Habersham County Highpoint Trip Report

Tray Mtn

Date: May 30, 2004
Author: Jerry Brekhus

This is an almost two-fer, Tray Mtn's summit at the benchmark being the highpoint of White County, GA and Habersham County's highpoint being nearby. We drove a road which turned out to be a good forest road suitable for passenger cars. It is FR 698, which leaves State Highway 71 at a junction 4 to 5 miles north of Unicoi Gap. A sign near the beginning of the forest road announces, "SWALLOW CK WILDLIFE MGT AREA". Follow FR 698 for 10.0 miles to a well-graveled parking lot at Tray Gap.

The hike is a 2.3 mile round-trip on the Appalachian Trail gaining 620 feet up Tray Mtn. The Habersham County high point is about an eighth of a mile beyond the summit of Tray Mtn. Habersham's high point is at the tri-corner of Habersham, White, and Towns Counties. See Ron Tagliapietra's trip report for a discussion of the precise location of the highpoints for the two counties and which knolls to explore.

Back at the parking lot, conversation with other hikers led us to believe that the road we took was the better road to Tray Gap, so we returned to the highway on FR 698 the way we came. They described the road they had used as rough and recommended high clearance.