Are you looking for a weekend getaway or a place to spend the day hiking? We recently visited Vogel State Park in the North Georgia Mountains and it was amazing.

You may know we recently stayed at Don Carter State Park which we really enjoyed, but before we booked there we tried to get in at Vogel State Park. Unfortunately they were full, but luckily for us we’re now camping nearby and knew we needed to take a day trip to the park.

Hiking At Vogel State Park In Northern Georgia

Below share a little bit about our day there, hopefully it’ll help you decide if you should make your own trip. We also put together a video of our hiking journey if you’d like to check it out.

Watch the video of our hiking adventure at Vogel State Park:

Our Experience

We’re staying at a campground that’s in between a lot of places we want to check out. One such place is Vogel State Park which happened to be about half an hour away (it’s less than 2 hours from Atlanta). So one day we packed up all of our gear and headed out to see what it had to offer.

I mentioned above that we’d looked into camping here but they were fully booked but that didn’t stop us from checking out the camping situation. We drove through their campground and it didn’t disappoint. The campsites were pretty spacious while also seeming private (as much as we can hope for at least). A big part of them seeming private was due to the fact that the campground is nestled in the woods at the foot of Blood Mountain.

As we were driving through looking at the campground we also noticed cottages you’re able to rent. Near cottage number 7 is where you’ll find the main trail head for the wooded/mountain trails.

Lake Trahlyta:

After cruising through the campground we started our hiking with the Trahlyta Lake Trail. Lake Trahlyta was named after a Native American Princess from times past, and is located at the bases of Blood Mountain and Slaughter Mountain. The trail is relatively short, I’d say about a mile but the views are spectacular.

There is a part of the trail that veers off to a landing dock where you’re able to check out some beautiful waterfalls. I say beautiful waterfalls based on the pictures I’ve seen, because while we were there we missed the veer off from the trail. I think we were a little to excited to get up to the mountain trails.

The Trahlyta Lake Trail is good for kids as well. They have signs that highlight native animals from the area while at the same time suggesting exercises the kids can do to feel a bit like the animals. It was cute to see and I’d imagine kids would enjoy it.

Coosa Backcountry Trail & Bear Hair Gap Trail:

We had an amazing time hiking the Coosa Backcountry Trail and the Bear Hair Gap Trail. Our main objective was to hike the Bear Hair Gap Trail and in order to do that we needed to hike up the Coosa Backcountry Trail to reach it.

The serene feeling of walking through the different trees on these trails was eye opening. At any given moment you could feel you were surrounded by jungle trees then it’d switch to oaks and evergreens. That’s not even mentioning the creeks that flow near the trails.

It’s a pretty good hike, as much of it does go up the mountain, but the struggle is paid in full once you reach the top.

When you get up to Vogel Overlook you’re able to see back down to Lake Trahlyta while at the same time taking in the mountain range behind it. It’s been a while since a view has taken my breath away, and this one most certainly did.

After we took in the view at the Vogel Overlook we continued forward down the trail. The day was beginning to cool and the scenery kept taking our breath away, then things got a little confusing…

Take Note:

We’d made our trip to Vogel State Park about three days after a pretty good storm rolled through. So I’m not sure if maybe some of the confusion was created as a result of the storm.

Going down the trail after the overlook we found it became increasingly difficult to spot the trail markers. In many spots they’d actually have the same color green marking seemingly leading in two different directions. Once we arrived to the spot in the picture above we didn’t know what to do, so we kept pushing forward. I’m pretty sure we paved our own way, and had to find a spot to cross the creek that was less than ideal.

After we made it across the creek things were still pretty confusing. We got to a point where we didn’t know which way to go so we just followed the trail that led to voices haha.

We did end up walking through the pioneering campground which was awesome even if it was a bit spooky with no one around.

By the time we made it back to the campgrounds I found myself wondering if it was just us or if the storm had knocked some signage away because I am normally good with trails and directions.

After finishing the hike we looked up reviews of the Bear Hair Gap Trail and found that others had been confused as well. Luckily it wasn’t just us. If you’re planning to make this hike, keep this in mind and maybe do a little extra studying of the map before you head out. With all that said you should still be able to make it through, we did!

What Else Does Vogel Have To Offer –

While we weren’t able to experience all that Vogel has to offer, we did notice quite a bit going on.

Here are a few things we saw:

• RV Camping, Pioneer Camping, Walk-in Sites, Cottages
• Swimming, Fishing, Kayaking, Stand-up Paddle-boards, Bike rental
• Playground
• Miniature Golf (fee)
• Hiking
• Weddings (park approval required)
• CCC Museum

Vogel State Park Website

Vogel State Park Maps

That sums up our trip to Vogel State Park. We had a great time and will come back at some point in the future.

If you’ve been to Vogel and noticed we missed something or just want to weigh in with your own experience please feel free to do so below.

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