April 1, 2025
Sosebee Cove & Coosa Backcountry Trails
near Blairsville, GA
Great weather for a hike, but not the best day for wildflowers. This hike should have been scheduled two weeks later, mid-April, to see many more wildflowers in bloom, especially at Sosebee Cove. Nevertheless, both trails were in good shape . The mostly continual climb out of the West Wolf Creek Valley made this hike easy to moderately difficult.
Today's Hikers: Beth Hawkins, Charles Hawkins, Rich Brown, Sue Vaughn, Renee Corbett, Matt Henderson & Toby, John Cape, Allyson Aldrich, Angela Evans, Jenny Bell, Vic Robson, Ken Kellerman & Mike Bell.
The route
5.3 mi · 860 ft climbing · 3h 46m out, 3h 2m walking · 1.7 mph moving
Elevation
Hover over the profile to see the elevation and steepness. Your position will be shown on the map.
Part 1 of 2 · 0.4 mi
- Steepness
- Gentle under 5%
- Moderate 5–10%
- Steep 10–15%
- Very steep over 15%
Part 2 of 2 · 4.9 mi
- Steepness
- Gentle under 5%
- Moderate 5–10%
- Steep 10–15%
- Very steep over 15%
17 photos are shown on the map where they were taken — click one to see it full size.
Photos (19)
Rich Brown spotted this emerging Showy Orchis in Sosebee Cove, one of few wildflowers blooming there. Today's Hikers (L-R) Back: Beth, Charles, Rich, Sue, Renee & Matt; Front: Toby, John, Allyson, Angela, Jenny, Vic, Ken & Mike A bit foggy as we got started at Sosebee Cove. Not a lot of wildflowers in bloom yet . . . my bad. Not ring-around the Yellow Buckeye, but it did take 5 hikers to reach around this famous, ~100+-year old tree. There were a few Toadshade Trillium and Bloodroot in bloom, but that was about it!. These moss "blooms" or sporophytes produce the spores that eventually reproduces more moss. The moss covered drainage swale down the center of Sosebee Cove is attractive in itself. You can see a spread of Trout Lily leaves that tended to dominate much of this area. We're heading out on the Coosa Backcountry Trail. Still a good trail and great weather. We crossed over this small double waterfall as we headed down to the West Fork of Wolf Creek. More wildflowers as we approached West Wolf CreeK: UL-Blue Cohort; UR-Toadshade Trillium; LR-Cur-leaf toothwort; LL-Star Chickweed Aren't these Eastern waterleafs striking? UL-Woodland white violet; UR-Halberd-leaved violet; LR-Common blue violet; LL-Appalachian barren strawberry Lunch on West Wolf Creek We were getting worried, but Vic spotted this single Trout lily and then Rich spotted a few more on the creek bank. A nice bridge across West Wolf Creek. I think Renee found this solitary Sessile-leaf bellwort as we headed back. It's mostly uphill all the way back. Another great find by Renee who identified this Earthstar fungus, not a land octopus . . . kind of creepy nevertheless.