Loop in Cohutta

[madfarmer]

I've done quite a few out-and-backs, and I've heard of the "Dally Gap Loop," but can anyone speak to the viability of this loop?:

Park at Beech Bottom --> Hike to Jack's River trail --> Penitentiary Branch --> Bartram Trail all the way back to FS62, about a mile from trailhead.

It's not a long loop, and there is a small road walk at the end, but it seems to pack some interesting and diverse hiking into a small loop. Can anyone with more experience here think of a reason why this wouldn't be a advisable?

Also, given the camping near the falls ban until October 31st, where is the nearest camping to the falls that is currently allowed?

Thanks for any help!

[Tipi Walter]

The Bartram Trail is nowhere near the Cohutta; you must be thinking of the Benton MacKaye trail---or an intricate loop with the Pinhoti trail near its northern terminus.

The Dally Gap loop I know about is to park at Dally Gap, go down Jacks River trail 18 crossings (20 crossings if you want to see the Falls) to Penitentiary Branch, up Penal and Hemp Top trail back to Dally Gap. This is a common Cohutta loop.

If you park at Beech Bottom you can descend to Jacks River for a quick visit to the Falls and then head back up-river and pull 2 crossings to the Penitentiary trail jct and go up Penal to Hemp Top (BMT) trail and turn left to Double Spring Gap and climb hard to Big Frog Mt and take Wolf Ridge down to Chestnut Mt trail and take it down to FS road 62---and then pull your 1-2 mile roadwalk on 62 back to Beech Bottom.

There's no Dally Gap on this loop, and FS road 62 is miles away from Dally Gap.

[madfarmer]

Thanks Tipi. Yes, I meant BMT (not Bartram).

That's the loop I was curious about, the one that starts and ends at Beech Bottom and excludes Dally Gap altogether. I didn't know the name for the wolf ridge or Chestnut mtn trail, but that must be what I'm seeing on the map (nat geo).

I guess I have 2 questions then.

1) Which trailhead is more vehicle friendly to get to: Beech Bottom or Dally Gap?

2) Is there water or good camping up on the hemp top/bmt riddge?

Depending on those factors, I'm trying to decide between the Dally Gap Loop and this other Beech Bottom Loop idea. Thoughts?

[Tipi Walter]

Thanks Tipi. Yes, I meant BMT (not Bartram).

That's the loop I was curious about, the one that starts and ends at Beech Bottom and excludes Dally Gap altogether. I didn't know the name for the wolf ridge or Chestnut mtn trail, but that must be what I'm seeing on the map (nat geo).

I guess I have 2 questions then.

1) Which trailhead is more vehicle friendly to get to: Beech Bottom or Dally Gap?

2) Is there water or good camping up on the hemp top/bmt riddge?

Depending on those factors, I'm trying to decide between the Dally Gap Loop and this other Beech Bottom Loop idea. Thoughts?

I haven't driven either the Dally Gap road or the Big Frog 62 road---but I'd say 62 is rougher from what I've seen by walking it and by talking to people driving it. So, Dally Gap might be better.

Let's say Hemp Top trail (BMT) runs from Dally Gap north to Double Spring Gap. There's water from Dally Gap if you take Jacks River trail past the BMT jct and keep going a ways to an across-trail spring. There's also some great campsites on this top portion of the Jacks River trail---way before reaching the first crossing of the Jacks. And then you could backtrack to the BMT jct and start heading north towards Penal and Hemp Top Mt.

Or you could leave your car at Dally with full water and camp at the Penitentiary trailpost or even camp on top of Hemp Top Mt if you clear a spot.

From Dally Gap north to Penal Branch trail there's no water I can remember although there's a place to put a tent on the trail near the Penitentiary trailsign. And if you go down Penal about 1.5 miles you reach a spring for water. There is plenty of water in Double Spring Gap and a good place to camp.

When you get to Frog Mt the Nat G map changed the trail names but I stick with the old names---Wolf Ridge trail leaves the Frog and descends into a level section (Curbow Fields) and gets a little brushy and keeps falling to Nut Junction---an important trail jct. Here the Wolf trail turns right and descends to Grassy Gap and eventually Pace Gap---but if you keep going straight you're on the Chestnut Mt trail which descends to Big Frog Road 62.

Once you start your roadwalk on 62 back to Beech Bottom trailhead there's a spring water source by the road on the left.