Grassy Mountain Fire Tower Trail
A short climb from Lake Conasauga to a standing fire tower and the best long view in the range.
- Distance
- 4.3 mi round trip
- Elevation gain
- 757 ft
- Trail type
- Out & Back
- Difficulty
- Easy to Moderate
- Crossings
- No crossings recorded
- Best season
- Spring through fall. Road access closes seasonally.
Wilderness status
Outside the wilderness, Lake Conasauga Recreation Area
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
Four and a half miles round trip from the highest lake in Georgia to a tower that still stands, which is rarer every year. The climb is steady rather than steep and tops out at 3,694 feet, the second highest point in Murray County. The tower itself is fenced off and closed to climbing for safety, but the summit clearing still delivers a full circle view: Fort Mountain to the southeast, the Cohuttas and the Tennessee line ridges to the north, and on a clear cold morning the Smokies stacked up behind them.
The tower is closed to visitors, and the trail stays open.
This is the trail to send people on when they have one afternoon and want to understand the shape of the country. The Lake Conasauga road closes from December 29 until March 1.
Marquee feature
A standing fire tower, fenced off, with wide views from the summit
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 Maps
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