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Arkaquah Trail

Chattahoochee-Oconee National ForestHiking trails in Georgia (U.S. state)National Recreation Trails in Georgia (U.S. state)North Georgia geography stubsProtected areas of Union County, Georgia
United States trail stubs
Arkaquah Trail, Brasstown Bald, May 2019
Arkaquah Trail, Brasstown Bald, May 2019

The Arkaquah Trail is a hiking trail that has been designated as a National Recreation Trail in Georgia. The trail is 5.5 miles (8.25 km) long (not including the trail from the parking area to the summit and back) and is located in the Chattahoochee National Forest in the Brasstown Ranger District. The trail is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The trail starts at Brasstown Bald and descends along the northern spur of ridge called Locust Log Ridge to Track Rock Gap. There are a number of scenic viewpoints along the Arkaquah Trail. The first five miles (8 km) of the trail are located within the Brasstown Wilderness and the trail ends at Track Rock, one of the best-known of the petroglyph sites in Georgia. There is parking at both ends of the trail.

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

Arkaquah Trail
Arkaquah Trail,

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Wikipedia: Arkaquah TrailContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 34.875833333333 ° E -83.843333333333 °
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Arkaquah Trail

Arkaquah Trail

Georgia, United States
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Arkaquah Trail, Brasstown Bald, May 2019
Arkaquah Trail, Brasstown Bald, May 2019
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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.