Each month over the past year this same group of women from Forsyth County, Georgia has met to hike and build each other up through companionship, friendship and empowerment.

“We’re called Warrior Hikers,” said Aswini Oliver, the group’s founder. “It started off with just my best friends, four of us. We just thought, ‘let’s do 12 hikes this year,’ and that’s it.”

In January 2019, Oliver and a few friends, all novice hikers, set out to do something for themselves, something not related to their careers and families, to prove to themselves that they are strong, brave and self-sufficient. Since then, the Warrior Hikers have done some of the toughest hikes in the state, from Sawnee Mountain in Forsyth County to Blood Mountain, in north Georgia.

“We started out with Sawnee Mountain Indian Seats, then we did sunrise on Stone Mountain, Kennesaw, Sweetwater, we did Blood Mountain, Fort Yargo,” Oliver said as she strolled down the path at Little Mulberry Park. “Blood Mountain was the toughest one; Kennesaw was a tough one too.”

Though Warrior Hikers is open to women of all ages and ethnicities, right now the group is comprised of about 60 Indian women. That wasn’t on purpose, Oliver said, the group just grew organically from friend to friend and co-worker to co-worker.

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You’re off for a ramble in the woods. The trail is narrow, the brush is thick. Everywhere you look – trees, bushes, greenery.

Then you spot it, half-hidden, nestled against a fallen, rotting log. You go up for a closer look to be sure that what you think you’re seeing is what you’re really seeing.

But there it is – a disembodied baby doll’s head! Set up as a little art display no less.

And then you see another, and another, along with other discarded, weather-worn objects that are a veritable parade from the Island of Misfit Toys. Where on Earth are you?

Well, you’re mere miles from the world’s busiest airport and literally yards outside the city limits of Atlanta, Georgia.

Welcome to one of the strangest, most semi-disturbing/semi-delightful travels you may ever take – hiking on the Doll’s Head Trail.

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It’s one of North Georgia’s favorite waterfall hikes, and for a good reason: this 7-mile adventure travels to a series of cascading falls set in a beautiful forest, framed by towering trees and mossy boulders. This adventure hikes to Panther Creek Falls, a series of broad, multi-tiered waterfalls that tumble into a deep pool on a sandy beach.

The level, sandy flat below the waterfall is the perfect summertime spot to chill and to soak up some seriously beautiful North Georgia beauty. And the trail is studded with campsites along the way, making this hike one of North Georgia’s most popular backpacking trips. (All campsites are first-come, first camp, so be sure to arrive very early on fair-weather weekends.

The adventure departs from the opposite side of Historic 441 from the Panther Creek picnic area. The hike follows its namesake waterway downstream, traveling under a concrete overpass and diving into a young, mossy hardwood forest. The route ventures deeper into the forest and the sounds of the highway disappear in the distance.

The trail reaches the beautiful, multi-tiered waterfalls of the upper falls at 3.4 miles. Small cascades flow over a wide, tiered rock outcrop, pooling along banks filled with tall grasses and wildflowers.

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  A perfect collision of forces — an anonymous donor looking for a tax write-off, a failed subdivision that turned out to be a $40 million mortgage-fraud scheme, and strategic purchases by conservationists to protect area caves — paved the way for one of the biggest nonprofit conservation projects in the region.

Nearly 2,400 acres on Lookout Mountain and into Johnson’s Crook in Dade County, Georgia, have been preserved and will be managed by the Southeastern Cave Conservancy Inc. as the new Charles B. Henson Preserve at Johnson’s Crook.

The conservancy is now seeking help from other groups in the area to turn the preserve into a major recreation and conservation area. They plan to add more than five miles of hiking with longer connecting trails going to other preserves in the area. They envision mountain biking trails, picnicking, camping, and most of all, caving.

The property has more than 30 known caves, and the conservancy believes there are closer to 40. It contains one of the highest concentrations of caves in the Southeast, according to SCCi.

The property immediately becomes one of the biggest private conservation projects in the region. If it were a state park, it would be one of the 10 biggest in Georgia.

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Reminiscent of a southwestern US landscape, Providence Canyon State Park’s colorful, sculpted canyon walls carve deep through a sandy, stream-filled landscape near Columbus, Georgia. Soft-bedded, sandy hiking trails wind and weave through vibrantly-colored carved canyons, exploring an ever-evolving landscape of loose sandstone and trickling water.

The park’s unusually sculpted, serpentine canyon walls have earned its nickname as Georgia’s ‘Little Grand Canyon’ – and though the Arizona giant dwarfs these canyons, this hike is a unique adventure unlike any other in Georgia. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most unique of Georgia’s State Parks, and one of the three canyons in Georgia that are undeniably hike-worthy.

The park offers over 10 miles of fantastic hiking trails, including the white-blazed Canyon Loop Trail that treks the canyon’s floor and rim, and the red-blazed backcountry backpacking trail. This hike on the white-blazed Canyon Loop offers outstanding views of the sculpted sandstone canyon walls from above, and up-close views within the depths of the canyon. The trail winds through vibrant orange, white, pink and deep purple sandstone walls in nine numbered canyons before circling the rim. It’s a moderate hike, but majorly scenic and ultra-photogenic.

