Reader Submission: Todd S. and his Toyota 4Runner

I recently heard from GeorgiaOverland reader, Todd S.  He included a great picture of his Toyota 4Runner in the Cohuttas, heading up to Lake Conasauga.  This really is a beautiful area in North Georgia. 

Thanks for the email, Todd!

Reader Submission: Jim Timmerman Natural Resources Area at Jocassee Gorges

I recently had an email exchange with Randall Warren regarding an area I have yet to visit, the Jim Timmerman NRA.  He enjoys the backroads of North and South Carolina in his Jeep Rubicon and offered to share some information with Georgia Overland.  Below are slightly edited excerpts from our conversation. 

Since I have neither verified the accuracy of the descriptions nor checked for legal vehicle travel, I feel obligated to state the obvious...Use the following information at your own risk.

About the Jim Timmerman Natural Resources Area:

...Some info on the Jim Timmerman NRA in Jocassee Gorges. Mostly in South Carolina, next to North Carolina. Horsepasture Road is 20 miles long, one way. It has two entrances and great views of Lake Jocassee.

Boxerworks

I received an email from a new Georgia Overland visitor, Nathan at Boxerworks. For those riders near the Watkinsville, Georgia part of the world, check them out...

Boxerworks
Any Part - Any Service - Any Bike
Details:
Phone 7AM - 5PM: 706.310.0699
Breakdown Service: 706.614.4698
Email: nathan@boxerworks-service.com
Shop: 1461 Greensboro Hwy, Watkinsville GA 30677
GPS coordinates: N 33º 51.091 W 083º 23.769

Thanks for the email, Nathan!

Coming Soon: Coopers Creek WMA to Rich Mountain WMA

I had a chance to drive a few sections this weekend. Picking up where I left off in the Coopers Creek WMA and working my way west into the Rich Mountain WMA. Stay tuned!

Hatchet Creek Rd and Helton Creek Rd

Hatchet Creek Rd and Helton Creek Rd may be used as a convenient dirt road shortcut between Georgia Highway 348 / Richard B Russell Scenic Highway to the east and US Highway 19 / Gainesville Highway, to the west. When passing through, be sure to stop and take a quick walk down to the picturesque Helton Creek Falls.

Download the Hatchet Creek .kmz file.

View the Hatchet Creek .kmz file in Google Maps.

Swallow Creek WMA

This dirt and gravel road network is found north of Unicoi State Park, near Helen, Georgia. This area is roughly bound by Georgia Highway 17 to the west, US Highway 76 to the north, Georgia Highway 197 to the east and Georgia Highway 356 to the south. Found within are a number of designated areas including the Swallow Creek WMA, High Shoals Scenic Area, Tray Mountain Wilderness, Anna Ruby Falls Scenic Area and the Lake Burton WMA. Additionally, the Appalachian Trail passes through this beautiful wilderness. For the road network in the Lake Burton WMA and portions of the Tray Mountain Wilderness, please see Section 2 of the Tallulah River Rd to West Wildcat Creek Rd file, Dicks Creek to West Wildcat Creek Rd. Nearly all the roads in the network are passable with car in a normal automobile. A high clearance vehicle is not likely required, except for one section. The section of Tray Mountain Road located between Corbin Creek Road and Chimney Mountain Road is quite rough. A couple miles of smaller rocks and boulders will bring you and your vehicle to a crawl. While the rocks are not large, they are plentiful and they may create problems for many AWD vehicles. As a result, I recommend a higher clearance vehicle with some form of underbody protection (skidplates).

Including the 'out and back', deadend distance of Mill Creek Rd, the entire drive was nearly 40 miles of dirt and gravel roads with over 50 waypoints collected.

This is a nice area to drive, with many hiking opportunities available.

Download the Swallow Creek WMA.kmz file.

View the Swallow Creek WMA.kmz file in Google Maps.

Catching up and looking forward

I'm behind on getting the new route data cleaned up. I'm also making a few changes to the way I displayed older data. Hopefully, the changes I make now will help when I produce the final route map.

As it stands, I believe I will have the majority of the route wrapped up early 2012 and the plan is to have a proper, hard copy Georgia Overland route map printed and available by Fall 2012.

