Mount Oglethorpe is a mountain located in

Pickens County, Georgia Pickens County is a county located in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,431. The county seat is Jasper. Pickens County is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia m ...

, United States. The southernmost peak in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the world, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsy ...

, the mountain has an elevation of , making it the highest point in Pickens County, and the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. Mount Oglethorpe served as the southern terminus of the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

from when the trail was completed in 1937 until 1958. In 1958, as a result of over development around Mount Oglethorpe, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail was moved about to the northeast to

Springer Mountain Springer Mountain is a mountain located in the Chattahoochee National Forest on the border of Fannin and Gilmer counties. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Georgia, the mountain has an elevation of about . Springer Mountain serves ...

Geography

Mount Oglethorpe is located in eastern Pickens County, near the border with Dawson County. The mountain is located about east of

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

, west of Dawsonville and about north of

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. There are

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

south of Mount Oglethorpe. The community of Bent Tree is located on the mountain's western slopes, while

Big Canoe ''Big Canoe'' is the second studio album released by former Split Enz frontman Tim Finn in April 1986. The album peaked at number 3 in New Zealand and number 31 in Australia. Track listing LP Listing CD Listing The CD included the ex ...

is located on the mountain's eastern slopes.Bent Tree Map
bent-tree.com. Retrieved 2 June 2016.Interactive Map
bigcanoe.com. Retrieved 2 June 2016.

, the current southern terminus of the

, is located about northeast of the mountain. Other nearby geographical features include Burnt Mountain, Sharptop Mountain and Sassafras Mountain. While Mount Oglethorpe's summit is not located on any state or federally

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

lands, the mountain's northeastern slopes are located inside the Dawson Forest

Wildlife Management Area A Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife. New Zealand There are 11 Wildlife Management Areas in New Zealand: * Horsham Downs Wildlife Man ...

.Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area - Wildcat Creek Tract
georgiawildlife.com. Retrieved 5 June 2016. With an elevation of , Mount Oglethorpe is the tallest mountain in Pickens County. The mountain is also considered to be the southern terminus of the

.Spencer, Marci (2013)
Clingmans Dome: Highest Mountain in the Great Smokies
The History Press. .

History

Early history

Mount Oglethorpe had been settled by the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

s since at least the 1700s. The Cherokees bent trees to mark their trails and shelters on the mountain. White settlers began moving into the area after the

Georgia Land Lotteries The Georgia land lotteries were an early nineteenth century system of land redistribution in Georgia. Under this system, white male citizens could register for a chance to win lots of land that had (and in most cases recently) been taken from the M ...

of the early 1800s. Mount Oglethorpe was originally named Grassy Knob.Wells, Diane and Don
The Early Days before Bent Tree
mountainstewards.org Retrieved 2 June 2016. In 1930, the mountain was renamed to Mount Oglethorpe in honor of

James Oglethorpe James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia in what was then British America. As a social reformer, he hoped to r ...

, the founder of the

Georgia Colony Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to th ...

.Georgia State Daughters of American Colonists
Oglethorpe Monument Dedication
8 September 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2016. That same year, a tall marble

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

named the Oglethorpe Monument was erected at the top of the mountain.

Appalachian Trail

In 1930, Mount Oglethorpe was designated as the southern terminus of the

. Mount Oglethorpe was not the first choice for the trail's southern end, as

Benton MacKaye Benton MacKaye ( ; March 6, 1879 – December 11, 1975) was an American forester, planner and conservationist. He was born in Stamford, Connecticut; his father was actor and dramatist Steele MacKaye. After studying forestry at Harvard Univ ...

also proposed ending the Appalachian Trail at

Mount Mitchell Mount Mitchell, known in Cherokee as Attakulla, is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland eastern North America. It is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina in the Black Mountain subra ...

in North Carolina or Cohutta Mountain in northwest Georgia. There were several reasons for choosing the Mountain Oglethorpe as the southern terminus. The mountain was considered to be the southern end of the

. The decision was also influenced by Sam Tate, an influential local businessman and president of the Georgia Marble Company.Butler, Mimi
Marble
1 June 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2016. Tate was planning to build a resort on a nearby mountain and wanted the trail to pass by his resort. To convince the

Georgia Appalachian Trail Club The Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, Inc. (GATC) is a non-profit organization that was organized in 1930 in Dahlonega, GA. Its membership consists of individual volunteers who share a love for the Appalachian Trail (AT). The GATC is responsibl ...

