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Brasstown Wilderness

1986 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)Chattahoochee-Oconee National ForestIUCN Category IbProtected areas established in 1986Protected areas of Towns County, Georgia
Protected areas of Union County, GeorgiaProtected areas of the AppalachiansWilderness areas of Georgia (U.S. state)
View from Brasstown Bald in February
View from Brasstown Bald in February

The Brasstown Wilderness was designated in 1986 and currently consists of 12,896 acres (52.19 km2). The Wilderness is located within the borders of the Chattahoochee National Forest in Union County and Towns County, Georgia. The Wilderness is managed by the United States Forest Service and is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The highest elevation in the Brasstown Wilderness is the 4,784-foot (1,458 m) peak of Brasstown Bald, which is also the highest point in Georgia. The land that forms the Wilderness drapes across the northern, northeastern, and southwestern flanks of Brasstown Bald. In addition to 14.1 miles (22.7 km) of trout streams and abundant wildlife, the Brasstown Bald is home to several threatened or endangered species such as the pygmy shrew.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Brasstown Wilderness (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

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Latitude Longitude
N 34.88 ° E -83.818611111111 °
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Brasstown Wilderness



Georgia, United States
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View from Brasstown Bald in February
View from Brasstown Bald in February
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Nearby Places

Track Rock
Track Rock

Track Rock is located in the Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area (9Un367) in the Brasstown Ranger District of the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia. This 52-acre (210,000 m2) area contains preserved petroglyphs of ancient Native American origin that resemble animal and bird tracks, crosses, circles and human footprints. The Georgia Historical Marker placed there in 1988 says: This area is one of the best-known of the petroglyph, or marked stone, sites in Georgia. The six table-sized soapstone boulders contain hundreds of symbols carved or pecked into their surface. Archaeologists have speculated dates for the figures from the Archaic Period (8,000 to 1,000 B.C.) to the Cherokee Indians who lived here until the 19th Century. No one knows the exact meaning of the symbols or glyphs which represent animals, birds, tracks and geometric figures. The earliest written account (1834) was by Dr. Matthew Stephenson, who was director of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega. One of the favorite stories about Track Rock Gap was recorded by ethnographer James Mooney who gathered Cherokee stories. The Cherokee called this site Datsu'nalasgun'ylu (where there are tracks) and Degayelun'ha (the printed or branded place). Cherokee stories include an explanation that hunters paused in the gap and amused themselves by carving the glyphs: the marks were made in a great hunt when the animals were driven through the gap, and that the tracks were made when the animals were leaving the great canoe after a flood almost destroyed the world and while the earth and rocks were soft. In 1867, conservationist John Muir traveled nearby and met a mountaineer who said, "It is called Track Gap ... from the great number of tracks in the rocks – bird tracks, bar tracks, hoss tracks, men tracks, all in the solid rock as if it had been mud."There is a gravel parking lot at Track Rock; the site is also accessible via the Arkaquah Trail. Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area is under consideration for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, reference number 76002336, but it is still pending. Some time in 2020, vandals damaged a number of the petroglyphs on the boulders. As a result, the Forest Service restricted access to the site.