Smithgall Woods State Park - State park in Helen - 61 Tsalaki Trail, USA

We did the Laurel trail. It is 1.6 miles. Great for a family with kids and a dog. The view from the clearing was spectacular. The weather was a bit chilly, but no ice to deal with. I imagine on an icy day it would be tough to do. There are no trash cans on hike; however, the people were respectful enough to not litter.

Wonderful state park with many northern forest trails to delight. The Laurel Ridge Trail is closest to the visitor center and offers interesting sights, vegetation, and a guided trail map of landmarks. The best vista is a southern view of Yonah Mountain and Sal Mountain, with a bench to pause and take in the serenity. Walk it year round.

A great moderate hike. Active dog friendly and a great view at the top. Bring plenty of water. The trail is shaded the whole way. Took about an hour with stopping for pictures. Bathrooms and gift shop at the parking lot.

We came early to avoid heat of summer sun. it was quite relaxing to hike or walk through trails at Smithgall Woods State Park, it's relatively easy 6 miles, very quiet. At end of Martin Mine trail, I decided to climb to the top of that small fall, after struggling quite bit with thick woods, managed to get on Shackletford Road, then I had to take off shoes to get cross that creek. That's bit of adventure for myself, I enjoyed it:)

We hiked the Laurel Ridge Trail with our pet dog. It was a nice walk with some fairly steep parts. The summit was nice. There is a bench there and you can see several nearby mountains. Yonah mountain is easy to see from there.

I love this place! I was looking for a place to day hike and the trails here were perfect! It was also convenient to have restroom access.

We hiked this trail on 1/21/23 (Pato's Gotcha Day!!!). We only did the Martins Mine Trail. As pups, we did enjoy this trail. There were lots of smells and very little people. Something that, as pups, that wasn't our favorite about the trail was 80% of the trail was paved and felt like we were walking down the highway. It's not great on our puppy joints, and it was boring for Mom, Dad, and quite frankly us. We did LOVE the trail once we got to the Martins Mine Trail. It was a very narrow trail, but honestly that was fun! The waterfall was beautiful and we enjoyed taking pictures with Mom and Dad! We definitely want to come back and do other trails!

Great area to hike. Make sure you go to the Visitor's Center for some great information.