A Cabin Below Lake Conasauga

Clear, cold, spring-fed water ringed in hemlock and rhododendron. A small swimming beach, picnic tables, and a Forest Service campground that fills on summer weekends. The water stays bracing through August, which is either a warning or the entire point depending on the child.

The Songbird Trail makes an easy, nearly flat loop through a beaver-pond bottom and is one of the better birding walks in the Cohuttas. A steeper trail climbs to the old fire tower on the summit of Grassy Mountain, where the clearing opens onto ridge behind ridge across the wilderness. In late summer, wild blueberries ripen along the upper stretch and progress slows accordingly.

Forest road the whole way, gravel, fine for most vehicles in dry weather and slower than the mileage suggests. Call it 20–25 minutes. That is the correct speed for that road regardless.

Check the Forest Service before a winter trip, because the high roads close seasonally and the mountain does not post a sign at the bottom. If you stay past dusk, drive down slowly. Deer own that road after dark.

The campground at the lake is primitive and first-come. No hookups, no showers, no cell service, and on an October weekend it fills by Friday afternoon. Staying at Sherpa Camp gives you the lake as an afternoon rather than a gamble, plus a full kitchen, a bathroom, and a fire pit to come back to.

Sleeps five. King loft, bunk room for three, one bath, full kitchen, deck, grill. Bring a picnic and water shoes. Ask us about the road before you go and we will tell you how it looked that week.