SOTA Guide - Hemlock Knob, W4T/SU-043

Duration: 0:45
Google Maps URL:
Seasonal/Limited Access: Road may be closed late December to mid-March. Drivable in passenger car.
Directions:
- Follow USFS-81F west (away from the gate) and go about 4.8
- Hairpin R onto USFS-81 and go 3.9 to Cherohala Skyway
- R on Cherohala Skyway and go 6.5
- Parking area on R.

Duration: 0:20 (13.0 miles)
Google Maps URL:
Seasonal/Limited Access: Paved all the way; Cherohala Skyway sometimes closed by snow
Directions:
- Head SW on Cherohala Skyway (turn R from parking) and go 13.0
  - Mountain is to your right. The road swings left (and back) to avoid going over the top.
  - If you can’t park on the shoulder of the road here, there’s a lot in about 1/2 mile on the R.
  - Starting about 0.4 mile before the hill, there’s a parallel abandoned dirt road on your right.
Food
- None

Duration: 3:00 (155 miles)
Google Maps URL from Ashford Dunwoody Rd and I-285 at 33.917, -84.3378: http://goo.gl/maps/2qX3t
Seasonal/Limited Access: Paved all the way; Cherohala Skyway sometimes closed by snow
Directions:
- I-285 W
- I-75 N
- I-575 / GA-5 N and go 72 miles
- L on GA-5 N in Blue Ridge, GA and go 10.2
- L on GA-60 / TN-68 and go 36.4
- R on Cherohala Skyway (TN-165) and go 19.2
  - The mountain is on your left, about 100 yards.
  - Possible bushwhack from here, or trail from parking 0.4 back, or find parallel dirt road to L within next 0.5.
Food
- Last McDonalds: Blue Ridge, GA, on the corner where GA-5 turns L
- Penultimate McDonalds: Ellijay, GA, on L
- Dinner

Navigation
- Go Northwest on NC-143 and go 18.9
- L on TN-68 S and go 23.5
- Bear R on TN-68 S and go 13.0
- R on GA-5 S and go 10.2
- R on GA-5 and go to Atlanta via I-575 and I-75

Duration: 0:35 up (0.7 miles); 20 minutes down
Navigation
- Follow abandoned road from the entry side of parking lot (not the nice trail, at the far end of the lot).
- Road is overgrown with rhododendron. It is passable, but won’t be in a few years. Also has many briars.
- At 35.36124,-84.10434, you’ll see a saddle to your R. You can follow the former driveway for the (now gone) fire tower up the ridge to the summit. Caution: Many, many briars.
- You might do better to walk to 35.36068,-84.10376 and head up the side of the hill.
- I stopped about 20’ short of the summit, because the briars became too intense. You might have better luck from a different angle.
Trailhead altitude: ???
Summit altitude: ???
GPS tracks/waypoints:
- Trailhead: 35.364, -84.107
- Briar-filled side-route to summit: 35.36124,-84.10434
- Possible bushwhack to summit: 35.36068,-84.10376
- Summit: 35.3598, -84.1029

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