Georgia Natural Wonder #72 – Unnamed Peak on Grassy Ridge - Rabun County. 691

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Georgia Natural Wonder #72 – Unnamed Peak on Grassy Ridge - Rabun County

Grassy Ridge is a ridge in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia that runs south to north along the Eastern Continental Divide in Rabun County, Georgia. At the southern end of the ridge, there is an unnamed peak with an elevation of just over 3,800 feet. From there, the ridge runs north, crossing the boundary between Georgia and North Carolina at just over 4,360 feet and then ultimately joining Ridgepole Mountain in North Carolina. In between its southernmost point and North Carolina, there is another unnamed peak with an elevation of just over 4,420 feet (8th highest point in Georgia; 3rd highest point in Rabun County).


Grassy Ridge viewed from the Sky Valley overlook on Georgia State Route 246.

There is also a gap called Nichols Gap with an elevation of 4,169 feet. Grassy Ridge is in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness of the Chattahoochee National Forest


Grassy Ridge was burned during the 2016 Rock Mountain Fire.



My Google search found these many hike descriptions and narratives.

2011 - This was my last GA 4000 foot peak! Now I have to find another hobby... which will probably be North Carolina's 6000 footers. I met up with Andrea, one of my coworkers to give her a taste of my weekend shenanigans. We made the trek from Alpharetta, through Gainesville, past Clayton and up the Patterson Gap road. The road was in pretty good shape, but it was nice to have my FWD car.


Patterson Gap Road motorcycle ride 2016.

The road to Patterson Gap turns left off of Betty Creek Road about 3.5 miles from US 441 and crosses a bridge. As one climbs a steep grade, off to the left is Patterson Creek Falls.


Lot of photos Patterson Gap Falls as road follows creek a while up to the Gap.





FS 32 passes through Moon Valley. After entering US Forest Service land, the road is steep but scenic through great coves of tulip poplar, which have come in after the death of the chestnut because of a blight in the 1930s and following logging in the early 1990s. Crossing Patterson Gap, one circles a cove hardwood forest, then descends along a pitch pine ridge. Along the road banks grow with the rare sweetfern. This road eventually joins Persimmon Road, which dead-ends at US 76.


FS 32.

We managed to find the old Grassy Ridge road out of the gap, but then quickly hit a fork. We chose to go left (up towards the ridge) but quickly lost the road and decided to bushwhack up to the ridge and approach the summit that way. Once on the ridge, there was enough of a herd path to quickly hit the high point, though it started to get very dense towards the top. No views due to thickets of rhododendron, but a lovely hike and a great day to boot.


Thickets of rhododendron.

Other accounts of summit.

2013 - Started from Paterson Gap. Rather than go up Negro Branch, I started my bushwhack a bit sooner. You can see the gentle slope up the east side of the knob that is south of the Grassy Ridge peak. The advantage of this route is that there is a nice rocky overlook with a nice winter view on the south west side of that first knob. Also, Negro Branch is very steep. After the view, I proceeded north on the ridge up to the Grassy Ridge peak. Some semblance of a trail. steep but easy going in winter. Quick break at the stake (not much of a winter view) and came back down.

2014 - Started out at the Patterson Gap trailhead. Took the main trail/logging road heading north. After the trail sweeps to the east around the ridgeline there's a trail that splits off to the left. Took that trail for only about 20 yards and then made a straight shot up the ridgeline toward the first high-point.


Betty Creek Valley from Ridgepole Mountain same ridge North Carolina

This was a pretty open and easy bushwhack. Once on the ridgeline a broken trail becomes apparent and you can take that up to the Grassy Ridge high-point. There's a metal stake in the ground up there to let you know you're in the right place. Would definitely advise to try this one when the leaves are off.



2015 - Hiked up old logging road from Patterson Gap, went up and over SE spur and headed W up a steep slope to gain ridgeline running north and south. The trail just runs out at the slope as far as I could tell. Once on the ridge I headed north to the 1st knob which has a good view facing east, it is where a small spur comes off the east side of the mtn.



I headed NW from there to the summit where there is a stake in the ground. There were a few Rhododendrons and Mtn laurel along the way, these got thicker as I headed north towards Nichols Gap. The vegetation got so thick that it was like a wall so I headed back to the car.



