The Chattahoochee - Oconee National Forest

The Chattahoochee-Oconee Forest delivers two forests in one package. Once separate, now combined, they really do have very different characters.

The Chattahoochee is the more rugged of the two, and includes a piece of the legendary Blue Ridge Mountains. Often called"a hiker's paradise," the Chat has over 430 miles of trails that wander through mountains, wind along rolling hills, and traverse wild rivers. You'll find the highest mountain in the state, numerous waterfalls, hundreds of miles of trout streams, and the base of the Appalachian Trail.

The Oconee lays across the gently rolling Piedmont section of central Georgia. This is family fishing, camping, and hiking. Beautiful Sinclair Lake is a real centerpiece here — a fun spot for a range of water and land activities.

Together, these forests offer more than ten wilderness areas, six beaches, and thousands of acres of lakes and streams. The forest is a real draw for history buffs, who can get absorbed in tracing events such as the Trail of Tears and many a Civil War battle.

The lands that make up Georgia's beautiful National Forests were once the lands nobody wanted. The early history of Georgia is a tale of abuse and overuse of the fragile ecosystems. Hydraulic mining for gold, cut and leave practices of early timber companies, wildfires, over-grazing and unregulated hunting and fishing led to a forest that was in need of extensive restoration efforts.

The Forest Service purchased 31,000 acres in four North Georgia counties in 1911 for $7 per acre. In the beginning, the Chattahoochee was part of the Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests in North Carolina and Tennessee. Many of the early purchases were old homesteads and abandoned farm lands.

On July 9, 1936, the Chattahoochee National Forest was proclaimed as a separate National Forest. At that time, Forest Service managers began to restore these lands by planting trees, fighting wildfires, controlling erosion and introducing wildlife and fish back into their natural habitat. As a result of a concentrated effort by the Forest Service and the Department of Natural Resources personnel, the deer and trout populations which had been virtually eliminated, were brought back to today's healthy and productive level. Today's estimate of the deer population is more than 30,000 animals and a turkey population of over 6,000 birds.
Likewise in 1970, the bear population on the Chattahoochee totaled 106 bears. After 20 years of continually managing the habitat for this animal, the Chattahoochee today boasts a healthy bear population of more than 650 animals.

Today, the Chattahoochee National Forest covers 749,549.71 acres in North Georgia and is managed out of six ranger district offices.

Lodging can be found inside the Chattahoochee National Forest at Fort Mountain State Park http://gastateparks.org/info/fortmt/ or if you are looking for luxury go to: Wilderness View Cabins. Hot Tubs cabins on 6-7 acres. http://www.wildernessviewcabins.com If you truly want to be pampered The Overlook Inn www.theoverlookinn.com also has Hot Tubs and has 4 miles of hiking trails thru the National Forest. All three locations are on top of Fort Mountain.