Jacks River Hiking Trail

Jacks River Hiking Trail A little over nine miles into the Jacks River Trail, hikers encounter Jacks River Falls-an impressive 80-foot, two-tier waterfall. For hikers contemplating a walk on the Jacks River Trail, it's helpful have a little background on the Cohutta Wilderness, the location of the trail, before beginning the hike. Officially designated on January 3, 1975, the Cohutta Wilderness now encompasses 36,977 acres - 35,268 acres within Georgia and the remainder in Tennessee. The Georgia portion of the wilderness is located northeast of Chatsworth, primarily in Fannin and Murray counties. The Georgia Wilderness Bill of 1986 added 2,940 acres, all within the Chattahoochee National Forest, to the Cohutta Wilderness. This new designation extended the Cohutta to the northeast, from Dally Gap along FS 22 to the Tennessee line. Although much of this wilderness was logged earlier in the century, the forest has returned, healing the scarred land and obliterating all but the smallest traces of man's past exploitation. With continued wilderness designation and the passage of time, the forest will slowly regain much of its former magnificence. A network of fifteen trails totaling 87 miles penetrates this rugged wilderness, where elevations range from 950 to 4,200 feet. All but three of these trails lead to or follow the scenic Jacks and Conasauga Rivers, whose headwaters are protected by National Forest land in and around the wilderness. These two rivers are among the few larger streams in North Georgia that still offer quality wild-trout fishing. Tennessee's 8,082-acre Big Frog Wilderness in the Cherokee National Forest is contiguous with the Cohutta Wilderness along the Cohutta's northern border. Note: Trails in the Cohutta Wilderness are organized east to west downstream along the Jacks River and Conasauga River watersheds. East Cowpen Trail cuts through the center of the wilderness and runs along the Cohutta Mountain ridge that divides the two watersheds. TRAIL SUMMARY Location: Western Blue Ridge, Cohutta Mountains, Cohutta Wilderness; Features: Wilderness, Jacks River Falls, cascades, pools and bluffs; Distance: 16.7 miles; Difficulty Rating: From Dally Gap downstream to northwestern trailhead in Alaculsy Valley: easy to moderate; from Alaculsy Valley upstream to trailhead at Dally Gap: moderate; County: Fannin and Murray ; Nearest City: Blue Ridge (E), Ellijay (S), Chatsworth (SW); Maps: Hemp Top and Tennga Quads (GA-TN); Cohutta Wilderness map; Blazes: ; Campsites: ; Water Sources: ; Ranger District: The Jacks bears the name of the obviously stout Cherokee who, for a small fee, ferried travelers across the river on his back in Alaculsy Valley. The Jacks River Trail is the longest and wettest (forty-two fords) in the Cohutta Wilderness. The river it follows and crosses is also the most popular destination in the wilderness. A network of seven trails leads day hikers and backpackers directly to this trail and its river, so expect to have plenty of company on week· ends and holidays (but don't expect Jack to help you across the fords). If you are interested in walking Jacks River Trail from end to end, you may want to start at its south- eastern (upstream) Dally Gap Trailhead (2,578 feet). This route travels downriver and downhill, losing about 1,050 feet to Beech Bottom at mile 8.6 and slightly more than 1,600 feet to its end in Alaculsy Valley. The trail follows a wide, easily walked old road from Dally Gap. For the most part, this first section is a gentle downhill stroll through hardwood forest to the Jacks River and its tributary, Bear Branch. Along the way, where the white-blazed Benton MacKaye Trail ties into the Jacks River Trail for a very short distance, there are two large eastern hemlocks to the left. The larger of the two-13 feet 2 inches in cir- cumference and 133 feet in height-is the most recent of the last three state record eastern hemlocks found in the Cohutta Wilderness. Although it parallels Bear Branch from the gap, the trail does not approach closely enough for a view until mile 1.6. Three-tenths of a mile farther, the trail trades streams and follows the Jacks as it winds toward the'northwest. This turn is only a few hundred yards from where the river enters the wilderness. At mile 2.3 the trail crosses the Jacks-the first of twenty fords to the falls. As on the Conasauga River Trail, a blaze usually guides the trail's return to dry land across the river from each ford. These blazes, however, are not always easy to spot. Part of the challenge of Jacks River Trail is figuring out where the fords begin and end. Often