Getaways: Ode to the Len Foote Hike Inn
Looking for a late summer or fall getaway? Check out the Len Foote Hike Inn in North Georgia where the hike is the only way Inn. We did. Read about our mountain adventure to the eco-lodge here.
As one poster about this sustainably-designed Georgia State Park inn reads: “If you enjoy wilderness but prefer a soft bed, hot showers and great food instead of camping, the Hike Inn is for you.”
The mission of the Len Foote Hike Inn – named after a Georgia conservationist: to make experiencing nature easy and help protect it through education and recreation.
To get to the Hike Inn, you do an easy-to-moderate five-mile hike from the top of North Georgia’s Amicalola Falls through the Chattahoochee National Forest to the backcountry Inn.
You spend the night in a rustic, TV-less bunkroom in the secluded Inn after a solar-heated shower (shampoo, soap, towels provided) and family-style, home-cooked dinner. After watching the sunrise (they beat a drum at dawn if the sunrise conditions are worth waking up to see), you have a huge breakfast, spend time exploring the lodge grounds and hike out the same trail when you leave.
Or, for those who want a longer stay and more hiking, Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the AT, is a 4.4-mile hike (8.8 miles round trip) from the Hike Inn. Most guests who hike to Springer Mountain spend two nights at the Hike Inn, allowing a full day for the hike.
The 20-bunkroom Hike Inn welcomes families. A family of three can stay in the same room if the child is 12 years of age or younger. The Inn has mats, so the child can sleep on the floor. For a family of four, two rooms are necessary. They have discounted rates for children 12 years of age or younger. Games and age-appropriate books are available for children.
Len Foote Inn is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lenfootehikeinn and on Twitter at @HikeInn