Stay tuned...

GPX or KMZ?

Would you prefer a .kmz file or a .gpx file? Up to this point, I have used the KML/KMZ file formats almost exclusively. The Keyhole Markup Language format works well when viewing the roads and features in Google Earth or Google Maps. However, I know that many of you may find it handy to have a .gpx file available. Here's your chance...let me know what you need. Should I offer a gpx file along with my usual kml/kmz? Do you prefer to handle the .gpx file conversion yourself?

Coming Soon: Swallow Creek WMA

I finished up a few areas north of Unicoi State Park, near Helen. I should have it up and ready for folks to take a look in another week or two. I did drive a section of Tray Mountain Road that appears to be rarely traveled. It was not particularly difficult, just exceptionally rocky and slow-going and definitely not for the low(er) clearance AWD rigs unless you are exceedingly patient and careful. The roads covered on this trip were: Tray Mountain Rd, Indian Grave Gap Road, Corbin Creek Road and Mill Creek Road.

ATL to the Arctic 2011 back in Canada!

Yep, you have to follow along on the official site for this, otherwise you may miss all the good times had by Curt and Paul. They made it to Fairbanks, Alaska. Curt continued on north to the Dalton Highway, crossing the Arctic Circle, and riding on to Coldfoot. After Curt returned to Fairbanks, the 2011 ATL to the Arctic Team began the long ride south.

As of 7 hours ago, SPOT is showing them near Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. If all goes to plan, they should be heading to Seattle and then home.

Keep an eye on them and send them your love...and Susan G. Komen your money!

ATL to the Arctic 2011 almost to Canada!

The riding team of Curt and Paul Coulombe are just south of Roosville, on the US-Canada border. Cheer them on at ATL to the Arctic.

You can follow their position, as reported by the trusty Spot, Here.

ATL to the Arctic Update

Visit my friends at ATL to the Arctic tonight for the Twisted Taco Buckhead fundraiser night from 6 until close.  The Raffle starts at 8pm and you could win an Airtran Airways ticket!  The departure is almost upon us, so drop in and wish Curt and his father good luck on their ride North.      http://www.atltothearctic.com/

Curt's prepped Triumph Tiger:

Rooftop Tent

I have enjoyed the rooftop tent on my Montero for the last few years, but I finally decided it was not getting nearly enough use and it was time to pass it on to the next person.  Brad drove down from Nashville in his very cool Quigley 4wd-converted Chevy van, having replaced the motor only one week earlier!  We spent the morning modifying the mounts and preparing the van rack for the RTT.  He left my driveway, heading West...then Canada, Alaska and the rest of the World! Safe travels, Brad and have a great time seeing the world over the next 5 years. 

Family and ATLtotheArctic

Family responsibilities and route planning for my good friends at ATLtotheArctic.com have kept me busy the last couple months. I'm eager to get back on the trails and resume my project, but there just never seems to be enough time in the day.

In the meantime, check out my friends at ATLtotheArctic.com, share a kind word or donate what you can to Susan G Komen. Let me know if you donate and I will mail you a new GeorgiaOverland.com decal!

-David

MotionX-GPS v15.2

It's been more than a year since I posted my thoughts on this great app for the iPhone and I continue to use it for all my GeorgiaOverland.com trail capture. Numerous revisions, updates and improvements have brought us to v15.2 and it is now, for a limited time, ONLY $.99. Unbelievable. Buy this app today. You cannot beat this app and for only a buck you cannot beat the price, or the customer support. I have contacted them numerous times and they are always responsive. In fact, they have taken an interest in our humble little project here at GeorgiaOverland. Stay tuned for more details...
A few highlights included in the latest version:

• The captured photos are now stored on the camera roll at their full resolution.
• Fullpower increased the number of stored waypoints to 400! I have asked for an increase for some time and it is great to see this...I can't wait for even more. 
• You can now organize waypoints and tracks into user created folders. 

You can learn more about it the app by visiting the App Store
here.

Tallulah River Road to West Wildcat Road

A better title might be: How I managed to drive quite a few miles and still did not find the elusive route across the Chattahoochee National Forest between Highway 76 / Highway 2 and Highway 75 / Unicoi Turnpike...but that is just too long.

