Forest Road / Fire Tower Camping - Chattahoochee National Forest

I am looking for recommendations of anyone who knows ANYTHING about driving up forest roads and camping on fire tower lots in the national forest.

I met a guy at my fantasy draft who told me he was leaving from Etowah, TN and camping on a fire tower somewhere a bit east for the eclipse, I swear he was already smoking cause the way he drafted but left mid round and showed me where he was going before he left....


I swore id remember the fire tower but forgot.

Either way, I am looking for anyone who has any information on driving the forest roads (yes I have a 4x4) and camping on top a lookout - wanting to go this weekend and get away

Ive done this numerous times out west, just never here near home and have no experience, usually a google earth search will do the trick but doesn't seem to many people take advantage of the camping opportunities around here

The only place I can think of off the top of my head is the area in and around Blue Ridge Wildlife Management area, there are a few forest service roads that criss cross the management area and part of the National forest, You should be able to find a paper map of the National Forest and probably the N.Ga Wildlife Management areas also, I had maps of all of them years ago, I know at least one road through the Blue Ridge WMA follows the top of a ridge for a while, and Soldiers from the camp down at Dahlonega sometimes do weekend maneuvers up there, there are some flat areas on top of that ridge that would be good for camping, I believe its Winding stair gap rd and Coopers Gap rd that I'm thinking of, but there are numerous others up in that area . You can access this off of Hwy 52 just outside of Dahlonega towards Amicalola falls

Thanks @transfixer - I will definitely check that out!

I actually was able to find where he was which was Buck Bald in Farmer, TN. They allowed camping during the eclipse but not sure if they allow it up there year around.
It's closer to the hiwassee river though, so it's always nice
to possibly get on some trout.


I am looking for somewhere I can drive my truck to, park unload and be right at the truck with a decent view undisturbed for the long weekend. Phone off type of unwind time

There are at least a couple trout streams in the Blue Ridge WMA , but they are down in the lower elevations obviously, Rock creek is on the upper end of the WMA, and is stocked regularly with trout, Rock creek lake is also up there. but the fishing is probably 10mins from the areas I think you'll want to camp.

The problem with the SE Forestry roads vs Western Forestry roads are contrary to the maps, a lot of them are closed to vehicular access and there is no way to find out which ones are open or not until you get there.

It's really a bummer because I have caught a few of them open over the years and some of the best back country scenery and camping can be found on them.

I think Lake Conesauga has an firetower nearby that can be hiked to. May be wrong but Grassy Mtn could be the name.

westcobbdog said:

I think Lake Conesauga has an firetower nearby that can be hiked to. May be wrong but Grassy Mtn could be the name.

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That is correct. You can hike to it (2-3 miles) and camp there, but not drive to it.

Just don't miss a particular turn on the trail when you are hiking back at night. You might get seriously misplaced out in the woods. Don't ask me how I know.

There is also another fire tower in Cohutta that you can drive to with 4WD. I rode to it on my dualsport several years ago. You can camp there too. I don't recall all of the particulars, but it is near Dyer Mtn.

What about Currahee Mountain?