East Cowpen Trail
The central roadbed running the divide, and the junction for half the trails in the range.
- Distance
- 13.2 mi round trip
- Elevation gain
- 3,100 ft
- Trail type
- Out & Back
- Difficulty
- Strenuous
- Crossings
- No crossings recorded
- Best season
- Year round. The Three Forks trailhead road closes in winter, about January 1 to early March.
Wilderness status
Inside Cohutta Wilderness
Bicycles
Bicycles are prohibited on this trail. Mechanized transport, including mountain bikes, is banned in designated wilderness under federal law by the Wilderness Act of 1964. This is enforced by the Forest Service. Do not ride here.
The trail
East Cowpen is the spine. It follows the bed of old Georgia Highway 2, closed to vehicles after the wilderness was designated, along the crest of Cohutta Mountain, the divide between the Conasauga and the Jacks. It tops out near 4,150 feet at Cowpen Mountain. The walking is straightforward, the navigation obvious, and it intersects most of the trails that matter in the interior.
Nobody walks it for scenery. They walk it because it is how you get from one side of the wilderness to the other without wading, and because most multi day routes here use it as the connector. Learn this one first if you plan to link anything together.
Marquee feature
The old roadbed spine of the wilderness
Getting there
Forest Service roads to the Cohutta trailheads are gravel, seasonally gated, and often without cell service. Download directions before you leave pavement.
Access roads and winter closures
Open trailhead in Google MapsLoops that use this trail
- East Cowpen, Hickory Ridge, and Rice Camp
12.1 mile loop
Hickory Ridge was closed by Forest Service order with Rough Ridge. Confirm it has reopened before planning this loop.
- East Cowpen, Hickory Ridge, Jacks River, and Rough Ridge
15.9 mile loop
Not currently walkable. Rough Ridge is closed by the Forest Service, and Hickory Ridge was closed with it.
Stay near the trailheads
Sherpa Camp — a cabin at the edge of the wilderness.
The drive in from Atlanta or Chattanooga is long enough that most people are better off sleeping near the gate than starting at 4 a.m. Sherpa Camp is a small cabin on Holly Creek, on the western edge of the Cohutta Wilderness, about 25 minutes from Ellijay. It sleeps five, with a covered porch, a firepit, and a creek. Cell service ends before you get there.
See Sherpa Camp