Floyd County High Point Trip Report
Johns Mtn (1,860+ ft)
Date: January 21, 2001
Author: Kevin Williamson
From I-75 north, take exit 320 for Resaca and GA 136. Turn left onto GA 136 and go 4.4 miles to Hill
City Rd. (county road 476). Turn left onto Hill City Rd. and go 1.0 mile to GA 136 connector. Turn left
onto GA 136 connector. and go 0.1 miles to Harbor Rd. Turn right onto Harbor Rd. and travel 1.1 miles
to Pocket Rd. Turn right onto Pocket Rd. and travel 6.0 miles to Everett Springs Rd. (At this point,
Pocket Rd. is now named Lake Marvin Rd.) Turn left onto Everett Springs Rd. and travel 1.5 miles to
Forest Service road 294 on your right. This turn is very easy to miss, so be aware. Pull into the parking
area and park. FR 294 is not signed, but starts behind the gate with the number 3 located on the right
hand side of the gate. FR 294 does not appear on the Sugar Valley topographic map or the DeLorme
atlas; however, it is on the Chattahoochee National Forest map.
Travel by foot approximately 1.4 miles up old FR 294 to a point where the road makes a hard right turn
(north). From this point you have two options.
Option 1 (what I did): Follow the road to the right (north) approximately 1.0 mile to its end.
This road has quite a few blow-downs, so travel is somewhat slow. From where the road ends I walked
back the same direction as I came from about 25 yards, so as to start uphill in the hardwood trees instead
of the thick pines at the end of the road. I flagged my path 0.5 miles all the way to the top of the
mountain ridge. Once on the ridge turn right (north) approximately 0.2 miles to the summit.
Option 2 (what I should have done): After turning right, continue north until you enter the
hardwood forest, then turn left (west) and proceed uphill to gain the ridge. Turn right and follow the
ridge to the summit. I did not go this route, so I can't say it's better as far as blow-downs go. However, I
did not have any problems with the portion of the ridge that I did walk. Both routes are completely on
National Forest land and require some bushwhacking, so please be aware of your surroundings at all times.
If you have questions, call the Chattahoochee National Forest at the Armuchee Ranger District at 706-638-1085.