Georgia's Rustic Haven For Adventure Is This Cozy Mountain Basecamp With Tons Of Amenities

If you're looking for a last outdoor adventure or two before winter arrives, one suggestion is North Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Only about an hour and a half north of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the town of Ellijay, Georgia. Known as one of Georgia's best mountain cities, offering rustic charm, outstanding scenery, wine, and waterfalls, Ellijay is just 20 minutes southeast of Mulberry Gap Adventure Basecamp, situated in the "Mountain Bike Capital of Georgia." But, you'll have to hurry: Mulberry Gap closes from mid-December through mid-February or early March, depending on weather conditions.

Mulberry Gap is hidden in the Blue Ridge Mountains' vast Cohutta Wilderness area of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, a forest brimming with waterfalls, valleys, and trails. The basecamp offers accommodations and amenities to weary adventurers. However, Mulberry Gap also welcomes day-trippers with day use and ride/walk-in options such as drinks, device charging, laundry, maps, shuttles, toilet access, Wi-Fi, and more. Whether you're visiting for a few hours or a few nights, the basecamp prides itself on its family-feel camaraderie and community. As they say, "Enter as strangers, leave as friends."

Once at Mulberry Gap, the outdoor world is your oyster. The basecamp has both shuttle and ride-out access to some of the region's best trails for MTB (mountain biking), gravel biking, runs, hiking, bikepacking, and even motorcycle dual sport. Top trails include Pinhoti 2 (MTB), Spaghetti Loop (gravel), Bearhoti Loop (run), Big Poplar (hike), the nearly 300-mile Cohutta Cat (bikepacking), and Chattahoochee BDR-X (motorcycle). Mulberry Gap staff members offer old-school paper maps as well as assistance with route planning to both day and overnight guests.

Once named Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Get-A-Way, the basecamp opened on January 1, 2007. It was founded by two mothers, Diane Kepley and Ginni Taylor, and is now owned and operated by their children, husband and wife Andrew and Kate Gates. It was their labor of love that transformed one family's former mountain retreat into a family-friendly destination chock full of quaint, rustic charm for the adventurous who simply need a break and a place to relax, sleep, and take in the area's beauty.

Today's Mulberry Gap Adventure Basecamp offers 11 cabins and 11 campsites, including space for RVs. Each of the cabins (located along the creek or with a pond view), is temperature-controlled and has the comforts of home, like bath towels, bedding, robes, a small refrigerator, and a microwave. There's one cabin that also comes with a kitchen and laundry facilities. The campsites, which can accommodate tents, Airstreams, teardrop trailers, vans, and RVs, include a table, chairs, and a fire pit. Both cabins and campsites are pet-friendly. Weekends and holidays require a minimum stay of two nights, and midweek discounted rates are also available.

Saturday and Sunday breakfasts are included with cabin stays, while breakfast on other days, lunch, and dinner are available at an additional cost. All overnight guests have access to the bathhouses (equipped with hair dryers), hot tubs with chairs, fire pits, and The Barn, where meals are served, which also houses a shared refrigerator, microwave, couches, television, books, games, plus a deck with ample seating and a hammock. Mulberry Gap also collaborates with local instructors, partners, and the community to offer group rides, retreats, weddings, holiday gatherings, and other special events.