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| Trail Name | Chickamauga Battlefield |
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| Web Site | Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park |
| State, County, Nearest Town | Georgia, Catoosa, Fort Oglethorpe |
| Terrain | Level to slightly rolling. It was dry when we were there but were told that some areas do get swampy if there are heavy rains. Most of the area was forest with some open fields. |
| Trails | The trails go through the woods and open fields of the Chickamauga Battlefield south of Lookout Mountain (Chattanooga, TN). This Civil War Battlefield contains numerous monuments, historical tablets, wayside exhibits including cannons, and hiking trails. There are posts to tie your horses to while stopping at their visitor center which contains exhibits, a bookstore, museum of Civil War weapons, and a 26 minute multi-media program describing this battle. Not sure exactly how many miles the trails were, but plenty for a day's ride. We actually did it again a second day as there are so many things to see. |
| Facilities | There are no horse camping facilities within the Battlefield, most users are day riders. We kept our horses at Trails End Ranch, phone 706-375-4346, which has a short trail that takes you to the Battlefield trails. Box stalls were $15 per horse or small paddock was $10 per horse. There were several motels a few miles away in Fort Oglethorpe. |
| What I liked most . . . | Trails were easy to follow. Very nice visitor's center and interesting history. Was the first week of April and in the 70's and our horses were thrilled to have lush green grass in their paddock. |
| What I liked least . . . | The elderly lady that was the owner of Trails End Ranch. She not only charged us $25 to pitch a tent, but charged us an additional fee for truck & trailer parking. We felt she had a little resentment towards us "Yankees" and that she enjoyed taking advantage of her monopoly. |
| Submitted by | Linda Pakes |
| Date | April 2005 |
| Trail Name | Fort Mountain State Park |
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| Web Site | Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites |
| State, County, Nearest Town | Georgia, Murray County, Town of Chatsworth |
| Terrain | You definitely want shoes on your horses here. It advertises the shorter loops are 20% grade or less, but when you get further out it gets pretty steep and rocky. The scenery is beautiful, we were there before the trees had a lot of leaves which allowed us to see many rock formations, waterfalls, and scenic mountain overlooks at an elevation of between 1600 and 2000 feet. A good place to stop and let the horses rest was by the openings of the old talc mines, the shaft breezes were just like air conditioning blowing on you. There were places for your horses to drink about every two miles. |
| Trails | I've seen the trails advertised anywhere between 25-37 miles. They are numbered and color coded on the map. We were lucky enough to run into a very friendly local couple that not only acted as our personal trail guides, but also drove back to their farm several miles away to pick up an extra horse for our daughter's friend to ride for the day. It made it very nice to relax and enjoy the scenery without worrying about getting lost in the mountains. |
| Facilities | The camping area and horse stables is operated by a young man named Neil Harrison phone 706-517-4376 or 706-537-5779. One side of the barn is Cherokee Creek Stables where he rents out nice large stalls for $15 each (if you clean your own) for campers who bring their own horses. The other half of the barn is called Fort Mountain Stables where you can buy trail rides on their horses. There was camping on top of a hill with a very scenic overlook. Water and electric was available, bathroom with flush toilet, he was in the process of setting up a shower area. |
| What I liked most . . . | Neil was very happy to have the business and offered to feed and water our horses so we could spend time in Atlanta. |
| What I liked least . . . | When a thunderstorm came up the night we were all set up to camp and twisted our tent. |
| Submitted by | Linda Pakes |
| Date | April 2005 |