Bend on the Conasauga River
Georgia’s Conasauga River is one of the loveliest rivers I’ve ever seen.
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A Saddle on The Conasauga River Trail
The Conasauga River Trail is wholly within Georgia’s Cohutta Wilderness. Even though it’s mostly along the river, it also goes up onto saddles between ridgetops, especially at the end.
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Dogwood Tree Growing on The Ground
This dogwood was pushed to the ground by a larger tree, but it stayed rooted and healthy. Now it looks like Dogwood flowers are blooming on the trail.
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Clouds Moving Across Georgia’s Blue Ridge
I absolutely love the Appalachians mountains. They are not soaring, rocky, or iconic. But they are ancient, diverse, and complex. They see a lot of humid air coming off the Gulf of Mexico – but also from their own green, humid forests. This view is from an overlook off the Cohutta mountains with clouds drifting up over the ridges.
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Luna Moth Chillin’ in Georgia’s Cohutta Wilderness
Luna moths are so striking, especially when they contrast against an oak tree.
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Field Guide To The Cohutta Wilderness by Javier Velazquez
A Field Guide to the Cohutta Wilderness by Javier Velazquez is a book I have wanted to exist in the world for so long that a couple years ago, I started sketching out whether I could write it myself. I am deeply grateful to the author for putting in the time and effort to create a proper field guide to the natural and environmental history of the Cohutta Mountains.
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Cohutta Wilderness Trail Crew Work on Hickory Creek Trail
The Cohutta Wilderness Trail Volunteers spent a good bit of time in 2025 working on the Hickory Creek Trail. It is one of my favorite trails, but has been hit hard by storms in the last couple of years.
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Clear Conasauga River
I’m always amazed at how clear Georgia’s rivers run near their headwaters in the Chattahoochee National Forest. The combination of running across rocks and being filtered by forest instead of being silted with erosion is lovely to see.
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Makeshift Bridge over a Swollen Jacks River
In the Cohutta Wilderness, the Jacks and Conasauga Rivers can rise fast after a rain. Due to a bit of poor planning, I woke up one morning to an uncrossable Jacks. Thankfully, this tall and otherwise healthy pine tree had fallen at just the right spot across the river. It provided a useful bridge and a bit of adventure.
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Rice Camp Branch in the Cohutta Wilderness
Rice Camp Branch is one of my favorite little creeks running along the Rice Camp trail in the Cohutta Wilderness.
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Cove on Chestnut Lead Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness
Appalachian Coves are a beautiful, fascinating forest community, no matter the season. In the winter, you can appreciate the sheer height of the Tulip Trees and the passage of light during the day.
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Beeches on Rice Camp Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness
I love how beeches hold on to those leaves far past Fall.
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Conasauga River in Late Fall
The Conasauga River is especially beautiful in late Fall with floating leaves and remnant pops of color from maples and beeches.
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Autumn in the Cohutta Wilderness
The colors in the background are the focus, but the composition is deliberate here. The irony of the southern Appalachians is that it’s hard to photograph the trees, thanks to all the trees.
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Cohutta Wilderness from East Cowpen Trail
East Cowpen Trail affords some of the best views of the interior of the Cohutta Wilderness.
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Small Creek in Southern Appalachians
Sometimes hiking in the southern Appalachians can get brambly and overgrown, but I love spots where several forest communities are living close together. At this spot, there is dry, upland pine in the background and shaded, wet fernbank in the foreground.
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Hickory Ridge Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness
The Hickory Ridge Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness in the Chattahoochee National Forest is a favorite interior trail of mine.
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Fog on Chestnut Lead Trail in the Cohutta Wilderness
The Cohutta mountains in Georgia’s section of the Appalachians are not especially high, but their topography is unique enough to generate their own weather.
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Overlooking Cohutta Wilderness from Fort Mountain State Park
A few weeks ago we went to the lovely Fort Mountain State Park in Chatsworth, Georgia for several nights. This…
