Drive & Trail Guide - Wine Spring Bald - W4C/WM-018

Drive Guide - Wine Spring Bald from Atlanta

• Duration: 2:30
• Google Maps URL from Atlanta (33.917, -84.3378): http://goo.gl/maps/LHJXM
• Seasonal/Limited Access: Dirt road. Gated some parts of winter. (Check current schedule.)
• Directions:
  • Atlanta to junction of US-441 and US-64
    • I-285 to I-85 N. On I-85, go 16.6
    • I-985/US-23 North and go 52.6
    • Bear L on US-23 and go 43.7
    • Arrive at US-64.
      • As you approach US-64, you’ll pass through the last gas, fast food, and grocery.
  • US-441/US-64 to Wine Spring Bald
    • West on US-64 and go 3.8
    • R on Patton Rd (watch for LBJ Job Corps camp sign) and go 0.3
    • L on Wayah Rd and go 9.0. Paved, but some parts are twisty/winding and slow.
    • R on USFS-69. Dirt road. Gated during winter. Go 3.5
      • This was a good condition dirt road (as of 2014.07.03)
    • L on USFS-69B and go 0.7.
      • Narrower dirt road
    • IF THE GATE IS OPEN: Park at the summit. Don’t drive past the first building. There’s a hidden closed-to-vehicles sign just after the driveway to the first building.
    • IF THE GATE IS CLOSED: Park near the gate.
  • The drive back to US-441 and US-64 junction:
    • Drive downhill and go 0.7
    • R on USFS-69 and go 3.5
    • L on Wayah Rd and go 9.0
    • R on Patton Rd and go 0.2
    • L on US-64 and go 3.8
    • You’re back at the junction of US-441 and US-64. Fast food available here.
• Food
  • Last McDonalds: 329 Franklin Plaza, Franklin, NC (poor service)
  • Before that: Clayton, GA (busy on Saturday mornings)
  • Before that: Cornelia, on Level Grove Rd (just BEFORE Cornelia)

Trail Guide

• Duration:
  • IF THE GATE IS OPEN: 0:15 (to walk out of zone and back in)
  • IF THE GATE IS CLOSED: 0:15 to hike (fast) up.
• Trailhead altitude: 5460’
• Summit altitude: 5460’
• GPS tracks/waypoints:
  • Summit: 35.1733, -83.581
  • Gate on summit road: 35.172981, -83.574805

Summit Guide

• The ugly summit is filled with a concrete block building, radio towers and guy lines. The ground is a hard gravel parking lot. There’s a large clearing past the towers, but it is below the activation zone.
• 2014: I strapped my mast to a post on the left, between the driveway to the first building and the big lot. The post has a sign which says not to drive past that point. It is overgrown, so it is hard to see. Medium QRM from air conditioning in buildings.
• 2015: I set up 150’ down the road – about halfway between the field at the turn (which is the edge of the activation zone) and the first building at the top. No QRM trouble from this point. I set up off to the left of the road, across the ditch. (Might be messy in the green season.)
• 2m frequently breaks squelch, perhaps from noise on 2m from the radios. Mild RFI on 20m from transformers and air conditioning. 40m is clear.
• There is a gate at 0.7 from the summit. It was locked in November of 2015. It may be a new perma-gate, or it may have been seasonal. It is about a 15 minute walk up from the gate.
• Cell coverage: APRS: message delivered but ACK not received in 2013, failed in 2014; Verizon: 1 of 3 succeeded (2014); AT&T: no signal 2014; AT&T good SMS 2015.