Appalachian Trail - Neels Gap to Blood Mountain
Feb 1st, 2009 by Admin 1
Appalachian Trail - North Georgia - Blood Mountain Wilderness
Nearest Town: Blairsville, Georgia
Trailhead Location: 129 at Neels Gap
Directions: From Blairsville, head south on 19/129 to Neels Gap. Parking Lot on the left.
Maintained By: Georgia Appalachian Trail Club
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
Trail Description: (4.5 miles round trip) 2.2 Miles of the Appalachian Trail that has approx. 1800 ft. elevation gain to the Blood Mountain Summit.
The last time I was at Blood Mountain it was overcast so I didn’t take any pictures yesterday was a different story. I delayed my plans earlier this year to do some small section hiking along the A.T. since gas prices rose to ridiculous prices. With gas prices lower than they were I decided it was time to continue the next leg. With plans to work my way backward I parked at Neels Gap to follow the trail to Blood Mountain and beyond to where we left off back in October.
The trail was a little muddy in spots with remnants of ice melting from the welcomed sun. The many switchbacks made the speedy climb in elevation very enjoyable and for the majority of the hike there were few other hikers on the trail. Once I reached the top, more hikers settled on the summit’s outcroppings quickly revealed I wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the perfect weather.
After spending a little time to enjoy the view, and talk to some other hikers, I continued on to where I left off in the Bird Gap area the last time I went up.
Great pictures. I’m definitely going to do this hike soon. With a name like Blood Mountain I can’t resist. I looked up some satellite images of the area on Google yesterday. Is the interesting stone built house at the top of the Mountain?
Great. Thanks again for the informative website…best I’ve found on the area hikes.
I teach over at Reinhardt College in nearby Waleska. Apparently they are doing some trail work around the school but I think it is more for mountain biking.
Jym,
Are they working on the existing trail at Reinhardt that we posted about before or is it a new trail system? You’ve probably already hiked it. If not, it would be a pretty nice break in your work day.
“Its not a new trail system, it is the same one you wrote about. I think the students built a new bridge and did some other clean up projects. The biology teacher here got that started but he left and it needed some work……….”
Admin
Jym,
Yeah, we hike as much as possible, that’s for sure.
Unfortunately, we hiked for years and years before we started the site or even had a digital camera so most have not yet been documented. I guess that means we will need to go back and do them all again. 
Good thing we enjoy it, right?
Thanks for the info on the trail maint. and also for forwarding to Jerry. The site looks great. Maybe eventually he and I could link exchange since we also have and will be posting more on that area as well. We go up to Joyce Kilmer, around Fontana and parts of the A.T. in North Carolina quite a bit as well. Looking to trek up there sometime soon in fact. Like the youtube clip btw, gas masks were a nice added touch!
Jym,
Not sure if I mentioned this on my last email or not but yes this stone building is actually a shelter at the summit of Blood Mountain. You know your there when you see that building.