In The Shadow Of Blood Mountain...Vogel State Park

One of Georgia’s oldest state parks sit in the shadow of Blood Mountain, Vogel State Park. This park was established in 1931 on land donated by Arthur H. and Fred Vogel. I have made two visits to the lovely little park. Why do I call it little? Vogel State Park comes in at 233 acres; compare that to Fort Mountain State Park which is 3,712 acres that is quite a difference. What Vogel lacks in size it makes up for in beauty. The center piece of the park is the 22-acre Lake Trahlyta. The lake was created when the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) dammed Wolf Creek which feeds it. This beautiful mountain lake, named after the Cherokee maiden Trahlyta, has a beach and a pavilion on the water. This pavilion, called the Trahlyta Theater, offers a place to fish, picnic or listen to music. When I was here in 2013 they were building this nice facility. Starting in the spring you can rent boats and canoes for more fun on the lake.

March 2015: Northeast view of Lake Trahlyta...

...across to the theater...

...Brasstown Bald from the lake...

...looking northwest...

Sun over the lake on a cold December (2013) day.

In 2013 building the Trahlyta Thearter...

...& the finished product...

...in March 2015.

The lake offers a one-mile trail around and unlike some other lake trails I have been on this one stays fairly close to the lake the whole way. There is also the added bonus of a tenth of a mile spur down to the Lake Trahlyta Falls. This 110-foot tiered waterfall sits under the lake spillway, so it always has consistent water flow which produces an impressive waterfall. Trust me this is well worth the slight detour. Add to this one of the most iconic view of Blood Mountain from the lake's northeast bank and all of this together makes this one of the best lake trail in the North Georgia Mountains.

Start of the lake trail.

Two footbridges on the trail.

Spillway...

...& trail...

...down to the viewing deck...

...for Lake Trahlyta Falls.

From below the viewing deck.

Iconic autumn view of Blood Mountain...

...with the sun.

Now in the spring...

...closer look at the mountain.

This is not the only hiking option, on both of my visits my main reason for coming was to hike the Bear Hair Gap Trail. Starting from the visitor center this is a five-mile loop. Both times I took the trail, right, at the To Blood Mountain sign. It is here that it leaves the state park and enters the Chattahoochee National Forest.

The trailhead for three trails.

Up the green blaze of the Bear Hair Gap Trail.

Water on...

...Burnett Branch.

Leaving the state park &...

...into Chattahoochee National Forest.

Where I was last Saturday.

National park trailhead...

...where the Bear Hair & Coosa split.

About a tenth of a mile from here the trail splits with the Coosa Backcountry Trail. It is a rugged 14.6 mile trail with 4,715 feet of elevation gain. Maybe one day as an overnight I might tackle this one. Anyway, the trail goes up hill with a couple of nice creek crossings and merging with a road bed for a short time (the road continues to GA 180) before there is a green arrow pointing the way for the Bear Hair to continue. The trail then enters the Blood Mountain Wilderness, unlike in other spots including the exit of the trail there is just a small metal sign telling one that he or she is in a wilderness area.

After a couple of switchbacks one comes to a junction. Once upon a time there was a sign pointing the way to the Vogel Overlook. I don’t know what happen to the sign but the trail left goes up to the summit of Vogel Knob (well that is what I call it).

Burnett Branch...

...& a footbridge that crosses it.

Log crossing.

Green arrow points the way.

...back to the trail from the roadbed.

While it is not specif it is the Blood Mountain Wilderness.

Only foot traffic.

Back in December of 2013 the junction...

...had this sign...

...but in March 2015 it was gone.

There is a tenth of a mile loop around the knob. For here is an excellent view of Lake Trahlyta, and if you look around one can spot peaks like Brasstown Bald and the towering summit of Blood Mountain. In the seasons with less leaf cover if you look close you can see the CCC Shelter on Blood.

This is Vogel Knob from Lake Trahlyta...

...the lake from Vogel Knob.

Back in March 2015.

Lake Trahlyta...

...Brasstown Bald...

...Blood Mountain...

...the CCC Shelter...

...& summit.

When I was here in December 2013 I didn’t have my sticks so I did this as an out and back. However, on my visit this week my Hike Georgia group continued on the loop. The next part is a gentle downhill incline with a nice creek crossing. The trip down gets a little steep at an impressive boulder field. To my surprise on the left was a partial visible waterfall that I just call Wolf Creek Falls.

