Curahee Mountain
Trail work at Curahee |
For additional access information:
http://www.climbgeorgia.com/local/currahee.html
Curahee Mountain is a small cliff that overlooks the valley near Toccoa in northeast Georgia. The area provides some pretty good slab granite climbing and a few short sport routes on a smaller cliff to the side. Directions and beta are found in the Dixie Craggers Atlas by Chris Watford.
Recommended Routes at Curahee:
Stranger than Friction - 5.9
Frictionary - 5.9
A Wing and a Prayer - 5.9
Smooth as Silk - 5.11
Access Tips for Climbing at Curahee Mountain
* Pack out all trash and any other that you see
* Take part in the fall trail day to do your part to help the area
The SCC performs trail work every fall at Curahee during the Access Fund Adopt-a-Crag day. The trail day is coordinated by Michael Crowder - hueyville@mindspring.com. If you are interested in helping out and attending, please contact Michael.
Possible Public Road Closure at Curahee Climbing Area - Public Comment Period (April 1999)
A message from the office of David Jenson,District Ranger for
the Chattooga Ranger District in Northeast Georgia was recently
received. This memo outlines a proposed plan to close the road up
Currahee Mountain due to heavy traffic use, erosion, etc. This
letter calls for a public comment period thru April 20, 1999. The
basic premise of the memo is to:
A. Close the area entirely.
B. Close the area seasonally.
C. Only allow traffic by special use permit only.
Curahee is located near Toccoa, Georgia and is an extremely
popular area for toproping and exposed lead climbing. The area
has several routes and is within an hour and a half drive of
metro Atlanta. The climbing area is located on Forest Service
land and is accessed by a dirt road that is very steep and highly
erodible in areas. A radio tower and parking lot is located at
the top of the mountain which has long been the site of late
night partiers and vandals.
A message from Peech Keller explains the situation:
The main reason for closing Currahee Road to uncontrolled
public traffic is to preserve the road surface and reduce
erosion. If you are at all familiar with this road, you know it
is in TERRIBLE shape because of its steepness. It doesn''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''t take
long at all after grading for it to deteriorate from vehicle
traffic and weather. The climbing area is NOT included under the
proposed closure. The letter stated that the road would be open
for special use permittees which includes the electronic site
permittees and other groups or individuals who would like to
drive to the top for allowable purposes, such as climbing. We
have no intention of closing this area off to the climbers. What
we would propose to do is to have a combination lock on the gate,
whose combination we would give to people who would like a permit
to drive to the top. This is different than the situation at Mt.
Yonah, where we can not give permits to use the road because we
don''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''t own the road. The proposed gate would be located 1 mile
from the top, at a place where there is room for approx. 3
vehicles to park if one wished to walk up without a permit.
Please pass this information on to your folks. There is a lot of
misunderstanding out there as to what our reasons and intentions
are. - Peech Keller
Comments are to be directed to:
Peech Keller
Chattooga Ranger District 200
Highway 197N P.O.
Box 1960 Clarkesville Ga. 30523
If you have questions on this issue at Curahee please email: Chris Watford,
Southeastern Access Fund Representative
Copyright © by The Southeastern Climbers Coalition All Right Reserved.
