Hiking Trails of North Georgia

Rating:
Summary: The definitive reference for North Georgia hiking
Review: An excellent reference for hiking North Geogia. Includes trail distaces, expected fauna and flora, interesting sites to look for, directions to the trailhead, and anything else you might need. Includes information for the begining hiker and a quick reference for all the trails. I've looked at many trails books for North Georgia and this is continually one of the best. Small enough for packing too!

Rating:
Summary: High on a mountain
Review: Since I moved to Georgia 5 years ago, this book has been my most reliable hiking companion. The maps and directions are good, and the trail descriptions are detailed. A handy sidebar tells you the important stuff: what towns the trail is near, what features you'll encounter, the difficulty rating, the ranger district, and the length. Trail histories and Cherokee name translations add interest to the excitement of hiking in the lush Appalachians.

The "highlights" sections for each trail are especially nice -- peaks, falls, rapids, creeks, scenic views, notable ruins, giant trees, etc. are listed along with the mileage. It also has a decent amount of room for your own notes.

I wouldn't mind if they had a new edition with more Georgia trails; I know some of the newer volumes in this series feature more Georgia trails. However, I realize a more complete guide might have to be about 900 pages and therefore difficult to fit in the Camelback. It's a good book, though, and I've recommended it to many.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent logistic and descriptive hiking guide
Review: This is THE serious hiking/backpacking guide for the North Georgia Mountains. Tim is very accurate and precise on logistic details such as trailheads and landmarks. He's also good at describing views, falls and flora. I have hiked up what what Tim describes as 'steep descents' and thought I should have hiked in the direction Tim wrote. His Joyce Kilmer / Slickrock Wilderness guide also is spectacular for a remote area in Western North Carolina.

Rating:
Summary: Homan hits a homer
Review: Tim Homan defined hiking in north Georgia. His trail descriptions and mileage are accepted as the most accurate. The directions to the trailheads are right on the money.

The first time I met Tim he was walking a trail with a wheel, measuring the distance. That was almost 15 years ago. In fact, Tim wrote the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest brochure trail descriptions. That brings me to the only problem with this book. Its title should be "Hiking Trails of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest" since he rarely strays outside of its management area. If you have hiked all the trails in the book you would have hiked less than half the trails in North Georgia.

Still, there are at least three hundred miles of hiking trails in this book, and you can chose your favorites based on the quick guide in the margin of the book. My personal recommendations from the book would be DeSoto Falls for a family day-hike, Appalachian Trail from Neel's Gap to Hogpen Gap for a challenging day-hike and Duncan Ridge for the most challenging multi-day hike.

The maps are improving with each edition, and Tim is now aided by the excellent help of the Georgia Conservancy. I guess the best testimonial for this book is that each time a new edition comes out I am forced to buy it because my copy of the previous edition is so dog-earred from over use.

Rating:
Summary: Homan hits a homer
Review: Tim Homan defined hiking in north Georgia. His trail descriptions and mileage are accepted as the most accurate. The directions to the trailheads are right on the money.

The first time I met Tim he was walking a trail with a wheel, measuring the distance. That was almost 15 years ago. In fact, Tim wrote the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest brochure trail descriptions. That brings me to the only problem with this book. Its title should be "Hiking Trails of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest" since he rarely strays outside of its management area. If you have hiked all the trails in the book you would have hiked less than half the trails in North Georgia.

Still, there are at least three hundred miles of hiking trails in this book, and you can chose your favorites based on the quick guide in the margin of the book. My personal recommendations from the book would be DeSoto Falls for a family day-hike, Appalachian Trail from Neel's Gap to Hogpen Gap for a challenging day-hike and Duncan Ridge for the most challenging multi-day hike.

The maps are improving with each edition, and Tim is now aided by the excellent help of the Georgia Conservancy. I guess the best testimonial for this book is that each time a new edition comes out I am forced to buy it because my copy of the previous edition is so dog-earred from over use.