6/25/09 - Len Foote Hike Inn, Dawsonville, GA
The Hike Inn’s mission is to make experiencing nature easy, and help protect it through education and recreation. A moderate five-mile hike from the top of Amicalola Falls, the Hike Inn is open year round.
Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the AT, is a 4.4-mile hike (8.8 miles round trip) from the Hike Inn. Most guests who hike to Springer Mountain spend two nights at the Hike Inn, allowing a full day for the hike.
The name Leonard E. Foote is not accidentally linked with the Hike lnn's unique backcountry setting, commitment to the outdoors, and mission of teaching conservation ethics, outdoor safety, and preservation of wilderness. Leonard was a leading conservationist, biologist, and nature photographer who lived and worked in Georgia until his death in May 1989. Mr. Foote was the model for the series "Mark Trail." Leonard Foote was a man of many talents and abilities that he devoted to preserving and studying the beauty of the outdoors. We hope to carry on his work by offering people not only a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but also the tools to treasure and protect the beauty they see.
Len Foote Hike Inn is not a hotel. There are 20 bedrooms (hey call them bunkrooms). The rooms are all alike, except the 12 rooms that adjoin adjacent rooms for the convenience of families and groups of more than three persons. Each room is small with minimal amenities — a bunk bed (double-decker, extra long, single mattress), shelves, a stool for sitting and a mirror. And while the rooms are private, the walls are thin.
Len Foote Hike Inn is not a hotel. There are 20 bedrooms (hey call them bunkrooms). The rooms are all alike, except the 12 rooms that adjoin adjacent rooms for the convenience of families and groups of more than three persons. Each room is small with minimal amenities — a bunk bed (double-decker, extra long, single mattress), shelves, a stool for sitting and a mirror. And while the rooms are private, the walls are thin.
Women's shower room.
24 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on the southern roof of the Sunrise Room produce approximately 10 percent of the Hike Inn’s total electricity. Hot water at the bathhouse and for housekeeping comes from solar-thermal water heating systems that reduce fuel costs as well as the Hike Inn’s carbon footprint. Partners who helped in attaining and installing these systems included Southface, Soenso Solar Energy of Georgia and BP.On the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the Hike Inn’s Star Base, a massive granite block formation, channels the rising sun through a cylindrical hole to the back of a small cave behind the formation.
Designed by Atlanta’s Fernbank Science Center, Star Base marks the extremes of the summer and winter solstices, as well as the four main points of the compass. It’s also a great place to relax and enjoy the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.On the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the Hike Inn’s Star Base, a massive granite block formation, channels the rising sun through a cylindrical hole to the back of a small cave behind the formation.
Designed by Atlanta’s Fernbank Science Center, Star Base marks the extremes of the summer and winter solstices, as well as the four main points of the compass. It’s also a great place to relax and enjoy the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.