Etowah Trail - White Blaze
Mar 18th, 2009 by Admin 1
The trails at Boling Park have just about all been clearly marked with new blazes over the past couple months thanks to the BSA Troop 241 and if you haven’t checked them out do it sometime. Note: the blue blazed/ribbon trail beginning at the back end of the parks main walking paths does not really lead anywhere. There are some trails that shoot off from the white blazed trail near the boy scout bridge but they are sketchy. I wouldn’t bother with these offshoot trails. I went ahead and did that for you. Waist of time. Just stick to the marked trails.
I went back again yesterday, yes again, and started by parking at Hightower Church and heading out the white trail towards the National Cemetery. In case you did not realize or its been some time since you’ve hiked here this trail now extends a good bit further. Good work fellas! After the white blazes end ribbons mark where the trail is currently being cut and it heads out a good ways with some great terrain along the way before stopping.
At this point, I would say without knowing the exact mileage for sure, this portion of a trail from the Church adds about 1.5 miles (one way) if not more to the white blazed trail that begins at Boling Park. Totaling about 3 miles out and back and adding that to the current trails which I have posted on this site there is plenty for such a local spot.
Once I had to stop and the ribbons ended, I decided to go back to the beginning of the trail at the Boling Park parking lot and then back out just to the Church where I parked. Just the white trail in and of itself is a decent little hike. Add the orange, yellow, green and all the other off shoots including the Corps land trail running along the river and you could easily spend a full day hiking all these.
I have a question about the Etowah trails…do these trails loop or do you park at Boling or the church and then have to walk back to where you parked after reaching the end of the trail? I’m mostly interested in the Hightower church trail- which on is that? Can you give me directions on how to get to that trail from either Boling park or the church. I walk at Boling park track and I’ve never seen any hiking trail signs…so where are those? Thanks!
Staci
There are currently no signs as you can read about here. http://www.campnpost.com/hikes/etowah-trail-what-in-the-green-blazes/
I would describe it this way. The main Etowah Trail or (Hightower trail as some may call it) is an in-out trail marked with a white blaze. The others described on this site such as the orange, yellow, blue, and green are loop trails that branch off of and then reconnect with the White trail. The Etowah trail begins at the same place the park track begins essentially. I assume you park at the end of the track after traveling past the soccer fields and over all all the speed bumps. After parking you cross a small bridge to access the track, correct? If so, you probably also begin your walk by heading to the right and following the track. As you head right before heading further on the track, walk up as if you were going towards the parking lot near the pavillion. Once you are near the gate for that parking lot look left and you should see a trail start into the woods. This used to be marked with a sign which has been taken down. This is the start to the White Trail. You will parallel the track as you begin the hike. Where the track turns to a dirt path through the grass the trail will wind behind it in the woods and over a large boyscout bridge. It then runs along the river and eventually out to the Hightower Church area.
Let us know if you have any other questions. Hope this helps and doesn’t just confuse things more.
Staci,
After looking into this further I need to clarify something. There are two trails titled the Etowah Trail and one is also called the Hightower Trail. this one is in Fulton county. The trails I am referring to are in Cherokee County in Canton. This trail travels out past the Hightower Church.
Thanks! I will look for that trail this weekend. One more question- about how many miles is it from the track at Boling on the white trail to Hightower church? Thanks again.
According to what we have read its about 5 miles from the beginning of the trail at Boling to Hightower Church but in my opinion its probably a bit short of 5 miles. This part of the trail system is nice but keep in mind, some of the best hiking branches off this trail near the Church, like the green trail.
Thanks Staci and keep in touch. Let us know what you think.
This past Saturday, Scout Troup 241 and some other volunteers worked on the trail by digging some switchbacks up a steep hill just east of where Jug Creek flows into the Etowah River creating the wetland habitat. Actually, with all the recent rains, the wetlands are under water and a lake has been formed. It looks as though some beavers have damned the creek. The trail up to the switchbacks is marked by a white blaze, and after that there are ribbons on the trees marking the future trail. BTW, the trail follows the old Canton-Sutallee roadway which is shown in some old area maps. This was, in turn, probably located on an old Cherokee Indian trail, so there is a historical interest in this trail system that we should try to preserve.
Jon,
Thanks very much for the historical information on this area. We knew the trail likely followed along part of the old roadway but we are always interested to hear anything about the Indian history regarding the trails as well as any new progress on Troop 241 and the trail being extended. Thanks again!
Admin
I hiked the white trail on Sunday and noticed that a lot of work has been done. There appeared to be some yellow / orange maybe even green markings which were new (I might be confusing my colors but there were clearly new bright blazes). Is there any new info about what these markings mean? Where does the private property begin and end because I cut way back into the woods one day and encountered a hunter (not sure if he was legally hunting or not).
Anyway, the Indian trail info sounds very interesting
Hey Jim,
Good to hear from you. Yeah, if you use the search box up at the top of campnpost using keywords boling park trails or etowah trails you should see some of the posts on these seperate trails and some things you can expect when hiking them.
As far as a hunter being out there while you where hiking, there are some areas that are posted as areas okay to hunt and hikers should wear orange vests etc.. Not really sure on all the hunting rules since I haven’t hunted much but I will try to track down some info on it.
A trail map is up. It can be found here: http://www.webstarts.com/EtowahTrail
Thanks for the info Jon!