2017 - As far as I can determine, Grassy Ridge is the 9th highest named highpoint in Georgia. I made the mistake of starting my climb east of Patterson Gap where my GPS showed I was at the closest the road could get me to the summit (34.97262 N 83.47540 W), but I had to climb up a steep slope which fortunately had been burned recently, so the bushwhacking was easy. In just 7 minutes, however, I intersected a road that made travel easier. This is the road I could have taken from Patterson Gap. I followed the road on the east side of Grassy Ridge until I was actually traveling away from the summit. When the grade allowed, I started bushwhacking west up to the ridgeline north of Grassy Ridge's summit, made easier by the recent forest fire, and then followed an intermittent trail south to the top, indicated with a red stake in the ground surrounded by a small cairn. I reached the summit at 10:48 AM after climbing 1 hour and 24 minutes. I started back for the car at 11:03 AM and reached the road again at 11:44 AM. This time I followed the road all the way back to Patterson Gap at 34.96983 N 83.47713 W. Of course, my car was parked to the east, so I had a bit of a hike left to reach it at 12:20 PM. My entire descent distance was 1.75 miles, but it would have probably been 1/2 mile shorter if I had parked at Patterson Gap in the first place. All in all an enjoyable climb, but not much of a view through the trees.



2018 - Same gal from 2015 - Started hiking east around the southern end of the mountain then headed west up the lower eastern spur. We gained the north south ridge and headed north. I saw hog signs along the way and the vegetation shows lots of damage from the fires in the fall of 2016. Me and my dog got to summit at 2:25 pm and got back down to car at 3:35. Nice hike.



Not much to that Natural Wonder, doesn't even have a name. Therefore I take this opportunity to Tangent on Rabun County, in northeast Georgia, is the state's forty-seventh county. Comprising 371 square miles, the county was created by the state legislature in 1819 from land ceded by the Cherokees and was named for Georgia governor William Rabun. In 1821 the legislature established the county seat, naming it Claytonsville in honor of judge Augustin Smith Clayton. Both Clayton County and the town of Clayton, the seat of Rabun County, are named in his honor, as are major streets in Athens and Lawrenceville. The location of the seat changed in 1823, at the citizens' request, and the town's name was shortened to Clayton. The current county courthouse in Clayton was built in 1967; since then a second floor and other remodeling have been completed.


No images of Rabun, just a marker for house.

With an average annual rainfall of over 70 inches (1,800 mm), Rabun County has the title of the rainiest county in Georgia and is one of the rainiest counties east of the Cascades.


Image of Clayton - Clayton’s Grave is just east of Sanford Stadium in Oconee Hills.

As early as 1760, explorers came to the area now known as Rabun County. In the 18th century, the population of Cherokee in the area was so heavy that this portion of the Appalachian Mountains was sometimes called the "Cherokee Mountains." The early explorers and settlers divided the Cherokee people into three divisions depending on location and dialect, the Lower, Middle, and Over-the-Hill. There were at least four Cherokee settlements in what would later become Rabun County. A Middle settlement called Stikayi (Stiyaki, Sticoa, Stekoa) was located on Stekoa Creek, probably southeast of the present-day Clayton. An Over-the-Hill settlement called Tallulah was located on the upper portion of the Tallulah River. There were also two Cherokee settlements of unknown division, Chicherohe (Chechero), which was destroyed during the American Revolutionary War, located along Warwoman Creek, east of Clayton, and Eastertoy (Eastatowth, Estatowee) which was located near the present-day Dillard.



Despite the prominence of the Cherokee, there is evidence that other Native Americans were in the region before them. A mound similar to others across North Georgia (including the famous Etowah Indian Mounds) is located about one mile (1.6 km) east of Dillard, Georgia and is likely a remnant of an earlier mound-building Native American culture known as the Mississippian culture. The mound location is listed on the National Register of Historical Places as the Hoojah Branch Site.


No photo's found of Hoojah site but this is Skull Shoals Mounds south of Athens, Future GNW.

Explorer and naturalist William Bartram was one of the early visitors to Rabun County. According to his journal entries for May, 1775, Bartram crossed the Chattooga River into Georgia near its confluence with Warwoman Creek. He later went through a junction of Cherokee trails called Dividings (which would later become Clayton), and then traveled north to an area called Passover (which would later become Mountain City). During his visit to the area, he also climbed Rabun Bald. His travels in Rabun County are memorialized today by the Georgia portion of the hiking trail known as the Bartram Trail.



