Rice Camp Trail Backpacking Trip

By Jessica

David and I have been trying to plan a weekend backpacking trip since Valentine’s Day. But work and weather always seemed to get in the way, until this weekend, that is. So, we decided to head north to the Cahutta Wilderness … a favorite area of both of ours. My friend from the Atlanta Outdoor Club (AOC) joined us and of course, Monte was there too. From Kennesaw, the drive to the trailhead took just over an hour. We reached the trailhead around 11:30 am and started getting our trekking poles and packs ready. We paused just long enough to get a group photo at the trailhead, and then we were off.

Rice Camp Trail in the Cahutta Wilderness is a relatively short trail, only 3.9 miles, and dead ends into Jacks River Trail. The trail is rated easy to moderate by most trail books and Web sites, which we found to be an accurate account. The first couple miles follows streams (first a tributary of Rice Camp Branch and then Rice Camp Branch itself).

We tried to count the water crossings …

but weren’t sure which ones were truly stream/river crossings and which spots just happened to be really wet. Needless to say, be prepared for wet crossings. We all brought water shoes but never used them. Waterproof or Gortex boots seemed the best fit for the trail. Most water crossing were shallow or easily traversed by hopping rocks.

After the almost 2 miles along the streams, the trail takes a sharp turn to the left and starts uphill. The incline was not steep enough or long enough to up the difficulty rating from the easy to moderate level. The trail is also wide and flat, making for easy footing with a backpack. (These characteristics also made the trail enticing for horseback riders, like the ones we encountered on the trail.) The hike was pleasant although I found myself missing the sounds of running water and the cool breeze coming from the streams.

After the gradual incline, this trail heads back downhill towards Jack’s River. Just as the trail started the descent, we noticed smoke and ash in the air. We couldn’t see fire and I didn’t know of any prescribed burns scheduled for the area (then again, I hadn’t called to find out). We all tried to get a cell phone signal to contact the Ranger station and ask about the smoke, but no one had a signal (even with three different cell phone carriers being represented). So, we decided to take the safe route and head back toward less smoky ground.

Once back at the stream, we chose a nice campsite just on the other side of the stream from the trail.

You can’t miss it on the hike it but it relatively private for being so close to the trail. We set up tents, cleaned up a bit, and settled in for a nice evening by the stream. I filtered water and wrote a bit in my hiking journal while Charina rested and David prepared a place to hang the bear bag for the evening.

We ate dinner soon after. David and I had red beans and rice with summer sausage, Charina dined on gourmet Ramen noodles, and Monte enjoyed a “meaty bone” brought in from home. After we ate and cleaned up, we relaxed, chatted, and watched the sun go down. The temperature dropped with the sun, and while cool enough for a fire, we adhered to policy and didn’t start one (despite the fact that there was an established campfire ring at our camp site).

We all retired early, which was probably smart since it was daylight savings time and we lost an hour of sleep that night. In the morning, we took our time making breakfast and packing up camp. We only had a short hike back to the car, so there was no rush. It was an easy and enjoyable hike out of the woods, but we were all a little sad to leave the peaceful campsite. Once home, we all had chores waiting for us and busy Mondays looming ahead.

This trail was very pretty with the water crossings and a few small waterfalls in areas. Had we followed the trail to the end, we could have enjoyed Jack’s River Falls, which is a great place to cool off after a hot summer’s hike. This trail seemed less traveled than Jack’s River Trail, and is easy enough for beginner hikers to take on. Overall, we greatly enjoyed this trip and the trail. We hope to return to it soon, and this time we plan to complete the entire trail!

Tips for Rice Camp Trail:

Prepare to encounter horseback riders on the trail. And remember that the trail might be a bit torn up by the hooves!

Campfires are not allowed in the Cahutta Wilderness Area.

Call the Ranger station before your hike or backpacking trip. We discovered that the Ranger station wasn’t open on the weekend and there was no cell service either. Had we called ahead of time, we would have known there was a scheduled burn that weekend, and would not have been alarmed by the smoke and ash we saw on our hike.

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