Mountains near Jacksonville, FL

“looking for a 4 night loop, in mountains, near jacksonville, fl. must i go toward atlanta? does anyone have recomendations for 4 night loop, with mountains within 350 or so of jacksonville?”

“Catchy thread title. Before I opened this, I figured we had picked up a crazy hiker along the way. 350 miles ought to cover you there baume,,,, but it doesn't hardly meet my definition of near, LOL.”

“if u want mountains.. sorry charlie.. NW.. GA/NC/TN.

HPM: Am I wrong?”

“and there is a couple nice canyons in AL I hear.”

“TD, I think he can find mountains 350 miles north of Jacksonville,,,LOL.”

“ya ya ya.. whatever.”

“Mountains.........Near Jacksonville Florida??????????

ROTFLMMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“baume, you are definitely the product of a PSU education.

North of Atlanta is about as close as it gets.”

“well now, in reading Baume's fine print, he did set a 350 mile range”

“in Alabama you have the 2 wilderness areas...Sipsey, and Dugger Mountain(new)...Oak mountain in B'ham (dry, and not backcountry enough for me)...Pinhoti trail (trying to make it AT...and it contains dugger mtn)..and Little River Canyon...suppossedly largest canyon/river system east of Miss or highest river..i forget the claim

With these you don't get much higher than 1500' That's my 2 cents”

“This is what you do. Head up I-95 until you get to I-26 in South Carolina (about 4 hours). Turn left and go through Columbia towards Spartanburg, SC (2hrs) and then towards Asheville, NC. Once you get about 15 miles into NC look for the exits for Hendersonville. You're not going to go there though. Drive on past Hendersonville until you get to NC 280. Get off I-26 and turn left on 280 going towards Pisgah Forest and Brevard, NC (15 minutes). When you get to Pisgah Forest turn right unto US 276 and in 100 yards you'll be in Pisgah National Forest. It's the best place you'll find within eight hours of Jax. No bull. Drive up 15 miles and you'll be at 5000 ft and looking at 6000 ft. mountains. There are trails all over the place starting right after you enter the forest.

And if you need any food, maps, or gear stop in at Diamond Brand Camping Center. It's a backing/climbing/flyfishing/mt. biking, etc store. It's just off Exit 13 on I-26 in Fletcher, NC. Just turn left at the exit ramp and go down about .25 miles through all the truckstops and mobile home dealers. It's on the left. Great store in a bad location.”

“Exactly.. REAL mountains.”

“Well Mel wouldn't consider them real mountians but they look like mountains to me.”

“Go South of Jacksonville and hike to the top of Mt. Daytona.”

“You might check out Mt Dora, Florida.”

“shoot brother Orlando Mnt. is the Place to go ! You must be in shape thow!”

“We have Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain here in Orlando.”

“How about Gator Gulf in Gainsville? Have you been there yet?”

“are mountainous, aren't they?”

“Hey try Crestview, the highest point in the State is near there Becareful of altitude sickness however its a wopping 345 feet”

“The highest point in Florida is listed as Lakeshore, FL. The actual point is on 120 acres north east that my folks own. The Alabama line is adjacent to it, and it used to be an old homesite. The Landmark sign is 5 miles down the road, where they built a roadside picnic park so pple could access the "highest point"...lil do they know it's 5 miles down....in our hayfield.”

“yeah, i know there aren't any in the immediate area. we were thinking of maybe heading for the smokies. i just was hoping i didn't need to make the 9-10 hour trip for mountains. solitary hiker, your idea sounds good too. thank you. i've been in that area before. i was hoping there was something i hadn't heard of closer to central georgia or south carolina that offered some elevation change with views. were doing flat land for a week in july, so running girl and i are heading for mountains the beginnig of april. i used 350 miles as a measurement point due to it being about the distance to the atlanta area from my in-laws.

radagast, gojo any other georgians got any secrets for a four day loop. if you don't want to post it you can e-mail it to mccracdb_1@msn.com.”

“Cumberland Island, Goergia.
There are no hills (nice dunes though) but you could spend DAYS wandering the Island. It's dam near to the Florida line.”

“D@mn!
I can't spell Georgia.”

“yeah, cumby isn't more than an hour away. we will be on an island for a week in july though, that is why we are headed for the mountains in april.”

“Are there any real mountains east of the Rockies?”