The hike to the summit is 2.2 miles (one way) and gains more than 1,300 feet in elevation. The hike can be strenuous at times. Wear comfortable hiking shoes. Bring plenty of water and probably a snack. Plan on this hunt taking the better part of a day.
The top of Yonah Mountain is part of the Chattahoochee National Forest, but the land that surrounds it is private. Don't trespass.
You may want to bring along a trash bag or two. Cache in, trash out.
Please sign the log book and make an even trade, if you like.
Happy hunting! And remember, don't let anyone see you.
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Here is some of Yonah Mountain's history:
The forbidden love of Nacoochee, a Cherokee maiden, and Sautee, a Chickasaw warrior, came to its bloody end on Yonah's bluff, legend tells us. Incensed by the affair, Cherokee warriors tossed Sautee from the mountaintop. Nacoochee followed her lover and jumped off the cliff voluntarily. Some, however, claim that this story was the creation of the white man.
Hernando de Soto, the Spanish explorer credited with the discovery of the Mississippi River, reportedly spent considerable time searching Yonah's caves for a lost Indian treasure of inestimable value in the early 1500s. He never found it, and in 1834 gold miners discovered the buried village once inhabited by de Soto's men.
Recently, Yonah become a haven for thousands of rock climbers, campers and sight-seers. The flow of visitors slowed five years ago, however, when owners of the private land that surrounds the public rock face closed Yonah Mountain Road, the area's only access route at the time.
Now only the landowners and the Army Rangers from nearby Camp Frank D. Merrill in Dahlonega, who train on the mountain, can drive the gated road.
With the NEW Forest Service trail and parking location, everyone can enjoy this unique site.