I went on a little scouting trip Friday afternoon to check out a state managed area called Tatum Lead Trail (OHV) and Rocky Creek Trail (ATV). Using my TOPO software I mapped out the area pretty well. The state run website has very vague maps. And they only tell you how to get to the ATV trails, not the OHV trail. So first off coordinates for the Tatum Lead trailhead:
N34* 46.656'
W84*38.855'
The trail runs south just off highway 52/2 between Chatsworth, Ga and Elijay, Ga and is just east of Fort Mountain State Park. For intown ATL folks head up 575 to Elijay and take 52 west about 11 miles. As the mountain roads get steeper look for a hard left turn near the top. The very next sign you see and it is plastered at every turn is "NO ATVs NO Parking"
There is about a dozen mountain homes or undeveloped lots you will pass within the first 3/4 mile or so. The view is great up here and Tatum Lead Trail seems to ride the ridgeline fairly consistently.
more...
So a couple of miles of very easy gravel road covered with fall leaves, I come to my first "obstacle"...
and then the next one really had me puckering...
So when I got to the first intersection of maintained trails I see this sign...
and thought to myself, hmm, this looks pretty do-able. Let's explore this little loop. The main trail was starting to bore me. It just seemed like another of the dozens and dozens of forest service roads up in this neck of the woods. The loop trail was a bit more bumpy with bigger rocks and the occasional "ramp", but I could tell that 4 wheel vehicles had travelled it before, so I proceeded to ramble down the trail. I got to a tighter spot between two trees - a smaller 6" hardwood at my front driver headlamp and a larger one next to my passenger side door. I clear the mirror on the pass side and started to cut the wheel right to avoid the one on my front bumper. Good, cleared it and started to straighten out to finish the pass. Readjusted and checked my mirrors. Keeping a close eye on my rear pass quarter panel, I inched ever so slowly forward. I was within an inch of the tree by my estimate. As I'm inching forward,I look forward to check my tree on the left and my left front wheel starts to go up... I look back to my right mirror and see that I'm past the tree back there and give it a touch more throttle. I think I'm clear when POW! It sounded like a cap gun went off in the back seat. Crap! I look back and Dig Dug is surrounded by what looks like frozen water
Now determined to not let this little episode ruin my day, I proceeded onward on the loop... until I got to this spot where a tree had uprooted and collapsed down off the trail. It took the majority of its root system and left a 10 foot gaping hole in the trail. No way was I going to try anything like that!
So now, I could not continue the loop back to Tatum Lead Trail. I did a 5(!) point turn in a switchback and rambled back down to the ATV access trail which I recently passed as I headed back up the mountain to re-join Tatum Lead. The access trail lead to a parking lot according to my GPS coordinates. That was going to be my way out. I had no further escapades on the way out and hopped a small boulder to get into the parking lot.
So my little outing has a somewhat sad ending. I went to my dealer yesterday for a scheduled oil change and wound up spending nearly $300 more than anticipated. The replacement glass is $270. They estimated about $200 in labor, but I'm probably going to do the install myself. Yet another pictorial to come for that story.
Epilogue: Tatum Lead Trail is a very scenic trail and would be most enjoyable as a "non wheeling" sort of day trip when the summer foliage is not there and you can see across the valleys. From what I can tell (as I never re-joined the main trail), it is about 4-5 miles of forest service road that extends south from highway 52 down until you reach private property and then you have to return the way you came in. I would not recommend taking any "side" trails unless you are quite a bit narrower than an FJ. I'm sure my lift also contributed to my injury, so a stock FJ might slide thru that narrow spot unscathed, but you will still have the gaping hole to jump.