The Bartram Trail provides scenic views of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains along seven miles at nearby Rabun Bald, Georgia's second highest mountain. And there is another great spot along the trail at Pinnacle Knob.



Looking at these photos, this has to be a future GNW.




View of Clayton from Bartrum Trail Pinnacle Knob.

John Dillard and his family were among the first documented settlers in the area in 1794 as a result of a land grant for his service in the American Revolution. The settlers were initially tolerated, but tensions increased as displaced Cherokees moved in from other areas. Eventually, the white settlers were viewed as invaders who did not respect nature and killed the game and, as a result, raids between the clashing cultures became commonplace. For the most part, the hostilities ended a few years before the Cherokee ceded the land to Georgia in 1817.


Grave of John Dillard in Dillard, GA with Re-Enactors


Fantastic Dillard House

The Georgia General Assembly passed an act to create the county on December 21, 1819 becoming Georgia's forty-seventh county. The northern border of the county was established as latitude 35°N, which is the boundary between Georgia and North Carolina. Due to irregularities in an early survey mission, the Georgia-North Carolina border at Rabun County's northeast corner was erroneously set several hundred yards north of the 35th parallel, giving this location at Ellicott's Rock the distinction of being the State of Georgia's northernmost point. The county is named for William Rabun, who served as the 11th Governor of Georgia from his election in 1817 until his death in 1819. In 1828, the Georgia General Assembly transferred a portion of Habersham County to Rabun County. In 1838, the legislature redefined the Rabun-Habersham county line. In 1856, the legislature used portions of Rabun and Union Counties to create Towns County.



During the U.S. Civil War, Rabun County was one of only five Georgia counties that did not declare secession from the Union. Although the county was largely untouched by the Civil War, the area did border on anarchy during that time. The county was described by some as being "almost a unit against secession." One of the county's residents recalled in 1865 that "You cannot find a people who were more averse to secession than were the people of our county." He stated that "I canvassed the county in 1860–61 myself and I know that there were not exceeding twenty men in this county who were in favor of secession." Despite its overall loyalty to the Union, Rabun County did field two regiments for the Confederate cause: Rabun 24th Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Company E, Rabun Gap Riflemen; and Rabun 52nd Regiment, Georgia Infantry, Company F, Beauregard Braves.



24th Flag and Rabun County Civil War veterans in 1900 reunion.



In 1898, the Tallulah Falls Railway was constructed on a north/south track through the county. One of the most popular stops along the railway was Tallulah Gorge. The Railway was in operation for more than 60 years and was featured in the Disney movie, The Great Locomotive Chase.


Walt liked trains.

Starting in the 1920s, many of the improvements in the county can be attributed to the establishment, growth and expansion of the Chattahoochee National Forest in the county. One of the key figures in the establishment and growth of the Chattahoochee National Forest was "Ranger Nick" Nicholson, Georgia's first forest ranger. Among other things, Ranger Nick was responsible for arranging for telephone lines to be run from Clayton, Georgia to the Pine Mountain community in the eastern part of the county.


We did a full tangent Ranger Nick the other day with Rabun Bald.

Deliverance (1972), a highly popular film about a group of city men taking a canoe trip in north Georgia, was filmed largely in Rabun County. After the film's release, Rabun County experienced an increase in tourism, with the number of visitors going from hundred to tens of thousands. By 2012, 40 years later, tourism was the largest source of revenue in the county. According to the US Census, the population has doubled since 1970.



Claude Terry, Jon Voight's stunt double for this film, later purchased river equipment used in the movie from Warner Brothers. He founded Southeastern Expeditions, what is now the oldest whitewater rafting adventure company on the Chattooga River. By 2012 rafting had developed as a $20 million industry in the region. We did three GNW post on the Chattooga River.



Because of the scenery, people with money have built vacation and second homes around the area's lakes. In June 2012, Rabun County held a Chattooga River Festival to encourage preservation of the river and its environment. It also noted the 40th anniversary of the filming of Deliverance in the area, an aspect which aroused controversy in planning for the festival. According to the 2010 U.S. census, Rabun County's population was 16,276, an increase from the 2000 population of 15,050.



