Cherokee Hiking Club
198 Crews Drive, Benton, TN 37307

Old Copper Road Dayhike
Sunday, March 9, 2008

Brief Description:   This is a 4.6 mile hike along the Old Copper Road which parallels US64 and the Ocoee River going upstream from the Ocoee Whitewater Center. This hike is easy and fairly level with great views of the Ocoee River. The hike is an out and back affair, 2.3 miles each way.

Length:  4.6 miles

Difficulty Rating: Easy due to shortness and little elevation gain

Elevation Gain: <100 feet

        Hike Leader:  Ann Gray, 423-479-75ll (home) or 240-8863 (cell)

        Trail Map

        Elevation Profile of the Trail

        Trailhead Access Map

        Other Useful Links:      

Directions to the Trailhead:  Meet at the Ocoee Hardee's at 1:30 PM or at the Ocoee Whitewater Center along US64 at 2:00 PM. There is a fee for parking at the Whitewater Center, $3.00 or if you have a Golden Age Passport, it will only cost you $1.50.  Drive into the short term parking area by the visitor center, then drive past this into the main big parking lot and pay you fee and find the rest of us. You can only park for 30 minutes in the parking lot at the Visitor Center, so you must go into the long term parking area for the hike.

Trail Description: The Old Copper Road is what is left of the old 33-mile road between Copperhill and Cleveland. This road was used to transport the copper ore by wagon from the copper mines at Copperhill to Cleveland. From there, the copper ore was transported to other sites by train for processing. The Old Copper Road was eventually replaced by the L&N train which was built between Etowah and Copperhill, going up through the Hiwassee River gorge, passing through Farner.

Post Trip Report:

A total of l0 hikers enjoyed the Old Copper Road trail Sunday afternoon.  The temperature was good (low

50's) and the trail had lots of shade so there was plenty of snow left from Saturday's snow fall.  The snow

really added to the beauty of the area and the rushing water sounds further enhanced the hike. 

Hikers were Ann Gray, Gail and Edmond Gray, Debbie Flower, Jane Bohannon, and Belinda Mantooth.

Also along were first-time hikers with our club Shirley Jones, Sheila Bailey, Deb Bond, and Terry McCoy.

We were glad to have them join us

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