The hike follows stream beds on the canyon floor, a nearly-continuous flow of water and sand between the canyon walls. Grain by grain, sand has flowed away from the canyon’s walls, creating the spectacular rock formations and pinnacles that tower nearly vertically over the trail. Each canyon is unique, carved by water and exposing dramatic, flowing shapes of sandstone carved by continuously moving water.

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There’s just something simply beautiful, and beautifully simple, about a waterfall.

Waterfalls are some of Georgia’s most beloved hiking destinations. Stunning cascades, like Amicalola Falls, stream down from towering mountaintops in North Georgia, drawing hikers by the masses. It’s amazing that water simply falling from rock can create so much beauty.

But Atlanta’s rolling hills and tumbling creeks hold some hidden waterfalls, too. They might not be as large as their North Georgia counterparts, but they’re fully deserving of a hike.

Many of Atlanta’s waterfalls are the sites of historic mills: falling water played a large part in Atlanta’s manufacturing history, turning wheels to power textile and paper making machinery.

Hike these trails in metro Atlanta to splashing waterfalls all year long. They’re all beginner friendly, family friendly and dog friendly — and all worthy of a picnic by the falls.

The Len Foote Hike Inn is nestled in an exceptionally beautiful stretch of the southern Appalachians. It’s an environmentally sustainable backcountry lodge that’s accessible only by hike, clad in beautiful rustic/modern architecture and a comfortable and welcoming spirit, and dishing fresh and delicious cuisine on a mountaintop with incredible vistas.

It’s only accessible via the Hike Inn Trail, a moderately challenging, five mile hike from the crest of Amicalola Falls, Georgia’s tallest waterfall. The hike explores a diverse landscape dotted with beautiful ridges, overlooks, and rhododendron-filled creek valleys. While the hike itself is worthy of the journey, it’s the warm hospitality, comfy furnishings, and great conversation at the inn that make this an exceptionally worthwhile adventure.

Springer Mountain, the southernmost blaze on the iconic, 2000+ mile Appalachian Trail, is a day hike away. The inn is an equally fantastic place to cozy up with a good book, play a board game with a friend, stargaze under a blanket of abundant stars, and catch morning’s first light from a lofty overlook.

The inn offers the chance to stay in a particularly scenic and remote wilderness area, with many of the pleasures of backpacking without the need to pack a heavy load. The inn features twenty guest rooms, and linens are provided, so all that’s needed for a stay is a toothbrush, toiletries, and a change of clothes, in addition to the usual hiking gear for a day hike. Add in some great company, seriously delicious meals, and those oh-so-memorable sunrises, and this is an experience that’s fully worth repeating.

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Autumn is the favorite hiking season of many in North Georgia, as days become cooler, nights become crisp, skies become brilliantly blue, and the cool air triggers a spectrum of leaf color in deciduous trees in the mountains.

Autumn’s cool air makes for comfortable fall hiking, camping and backpacking, as Georgia sheds its summertime heat. Fall leaf color explodes throughout the state’s rolling southern Appalachians, painting the valleys and mountains in yellow, orange and red. And there’s just something about the Fall that goes hand-in-hand with hiking (and pumpkin-flavored everything)… it’s by far the favorite season to hit the trail.

Temperatures and elevations range across the state, so peak leaf change will vary throughout. Leaf change starts with high-elevation mountain summits in early fall, and moves down to lower creek valleys and more southern latitudes as the season moves on. Most of northern Georgia sees peak leaf color in mid-October to mid-November.

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Georgia has one of the busiest stretches of the more than 2,000-mile trail, said Jeff Marion, who studies recreation ecology at the U.S. Geological Survey and Virginia Tech.

Since the trail begins in Georgia, there can be a lot of people on it around the same time as they begin the hike to Maine, he said.

“If you do have 100 or so people starting every day, then you need a fairly large number of campsites to accommodate all those people,” said Marion.

And the trail in Georgia can be more affected than in other places because a lot of hikers who meant to go the whole way end up dropping off earlier. And many people are inexperienced when they start out; they don’t necessarily know how to minimize their effects on the trail and campsites.

Marion and his team are measuring the condition of the trail itself, and also campsites and shelters. And they’re looking at heavily used areas by both thru-hikers and day-hikers, like vistas and swimming holes. They’re also looking at building campsites in different ways, to see if that minimizes some of the damage.

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Explorers are setting out to create a 1,000-mile hiking route across a little-visited mountain range in Georgia and Armenia called the Trans Caucasian Trail.

The team will survey and hike off-road routes over the next six months to design the first long distance walking trail through the Lesser Caucasus mountains.

The team’s leaders will use technology to gather data on the network of off-road car tracks, logging roads and informal trails through important areas.

The Caucasus region is dominated by the Greater and Lesser Caucasus mountain ranges, some of the most impenetrable in the world but known for their rich wildlife, including rarely-seen Eurasian lynx, Caucasian leopards and bears.

Exploring them has been difficult due to the lack of formal trails and maps, which the team hopes to change to help give local people and visitors access to the mountains and raise awareness of the region’s landscapes and cultures.

The long term vision is to create a way-marked trail network similar to Alpine back-country routes, including sections that would involve camping out and staying in refuges while hiking between villages, backed up by resources such as guidebooks.

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