Towns

In addition to Clayton, Rabun County's incorporated communities are Dillard, Mountain City, Sky Valley, Tiger, and part of Tallulah Falls. Dillard, incorporated in 1906, was named for Revolutionary War (1775-83) veterans John and James Dillard, who were early settlers there.


Downtown Clayton

Mountain City, originally called Passover (as the place where travelers passed over the Blue Ridge divide), was incorporated in 1907. Bounded on its east by the Chattooga River and on its west by the Appalachian Trail, Mountain City is the northern gateway to the Tallulah Gorge.


There is a good Barbecue place in Mountain City, we went there with In Laws back when they vacationed in Sky Valley.

The Eastern Continental Divide runs through Mountain City, with waters flowing on the east side to the Atlantic Ocean and on the west to the Gulf of Mexico.



Sky Valley was incorporated in 1978 as one of Georgia's newest chartered towns. It was founded on former cattle ranch land in 1969 as a ski resort community. Sky Valley's northern boundary is the Georgia-North Carolina state line, and its remaining three boundaries are formed by mountain ridges.





This will probably be a future GNW for the vintage Ski Slope and Mud Creek Falls.



Tiger, located three miles from Clayton, was incorporated in 1904. Although some sources state that Tiger was named after a Cherokee chief, Tiger Tail, the story is doubtful. Another conjecture, that its name and that of nearby Tiger Mountain came from the wildcats roaming the area, seems more likely. Tiger is home to the Rabun County High School.

 
Tiger is home of Green Shutters restaurant and Goats on the Roof. A poster told me this Goats on the Roof is still open but the one in Helen closed.

The town of Tallulah Falls, incorporated in 1884, straddles the border between Rabun and Habersham counties, and most of its population is concentrated on the Rabun County side.


Town.


Tallulah Gorge – Georgia Natural Wonder #6

Places of Interest

Five places in Rabun County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Hambidge Center Historic District, west of Dillard, was placed on the register in 1982. It includes the internationally renowned Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences.



The York House, north of Mountain City, is the state's oldest continuously operating bed-and-breakfast inn. Founded in 1896, the inn has welcomed such guests as Joel Chandler Harris and Walt Disney. It was placed on the register in 1982.



Hoojah Branch Site, near Dillard, was listed in 1987 and appears to be an Indian mound site.


Only Mound image found was the one back in Helen.

The Tallulah Falls Train Depot on U.S. Highway 441 at Tallulah Falls was placed on the register in 1988. It was built in 1913-14 to replace an older building that had burned down that year.



Passenger service ended at Tallulah Falls in 1946, but freight hauls continued until the line was abandoned in 1961. The depot is now used as a gift shop.



The Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School is a private school for grades six through twelve. It formed as a consolidation between two schools, the Nacoochee Institute in Sautee, founded in 1903 by the Presbyterian minister Joel Wade, and the Rabun Gap Industrial School, founded in 1905 by Andrew Jackson Ritchie, Rabun Gap's first college graduate. Both were farm schools, where children attended classes, grew and prepared their own food, and maintained the school buildings. In 1917 Ritchie initiated a "Farm Family Plan" by which whole families could work their way through school. A fire at the Rabun Gap school in 1926 occasioned the merging of the two schools into a larger one, for which Ritchie served as president until 1939.


From Rabun Gap to Tybee lighthouse.

In the late 1960s, Eliot Wigginton created the Foxfire program at the school. Today Foxfire is no longer affiliated with any school but functions as a separate, nonprofit organization in the county.



With access to the Appalachian Trail, as well as five lakes and two rivers, Rabun County features much to attract those interested in the wilderness and outdoor recreation. The county is also home to three state parks: Black Rock Mountain State Park, Tallulah Gorge State Park, and Moccasin Creek State Park.


View from Black Rock Mountain, future Georgia Natural Wonder.

Among notable persons who have lived in Rabun County.

Mike Ciochetti - stock car racer

Billy Redden - actor who played the young banjo player in the film Deliverance (1972)



Nancy Schaefer - Georgia State Senator



Lillian Smith (1897-1966), - author and civil rights activist

 
Smith

Wow not much on the Wonder, would like to hike the ridge line goat trail, but a great tangent on Rabun County. Next Wonder Monday as we finish the ten highest mountains in Georgia.

1st official Georgia Natural Wonder Girl to spice up readership.


Chattooga River rafting girl.