| Trail Length: 1.6 miles | Type of trail: Loop |
| County: Forsyth County, GA | Our rating: D |
| Features: visitors center, scenic, picnicking, historic, family, bathrooms | Your rating: |
| Usage: Medium | Added on: October 17, 2011 |
| Last hiked: October 24, 2011 | Updated on: December 29, 2011 |
| About these ratings | |
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Additional Trails Hiking trails in Forsyth County, GA Directions |
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Pets are not allowed within the Sawnee Mountain Preserve.
Trails are for foot traffic only.
Climbing and rappelling require a permit.
Overview
This loop trail is accessible from the Bettis-Tribble Gap entrance of the Sawnee Mountain Preserve or from the Spot Road entrance with an additional 1.2 mile hike (.6 miles each way) on the Upper Laurel Branch Trail. Indian Seats climbs to the top of 1,963 foot Sawnee Mountain, a gain of 600 feet from start. Dogs are not allowed on this trail.
Sawnee Mountain is named for Chief Sawnee (also spelled Sauney), a Cherokee Indian who lived southwest of present-day Cumming. While tales abound of Sawnee being too old to be removed on the Trail of Tears, he received $618.50 in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1839 in payment for
"removal damages", probably his property (Sawnee Mountain and a 16-acre parcel of land southwest of present-day Cumming, Georgia). A second man, Sawnee Vann from the Rome area is also on this list, but he is not related to Chief Sawnee.
Hiking Indian Seats Trail
This narrative is told hiking the trail in a counter-clockwise direction. From the trailhead behind the bathroom, follow the wide trail to the right. From this point to the top of Sawnee Mountain the Indian Seats Trail is almost always gaining in altitude. Just over 0.1 miles into the hike the Eaglet Trail comes off to the left. This .25 mile trail is an easy, fun hike small children.
After Eaglet Trail the path curves, dropping into an area where a number of placers were dug in 1895. Two men, noted only as Messrs. Hampton and Herman of Atlanta in a geologists report dated 1896, worked the gold deposits of the southeastern side of Sawnee Mountain. They dug off 12 feet of "topping," then extracted the gold by washing the gravel.
Two mine shafts were also dug on Sawnee, one on the Yucca Trail and the other on the Lower Laurel Trail, below the junction with the Indian Seats Trail. Entrances to both shafts are caged to prevent access. The gold in Sawnee is part of the Hall County Gold Belt which begins in Fulton County, Georgia and runs for 100 miles through Rabun County and into North Carolina. The earliest discoveries of gold in the Southeast were along this belt. It is not part of the Dahlonega Gold Belt, which was responsible for the Georgia Gold Rush.
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The final ascent to the top of Sawnee Mountain is strenuous. At the top the view of the Blue Ridge Mountains is stunning, especially on a clear day. Sharp Mountain, Oglethorpe Mountain, Springer Mountain, and in the distance, Fort Mountain are all part of the vista. Archeological evidence indicates Woodland Indians were using the mountaintop as early as 500 BC. perhaps even as a council site.
After exploring the top of Sawnee Mountain, return to the Indian Seats Trail and continue walking the loop counterclockwise. The trail easily drops below but continues to skirt the ridge. As the drop continues the pace of the drop increases until it meets the Upper Laurel Trail at just over a mile. At this well-marked intersection the trail makes a hard left turn, passing the Yucca Trail entrance on the right and the Lower Laurel Trail entrance on the left. Just past the intersection with the Lower Laurel Trail the parking lot is visible on the right.
Map
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Woodland Indians
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