Keep in mind, this trip contains a number of paved miles that are not represented in the .kmz. Notations are made when pavement is reached, but the user should consult a good map to find the paved roads that connect the dirt and gravel sections.

The first section of the Tallulah River Road to West Wildcat Creek Road route begins at the water crossing off Tallulah River Road, providing access to Charlies Creek Road. This section is approximately 8 miles of dirt and gravel road and includes a couple miles of dead end / return trip side road travel. Pavement is reached at Upper Hightower Creek Road. After traveling briefly on Upper Hightower Creek Road, a turn on to Barefoot Road yields a short section (< 1 mile) of dirt road and ends at the intersection of Barefoot Road and Hwy 76 / Hwy 2.
The second section consists of approximately 21 miles of main and side trails including, but not limited to, Dicks Creek and West Wildcat Road in both directions. I began this trip with two goals in mind. First, to retrace previous drives across the Tallulah River Road to Upper Hightower Road portion and confirm that it is still open. The second goal was to find a complete and open route across the Chattahoochee National Forest between Hwy 2 / Hwy 76 to the east and Hwy 75 / Unicoi Turnpike to the west. At the time of this trail collection, the route across the Chattahoochee National Forest is not open, though it may be possible. West Wildcat Road ended at a closed gate. I need to follow up with the Chattahoochee National Forest stewards and attempt to secure permission to continue on through the gate. I suspect that it is closed year-round, but only contacting the Chattahoochee National Forest will confirm this to be the case.
Download the Tallulah River Road to West Wildcat Road.kmz  file.

View the Tallulah River Road to West Wildcat Road.kmz file in Google Maps.

The Second Annual ATL to the Arctic Charity Ride is on for 2011!

Yes! My good friend Daniel and his friends are making the trip from Atlanta to the furthest reaches of the Dalton Highway to raise money for the Susan G. Komen fund. Interested?  Need more information?  Want to ride along?!

Please visit his site... www.atltothearctic.com

Patterson Gap Road to Tallulah River Road and Tate City

Note: The Patterson Gap Road to Tallulah River Road route can either be a scenic ride to Tate City and back, or it can be a portion of a longer route that connects to Upper Hightower Creek Road via Charlies Creek Road. The Tallulah River Road to Upper Hightower Creek Road trail is complete and will be available as soon as I finish preparing the data.

Traveling North into Dillard on Highway 441, turn left on Bettys Creek Road. This route begins at the intersection of Bettys Creek Road and Patterson Gap Road. The route includes approximately 32 miles of track and 43 waypoints. Of the 32 miles, a number of miles are return trip or dead end miles. For instance, the drive to Tate City on Tallulah River Road yields a dead end, you must backtrack. Also, a few side trails are backtracked. The most interesting portion of this drive is the Abe Gap Road / FS 32C connector that allows travel between Patterson Gap Road and Coleman River Road. A number of maps I have (including Google Maps) do not show this road as connecting. Be aware, this section is remote and rarely traveled. If you do not have a high clearance and/or 4wd vehicle, I would recommend bypassing the Abe Gap Road and Coleman River Road portion of this route. Instead, continue on Patterson Gap Road (rather than turning on Abe Gap Road / FS 32C) until it meets Persimmon Road. Take Persimmon Road to Tallulah River Road, providing access to Tate City and the Charlies Creek Road to Hightower Creek Road route.
Download the Patterson Gap Road to Tallulah River Road and Tate City.kmz  file.

View the Patterson Gap Road to Tallulah River Road and Tate City.kmz file in Google Maps.

Patterson Gap Road is almost here!

I know, it's taking forever...but hopefully the wait will be worth it.

This route begins at Patterson Gap Rd and crosses the Tallulah River (and/or visits Tate City) on its way to Upper Hightower Creek Rd. After a brief return to pavement, it is back on the dirt as it visits the Chattahoochee National Forest, north of Unicoi. At last count, I had around 100 waypoints for this section. The number may change a little as I still have quite a bit of data scrubbing to do. Stay tuned!