Trail headed down Vogel Knob.

Cross Wolf Creek.

Junction with Coosa Trail.

My Hike Georgia group.

Some of the boulder field.

Bottom of Wolf Creek Falls.

After crossing Wolf Creek again one comes to one of those familiar wilderness signs. I have a collection of pictures with these now including five different Blood Mountain ones. Around this time I spotted some wildflower. There were some Spearleaf Violets and the first Bloodroot of the year.

With my fifth Blood Mountain sign.

Headed back to the state park.

Cool log.

Spearleaf Violet.

Bloodroot.

Then it is back to complete the loop. Let me say that the Bear Hair Gap Trail is a nice hike, not to long but with some challenge. There is another trail off the Bear Hair and that is the Byron Reese Nature Trail. While we didn't do it Tuesday, I did do it back in 2013. It is a easy 0.8 mile loop with a diverse number of trees and plants with information markers. One of the sad ones is the story of the once mighty American Chestnut. This once "King of the Forest" was so wide spread at one time one out of every four trees was a chestnut. However, a blight from Asia, introduced in 1904, devastated these once proud giants wiping out most of the three to four billion trees.

Start of the Nature Trail...

...named after Byron Reese.

As the information marker says the American Chestnut was once...

..."King of the Forest" but these little guys are most of what's left.

 Before I forget there is the visitor center. It is a nice one with bathrooms and plenty of items for sale and also bait for fishing. One of the unique features of the park is the miniature golf course behind the visitor center. With cabins and campsites I need to overnight here some time.

The visitor center with a touch of X-Mas.

CCC plaque on the visitor center.

Enough said.

Bear Hair Trail

My Take:

For Difficulty - 3 Stars

For Trail Conditions – 4 Stars

For Views – 2 ½ Stars

For Solitude – 3 Stars

Overall – This trail like most in the Georgia State Park system is well maintained. Also, it has an elevation gain of 820 feet to Vogel Knob, which isn’t much more than Sawnee Mountain, but what gives it more difficult is there are a number of creek crossing and not all have footbridges. The trail has plenty of trees and streams that make the hike nice. The view from the Vogel Knob is good you can see Lake Trahlyta, Brasstown Bald and Blood Mountain for here, but I was there in the winter so the views in summer will be more obscured. Also, I had the trail mostly to myself, but it was December and I would believe there would be more people on it during the summer.

Pete’s Take :

For Difficulty – 2 Rabbits Paws

For Trail Conditions – 4 Rabbits Paws

For Views – 2 ½ Rabbits Paws

For Solitude – 4 Rabbits Paws

Overall – This trail isn’t difficult it only 820 feet. I would have given it a one Rabbit Paw except I had to haul 190 pounds up this trail. As for conditions, if I don’t have to bushwhack it is good. I will agree with the lummox on the views as for solitude we only ran into one other person so that is a good thing.

Lake Trahlyta Trail

My Take:

For Difficulty – 1 ½ Stars

For Trail Conditions – 5 Stars

For Views – 4 Stars

For Solitude – 1 Stars

Overall – The trail around the lake is relatively flat and well maintained. The reason I give this a 1 ½ is that the trail down to the waterfall has some difficulty, but isn’t very long. The waterfall is beautiful and so is the lake itself. Also, there are wonderful views of both the Vogel Knob and one of the best of Blood Mountain. Because this lake is so nice there is not a lot of solitude, even on a December day there were a number of people enjoying it.

Pete’s Take :

For Difficulty – ½ Rabbits Paws

For Trail Conditions – 5 Rabbits Paws

For Views – 4 Rabbits Paws

For Solitude – 0 Rabbits Paws

Overall – This trail is more like walking than hiking, which means a 2 year-old could do it. The only thing that saves it from a zero is the trail down to the waterfall is a little challenging, but not much. Lake Trahlyta Falls are OK, but I not a huge waterfall guy (I am a stuffed rabbit), but I do like the view of Vogel Knob and Blood Mountain because I have conquered both of those. Oh, there is no solitude I just image in summer hordes of rug rats running around screaming that is a nightmare!