Georgia Off-Road Trails - Closed

Chimney Mountain: Closed. Timber Falls: Closed. Nemo Tunnel: Closed. Flatland Road: Closed. Hawk Mountain: Closed. Bell Mountain: Might as well be closed… because they paved it. I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic here, working an old CJ5. And I was sitting here in this Jeep, looking at photos of Georgia off-road trails that I’ve gotten the opportunity to ride over the years… that no longer exist. Well, technically “they exist”, but they’re closed to the public. The reason being, in most cases…

Chimney Mountain

1) Our government. And 2) Stupid people.

Yeah – at times it seems like those lines can blur lol. And I don’t know about every state, but the issue we tend to face here in Georgia is: A minority of ignorant people tear up & litter the trails. And our government responds by shutting the trails down entirely. But in doing so, BOTH OF THEM ruin a great experience for the majority. As an off-road community…

Nemo Tunnel

@s3magazine Public Roads Should Be Open to The Public, but dumb people have ruined that. #publiclandsinpublichands #ohv #trouthuggers #jeeplife #treadlightly #dotherightthing #s3magazine #jeepinbubba #rant #fyp #northgeorgia #michigan ♬ original sound – S3 Magazine

We’ve gotta stop shooting ourselves in the foot.

That’s means – don’t throw your trash on trails. Respect the natural beauty of the environment. Stick to the main paths. Don’t start cutting new trails & tearing stuff up. Here at Black Bear Off-Road, we host seasonal trail clean-up rides. Anyone’s free to join along. It’s a great way to get out there, have a good time, and restore our trails back to their natural state of beauty. And – it hopefully shows our local governments & law enforcement that we’re on the same team here. Because another significant issue is…

Chimney Mountain

The more trails they close & strip access to…

More people end up flooding the few trails we have left. It’s overrunning them, and putting more wear & tear on them than necessary. And – the 4×4 market is only getting larger! Covid exploded the off-road/overland market. People all over metro-Atlanta are wanting to breakaway to explore the North Georgia mountains on the weekends with their families & friends. And simultaneously, Georgia is shrinking the amount of available service roads. Exploring the state’s natural beauty should be encouraged, not prohibited. And I’ll tell ya…

Hawk Mountain

One of the problems that we have in Georgia…

Is all of our roads, are just that… roads. They’re not trails, they’re not OHV areas (except for Beasley Knob). In most cases, they’re just forestry roads… & they’re treated as such. They’re not maintained & our taxes don’t go towards them. Most of them are in rural areas that can’t afford to keep them open. As in the case of Chimney Mountain, there’s just not enough manpower to keep up with it. Now Flatland Road is a different story…

Flatland Road

That road was closed to protect the trout…

But the same people who claim to be protecting the trout, hook them in the mouth & throw them back in the water. And those trout… probably ain’t gonna make it folks! Rainbow trout & brown trout are fragile fish that are NOT native to North Georgia. They have to be stocked, and Georgia streams get borderline too hot for them in the summer. Unlike a large-mouth bass that can be caught & thrown back a hundred times, trout are easily stressed & fragile. But – a rainbow trout is a pretty fish that looks good held up in a photo… so fishermen love them. Fisherman don’t, however, like 4x4s in their territory, and the fishermen have friends in politics. So there ya go.

Charlie’s Creek

The government needs to step it up…

And be available to all special interest groups, not just their old pals. We need to get these roads back open. And – there are mutually beneficial things that can be done to achieve it. We can take a note from Michigan, because the Michigan government issues an OHV permit. It’s been very successful, and Michigan is constantly opening new trails… because they see it as a business opportunity for rural areas. Which it is. And that’s especially true for rural areas like the North Georgia, where it brings in revenue & wealth from metro Atlanta.

So let’s get an OHV permit here in Georgia…

And make it available, for a yearly fee, to anybody wanting to experience Georgia trails & support their growth. Let’s turn these roads into “trails”, let’s teach a respect & appreciation for the land, and let’s get these trails back open so we can all enjoy them for generations to come. The sense of perspective & natural therapy one gets from exploring the outdoors – is good for the mind, body, and community as a whole. Again, it’s an activity that government should encourage, not prohibit. Y’all tread lightly, eat your prunes, and we’ll be seeing ya. -Jeepin Bubba