Atlanta: AT-Benton MacKaye Loop
Sample two long paths on a 5.8-mile figure-8 loop through hemlock groves and along churning creeks to an AT shelter in Chattahoochee National Forest.
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Trail Facts
- Distance: 8.9
Waypoints
ATB001
Location: 34.6376419067383, -84.1950302124024
Head E on white-blazed Appalachian Trail under the shade of mixed hardwoods
ATB002
Location: 34.6395454406738, -84.1917724609375
Straight @ 4-way with Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT), descending along AT
ATB003
Location: 34.647518157959, -84.1924057006836
Straight again @ 4-way. In early summer, pink lady’s-slippers hang precariously from thin green stems–nature’s own twist on the Cinderella story
ATB004
Location: 34.6483421325684, -84.198616027832
Shady stretch; continue through corridor of deep green rhododendrons
ATB005
Location: 34.6491394042969, -84.199104309082
Straight @ 3-way. Campers: On L, Stover Creek Shelter sleeps 6 hikers (sardine-style). Reliable water source nearby, too
ATB006
Location: 34.6583213806152, -84.1923522949219
Giant hemlocks grow alongside cool, moist Stover Creek
ATB007
Location: 34.6619110107422, -84.1846084594726
R @ T onto the BMT (blazed with white diamonds). Factoid: This trail is named in honor of Benton MacKaye, the 1920s visionary behind the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail
ATB008
Location: 34.655445098877, -84.1868438720703
Narrow trail cuts through dense ground cover up ridge; back @ WPT 3, continue straight to complete figure 8 on BMT
ATB009
Location: 34.6443290710449, -84.1944961547852
Cross wooded Rich Mtn. summit (3,450 ft.); after descending .3 mi., bear L as BMT picks up old road. Turn R @ WPT 2 to return to trailhead