Rice Camp Trail
Seven miles round trip with modest gain, on the quiet north end of the wilderness.
- Distance
- 7 mi round trip
- Elevation gain
- 900 ft
- Trail type
- Out & Back
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Crossings
- 9 crossings
- Best season
- Year round.
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
Rice Camp Trail runs three and a half miles one way to a junction with the Jacks River Trail, which puts it seven miles round trip. It starts near the East Cowpen and Hickory Creek trailheads off Forest Service Road 51 and drops into the valley, crossing Rice Camp Branch nine times as it follows the creek upstream before easing down toward the Jacks River.
It sees a fraction of the traffic the falls corridor does. A reasonable way to see the river country when the water is too high for anything involving crossings, or as one leg of a loop with East Cowpen and Hickory Ridge.
Marquee feature
A quiet north end approach to the Jacks River
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
- Rice Camp and Horseshoe Bend
12.0 mile loop
- 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.
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