Help with planning a hiking trip. Please

My 9 yr old son wants to go on a real hike. Not just walking down a trail. Somewhere in North ga close to a state park we can camp at. Any recommendations for a several mile hike and camping in n ga? Thanks for your help!

Vogel State Park:

http://gastateparks.org/Vogel

work2play2 said:

My 9 yr old son wants to go on a real hike. Not just walking down a trail. Somewhere in North ga close to a state park we can camp at. Any recommendations for a several mile hike and camping in n ga? Thanks for your help!

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Camp at Windfield Scott and hike Blood Mountain.

Go to Cloudland Canyon State Park. There is a connecting trail to Lake Lula Land Trust. (Land trust only open on 1st and last Saturday of each month, so you'd have to schedule your Cloudland stay around those dates-donation for entry to Lake Lula).

http://gastateparks.org/CloudlandCanyon/

https://lulalake.org/

Otherwise, for a 9-year old, our favorite park is still Desoto State Park in Fort Payne, Alabama. More trails, and stuff to do in one place than most anywhere. Tons of short/medium length interconnecting trails, one threads through a great climbing rock, multiple small waterfalls to find, neat little nature center, hike/climb down to Little River, drive short distance to Desoto Falls, and kayak the lake above the falls, hike to the CCC quarry, ride mountain bike trails, (burma shave)!
http://www.alapark.com/desoto-state-park

These guys have a Desoto review, and a great blog about family adventures:
http://pbandjadventures.com/Places/Desoto%20State%20Park/Desoto%20State%20Park.htm

I promised I'd never give unsolicited advice about children, but, since our youngest of 4 is a Senior in High School..."Create every opportunity you can now", just make it happen.

Thanks yall!

I second ND! Coudland is our favorite hike but N Ga is slap full of hiking and camping. If you want something kind of easy and also a beautiful short 5 miles, Raven Cliff Falls is a good one as well.

Our second favorite is Panther creek and our go-to close to home that is absolutely stunning with history and options is Kennesaw Mountain. KM is becoming over used though but offers 3 to 11 mile hikes and the trip up Big Kennesaw and down Little is AWESOME!

Cloudland canyon is beautiful. Could be a little rough on a 9yo. Chickamauga Battlefield has many miles of trails, and a lot of history to study. Most of the trails are only minor hills. General brag trail is a little over 5 miles. I usually take a group of young scouts to it. You can do it stopping for lunch, and taking your time in 4-5 hours. They have longer trails, I just have young scouts.

Start hitting Goodwill stores regularly. I've bought tents, sleeping bags, lanterns, stoves, outdoor chairs, cots etc there at pennies on the dollar...and it's a good cause..