you need to angle downstream while fording the river to locate the blaze and worn spot on the opposite bank. Just remember that the trail, even on islands, always heads downriver. (See page 162 of the Conasauga River Trail, also in the Cohutta Wil- derness, for further descriptions of the fords and their potential dangers.) Much of today's trail, including some of the fords, follows the path of a former logging railroad used to transport timber out of the mountains during the early 1930s. In places, parallel rows of the slowly rotting ties are still visible. You may still find hand-forged railroad spikes of several different sizes. If you are walking in an aisle-like section-straight, level and wide-you are probably on the former railroad bed. It was flat- tened by horse-drawn scrapes and, later, by steam shovel. Logging along the Jacks River began in 1929. By 1937 the railroad had been dismantled. Along the riverbanks near many of the fords, look for the piled-rock buttresses that mark the location of the trestles that once spanned the river. A flood washed these bridges away nearly 60 years ago. The high shoals below the second ford begin the river's most turbu- lent stretch. For nearly a mile the river, especially during high water, is one long ricocheting cascade, more white than not. Here the Jacks exhi- bits the steep-sided, V-shaped profile of a youthful river cutting into mountain. Where the Jacks descends, so does the trail. It may climb a hillside, but it always drops back to the river. Starting with the fourth crossing at mile 4.6, you wade the river fifteen times in 2.5 miles. These fords come in quick succession, most only 0.1 or 0.2 mile apart. The trail remains nearly level and parallel to the river between crossings to its eighteenth ford at mile 7.1. The Peniten~ tiary Branch Trail junction is in the campsite across from this ford. Beyond the next (nineteenth) ford, the trail climbs a short distance up and away from the river, then descends to cross Rough Creek at mile 8.0. Rough Ridge Trail ties into the Jacks River Trail immediately across the creek. If you turn left and follow the creek upstream, you will be on Rough Ridge Trail. Jacks River Trail turns right and closely parallels the creek downstream before swinging to the left, above and then away from the river. Once it leaves the Jacks, the trail gently ascends to a ridge, then slopes down to its twentieth and final ford before the falls. The section of trail between the nineteenth and twentieth fords twice appears to lead up and away from the river. But it is actually the river that twice meanders away from the trail. And both times, instead of following the river, the trail takes the short cut straight across the gap. Beyond the twentieth crossing, the Jacks River Trail reaches two junc- tions, one right after the other at mile 8.6. The first, to the left, is yellow- blazed Hickory Ridge. The second, to the right 45 yards farther downstream, is unblazed Beech Bottom. The end of Hickory Ridge has been rerouted since it was drawn on the Cohutta Wilderness map. If you are walking the Jacks River Trail downstream toward the falls, you will reach the Hickory Ridge junction before you reach the Beech Bottom junction. The trail continues to follow the river downstream to the cliffs above Jacks River Falls at mile 9.2. Dropping in stages at the head of a wide gorge, this waterfall is the most scenic and most visited single feature in the Cohutta Wilderness. It is also the most powerful falls in the North Georgia backcountry. The dark-pink blooms of the Piedmont rhododendron usually peak from May 15th through June 5th, adding to the beauty of the Jacks River Falls area and other rocky, open areas along the river corridor. If you would like to see and hear Jacks River Falls at its frothing, roar- ing best, wait until winter or early spring, after several days of heavy rains. Then, on a sunny day, the waterfall becomes one long, crashing, upwelling run of brilliant white water. Beech Bottom Trail enables you to reach the falls without havtog to ford the river. Beyond the falls, the trail follows an obvious railroad cut down to the river's edge. It reaches the twenty-first ford, the first in 1.8 miles, at mile 10.3. Here the pattern of crossing and paralleling the river begins again. Only this time the trail remains level or slightly downhill between crossings. Downstream from the start of the twenty-sixth ford, you will see the first of several tall bluffs along the lower Jacks. The gap at the top of this bluff is Horseshoe Bend Overlook.

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