to choose Mount Oglethorpe, Tate donated money to build trail structures and allowed the trail to pass through his privately owned lands. In 1937, with the completion of the Appalachian Trail, Mount Oglethorpe officially became the southern terminus of the trail. Early thru-hikers of the Appalachian Trail such as Grandma Gatewood, Gene Espy and

Earl Shaffer Earl V. Shaffer (November 8, 1918 – May 5, 2002), was an American outdoorsman and author known from 1948 as The Crazy One (and eventually as The Original Crazy One) for attempting what became the first publicized claimed hiking trip in a singl ...

began their journeys at Mount Oglethorpe. In 1949, James E. Boyd conducted long-range line-of-sight experiments between the mountain and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...

to study the effects of weather on

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different fre ...

propagation Propagation can refer to: * Chain propagation in a chemical reaction mechanism *Crack propagation, the growth of a crack during the fracture of materials *Propaganda, non-objective information used to further an agenda *Reproduction, and other form ...

.Technical Information Pilot, Issue 9461; Issue 11953. pp. 1770. Because Mount Oglethorpe was located outside of

United States National Forest In the United States, national forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands. National forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned collectively by the American people through the federal government, and managed by ...

lands, the mountain was not

and was opened to

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

. In the 1950s, land on the mountain was purchased by logging companies and chicken ranchers. The construction of a gravel road on the mountain led to vandalism. With the increased development on Mount Oglethorpe, the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club decided to move the trailhead. Amicalola Lake and Frosty Mountain were considered for the new southern terminus, but trail leaders deemed those locations as being too accessible. In 1958, trail leaders decided to move the southern terminus to

, about a hike north from Mount Oglethorpe."Government Continues Appalachian Trail Buys." ''Associated Press.'' 27 June 1993. Springer Mountain was considered to be less dramatic than Mount Oglethorpe, but because of its remoteness, Springer Mountain was also considered to be less susceptible to development. The only remnant of the Appalachian Trail between Mount Oglethorpe and Springer Mountain is the Appalachian Approach Trail that runs between

Amicalola Falls State Park Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge is an Georgia state park located between Ellijay and Dahlonega in Dawsonville, Georgia. The park's name is derived from a Cherokee language word meaning "tumbling waters". The park is home to Amicalola Fal ...

and Springer Mountain.

After the Appalachian Trail

Communication and FAA towers were installed on the mountain's summit in the years after the southern terminus was moved. In the 1970s, the

community started development on the eastern side of Mount Oglethorpe. Vandalism, harsh weather and lightning strikes caused heavy damage to the Oglethorpe Monument, leading to its relocation to downtown Jasper in 1999. Portions of the Appalachian Trail that used to run between Mount Oglethorpe and Springer Mountain were made inaccessible to the public. In addition, Mount Oglethorpe's summit was closed to the public.Mount Oglethorpe
summitpost.org. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2016. In 1995, Ken Rice and his wife Billie Ann purchased about of land around Mount Oglethorpe's summit. In 2014, the Rices opened the mountain to the public when they designated their property as a public park.Ken and Billie Ann Rice of Waterford Mountain Properties Announces the Designation of Eagle’s Rest as a Public Park in Pickens County, Georgia
prweb.com. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2016. This public park, named Eagle's Rest, contains hiking trails and

observation deck An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclose ...

s.Tidwell, Wayne
Eagle’s Rest Park atop Mt. Oglethorpe marks its second year
Big Canoe News. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2016.

Visiting

Before 2014, visitors were unable to access the summit without

trespassing Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding ...

. After the summit was opened to the public, Mount Oglethorpe's summit can be reached by driving south from

Georgia State Route 136 State Route 136 (SR 136) is a state highway that travels west-to-east through portions of Dade, Walker, Gordon, Murray, Gilmer, Pickens, Dawson, and Hall counties in the northwestern and north-central parts of the U.S. state of Ge ...

on Monument Road for about .Eagle's Rest on Mt. Oglethorpe
knowpickens.com. Retrieved 5 June 2016. The summit can also be accessed from the south through Big Canoe.

Gallery

Image:Mount Oglethorpe covered in snow (24268287839).jpg, Mount Oglethorpe with a dusting of snow. Mount Oglethorpe communication towers.jpg, Communication towers on the summit Image:Oglethorpe Monument, Jasper, Georgia.JPG, The Oglethorpe Monument. Formerly on Mount Oglethorpe's summit, the monument is now located in Jasper

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

TopoQuest Map for Mount OglethorpeEagle's Rest website
{{coord, 34, 29, 10, N, 84, 19, 49, W, display=title Oglethorpe Landforms of Pickens County, Georgia Oglethorpe