Greg Rides Trails: No Tell Trail, Dahlonega, Georgia

Monday, February 1, 2010

No Tell Trail, Dahlonega, Georgia

Getting There
From Dahlonega, Georgia head West out of town on Hwy 9. Take a right onto Hwy 52, and then 4.6 miles later take a right onto Nimblewill Church Road at the old Grizzle's Country Store. Pass the Jake Mountain parking lot sign, but take a right at the Bull Mountain sign. Continue right up FS 28-1 (don't take the left towards the Bull Mountain Trailhead) and drive until you reach the fork of FS 77 and FS 28-1. Park somewhere around there. Google Maps interactive trailhead location

Alternatively, park at the turn off from FS 28-1 onto the actual trail.

The Route
Pick up the Bull Mountain Trails map (red) printed by Milestone Press as your crucial navigational resource. Also, the National Geographic Trails Illustrated map #777 is awesome as well, and great for navigating all of the forest roads in the greater Blue Ridge WMA area.

Ride up FS 28-1 about 1.8 miles, hang a left onto No Tell Trail #223P (doubletrack). Take the highest route, and follow the doubletrack high along the ridge, ignoring any trails dropping down to the left. Ignore those trails until the upper route has a sign saying no bikes allowed, with a singletrack splitting off downhill. This is the No Tell Trail, and is a great downhill!

It feeds into another FS road/doubletrack trail. Hang a right, and ride over to the upper beginning of Turner Creek. Descend down Turner Creek all the way to FS 28-1, and hang a right, back up to your car. This creates a maybe 6-7 mile loop.

About the Trail
It begins with a section of steep doubletrack climbing that towards the top tends to really test your resolve. The singletrack descent is absolutely bomber! Great descent, and the loop described above works the entire Turner Creek trail into it, creating one heck of a ride!