This trail is named after the regional planner and forester who proposed the Appalachian Trail and the whole track is marked with white diamond blazes. However, Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT) follows the western side while the Appalachian Trail is on the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains. The start of the trails is at Springer Mountain where the Benton MacKaye joins a some sections of the original Appalachian Trail. The AT has been rerouted after 1957, thus there are some original paths that are no longer visible.

Further west, BMT passes over Chester Creek twice before reaching Three Forks. A mile past over this footbridge, the route turns left crossing Route 60 and then reaching Duncan Ridge Trail where it shares footpath with BMT. Since Benton MacKaye trail does not pass through federally protected lands, expect to pass by summer homes and roads with a lot of vehicles during heavy traffic.

Move past this and then down to Toccoa River wherein you will find a long footbridge across it. From the river, proceed to Tooni Mountain’s ridge where after passing that you will descend to cross State Road 60. Ascend to Wallalah, Licklog, and Rhodes Mountain until the Duncan Ridge swerves east. The trail then takes you to the difficult but scenic south side of Cohutta Wilderness before crossing State Road 60 one more time.

At the Shallowford Bridge you will cross the Toccoa once again and then leaves Stanley Creek Road past the Falls Branch Bridge. At this point, you will begin a climb to Rocky Mountain where a quarter mile on the way up takes you to the side trail of Falls Branch Falls. The trail runs through the ridges of Cherry Log crossing a footpath at US 76(515), which is a treacherous and poorly marked intersection where the passes a high speed road. Past this leads you to Bush Head Gap where starting here you will barely pass near roads again.

Forward to Flat Top then to Dyer Gap which continues to cross Old Highway 2 and into Cohutta Wilderness.

You will see a marker for the Cohutta Wildlife Management Area which is hard to miss. Then set foot to a northern route to the Georgia-Tennessee border entering the wilderness again. However, this section is a new development on the trail and has not been travelled much. You may not even locate this on any trail maps as of the moment but you may only take reference to Tim Homan’s book to find this.