattsworth, GA 30705,
Ph. 706 - 695-2621

Ellijay Georgia Area
There area many good places that can be easily accessed from this North Georgia town. The Eastern side of the Cohutta area is one of them.
River Loop which is about 3.5 miles and the Red & White Loop 2.5 miles, are two good trails which are close to town. They are about 5 miles east of Ellijay on GA 52.
You can get information and a map of the trails from the Toccoca Ranger District. A great source of local knowledge is Recycled Cycles, Rt. Box 244, Ellijay, GA 30540, Ph. (706)635-BIKE.
Ridgeway Mountain Bike Trail is a 6 mile loop with other short trails connecting to it. They are located in Ridgeway Park at Carters Lake. There is a primitive Campground in the park. It is about 8 miles West of Ellijay.
You can get information from the Carters Lake Resource Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 96, Oakman, GA 30732-0096, Phone (706) 334-2248. They had an excellent web site but the URL is dead and I have not be able to locate a new one.

ASKA Trails Area
This recreation area is near Blue Ridge, GA. To get there go North on GA 76 from Ellijay & East Ellijay. There are over 17 miles of Mountain Biking and Hiking trails in the ASKA system. Some of the trails are Stanley Gap Trail, Flat Creek Loop, Green Mountain Trail (upper), Green Mt. Trail (lower), and Long Branch Loop.
Information is available from the Toccoa Ranger District and the National Forest Information Office in Dahlonega.

Dahlonega Georgia Area
There are many good places to ride near here. Some of them are between Ellijay and Dahlonega. My personal experience is that mountain biking information, service, etc., were limited in Dahlonega itself. It is a very nice tourist-type town with an old time look and feel with a pleasant atmosphere, really nice people and some great food.
Turner Creek Trail is 4 miles long. Bull Mountain Trail is an 11 mile loop and a very well known trail in North Georgia. Jones Creek Ridge Trail is 3 miles. All of these trails are in the same general location and are about a 20 minute drive from Dahlonega.
You can get information on them from the National Forest Information Office in Dahlonega.
An excellent web site gives information about biking in the Dahlonega area. The URL is:
http://www.dahlonega.org/ . It describes in very accurate detail how to drive to the parking areas for these trails and what to expect when you get there. I had no problems finding these trailheads using their directions.

Helen Georgia Area
This may be a tourist town for sure, but there are very good trails here. The Helen Trail leaves the municipal parking lot on Chattahoochee Street just past the Visitors Center in Helen. The qualifing for the first Olympic Mountain Bike Team I believe was at Unicoi State Park Trail. This park offers everything you would expect from a first rate Georgia park.
Upper Chattahoochee River Area offers over 20 miles of Mountain Bike, hiker, and horse trails. This area is just north of Helen on the Chattahoochee Natl. Forest. Information and maps are available from the Chattooga Ranger District.

Cornelia Georgia
The Lady Slipper trail is a 6.2 mile trail on the Lake Russell Recreation Complex on the Chattahoochee Natl. Forest. Other activities in the Rec area are Camping, Swimming, Boating and Fishing. It is located about 2 miles north of Cornelia, GA and 30 miles North of Gainesville, GA. Information and a map may be obtained from the Chattoga Ranger District.
A bike shop in Cornelia is a great source of information on this and other places to ride in this area. It is Habersham Bicycles, 131 Hodges St, Cornelia, GA 30531, Phone (706) 894-BIKE. Their web address is http://www.habershambicycles.com

Rabun County Georgia
This area has some good bike trails. One of them is Stonewall Falls Mountain Biking Loop an 8 mile loop located about 5 miles South of Clayton, GA.. It has some great views of adjacent mountains and goes by Stonewall Creek Falls.
You can find out more from the Tallulah Ranger District. A very good source of information is a book titled "Biking the Trails of Rabun" by Lester Ramey.

Where you can contact the National Forest offices in North Georgia

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Facts, Just the Facts
This page was created because of requests I have received. I hope it will help someone find good places to ride. I can not be responsible for mistakes or changes to the information here.
If you have a WEB site, Guide Book, Bicycle Shop or other business that is a source of information to Mountain Biking in North Georgia, please e-mail it to me for my consideration.
I will attempt to keep this page up-to-date and any help you can give me will be appreciated.

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