Fort Yargo State Park: Deadwood Hill Loop (Blog Hike #225)

Trails: Deadwood Hill and Outer Loop Trails

Hike Location: Fort Yargo State Park

Geographic Location: south side of Winder, GA (33.96487, -83.74065)

Length: 2.6 miles

Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)

Dates Hiked: October 2007, March 2013

Overview: A fairly easy hike exploring the hills and ravines along Marbury Lake.

Park Information: https://gastateparks.org/FortYargo
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=721517
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Athens or I-85, take SR 316/US 29 to SR 81; there is a traffic light at this intersection.  Go north on SR 81.  Take SR 81 north 1.5 miles to the entrance for Area B of Fort Yargo State Park.  Turn right to enter the park.  Pay the entrance fee, then bear right when the park road forks.  Park in the parking lot beside the lake at the end of this road.

The hike: For my general comments on Fort Yargo State Park, see the South Loop hike.  This hike features a nice combination of lakeside and upland hiking.  Since most of this trail passes through forest, this trail can be comfortable when other trails in the park are too warm and sunny.

            The trail enters the forest beside the lake on the right (south) side of the parking lot.  Where a wooden bridge leads left across the lake, continue straight on the Outer Loop.  The trail follows the edge of the lake for about 300 feet before arriving at the beginning of the Deadwood Hill Loop, as marked by a red carsonite post.  Stay left to begin the Deadwood Hill Loop, so named due to the large quantity of windfalls present on this hill.  Fortunately, none of them obstruct the trail.

Deadwood along Deadwood Hill Loop

            After another short stint along the lake, a sign directs you to the left to enter the Root Garden.  This section of trail gets its name from the large number of roots that extend out over the trail.  While these roots make the trail surface very uneven, but the journey is worth it because this section of trail also gives the best views of the lake and bridge you passed earlier.

            The root garden only lasts for 0.1 miles, so soon you are back on the Deadwood Hill Loop with the hill on your right and the lake on your left.  Pass mile post 7.5 as the trail drops gently to cross a small tributary to the lake on a wooden footbridge.  For the next 0.5 miles the trail turns away from the lake and treads near the western park boundary.  A light industrial area can be seen past the park boundary on the left.  The winding nature of this section of trail makes it more interesting for both hikers and mountain bikers who share the trail.

Heading into the Root Garden

            0.9 miles into the hike, the trail descends gently to a small stream which passes under the trail via a buried pipe.  If this stream looks familiar, a glance to the right will locate the lakeside trail you hiked a few minutes ago.  Past the stream, the trail continues its serpentine course as it ascends gradually, leaving the lake behind for good.

            1.4 miles into the hike, the trail comes out at the pioneer camping area, a grassy area that extends to the right of the trail.  The trail does not stay in the clearing long, but rather angles left to reenter the forest.  The young forest here features a mixture of hardwoods and pines and a dense understory.

            Upon reaching a small stream, the trail curves right and begins climbing, staying on the east side of the creek.  Traffic along SR 81 can be heard and seen uphill to your left.  After climbing along this stream for about 500 feet, the trail curves right to cross the main park road and reenter the forest on the other side.  Of course, you could walk back down the main park road to the lake if you wanted to short-cut this hike.

Approaching the recent clear-cut

            Continuing along the Outer Loop, the trail descends gently, crosses an unpaved service road, and 2 miles into the hike, enters an area that has been clear-cut recently.  The result of the clear-cutting is an ugly area encumbered heavily by brush with just a narrow 40-foot wide strip of larger trees that contains the trail.  The trail never leaves this narrow strip, but the views are severely injured with the surrounding terrain.

            The trail curves sharply right and heads gradually downhill, soon to begin following a small tributary of the lake.  As the lake starts to come into view through the trees, the trail curves sharply left and comes out at a small picnic area.  The Outer Loop curves left and continues around the lake, but this hike takes a 180-degree turn to the right and begins following the A/B Trail with the lake just to the left.

A/B Trail

            The A/B Trail gets its name because it links areas A and B in the state park.  The wide grassy trail offers terrific views of the lake to the left, which at this point contains a small wooded island just a few feet from the shore.  The A/B Trail ends unceremoniously at the southeast corner of the parking lot that contains your car, thus signaling the end of the hike.