Forest Service proposes fee hikes at 20 North Georgia recreation sites

The U.S. Forest Service is inviting the public to weigh in on its proposal to raise fees at 14 developed recreation sites in the Chattahoochee National Forest. The plan, if approved, would also impose fees at six sites visitors currently use for free.

The proposed fee hikes would cost most day-use visitors an extra dollar a day, while some overnight camping rates would nearly double.

“We recognize how important these sites are to our local communities and our visitors who use them. These proposals will help us maintain the sites to the level and quality people have come to expect, as well as make the fees more consistent throughout the area,” a news release from the Blue Ridge Ranger District explains.

The proposed fee hikes cover facilities within all four ranger districts spread across 26 North Georgia counties.

The proposal includes proposed dollar-a-day rate hikes at Panther Creek and Dukes Creek Trailheads – from $4 to $5. It also would impose a new fee at the Mount Yonah Trailhead of $5 a day. Currently, no fees are charged at Mount Yonah.

Some camping fees would more than double under the plan. (Scroll up to review the proposed fee hikes in each of the ranger districts.)

Public input welcome

Before any new fees are adopted, they will be reviewed by a citizen’s advisory committee, forestry officials say. The committee made up of different recreation interest groups, is meant to help ensure that the Forest Service is proposing reasonable and publicly acceptable new fees and fee changes.

The public is invited to comment on the proposed changes now through the close of business on August 31, 2023.

Comments may be mailed to the Chattahoochee-Oconee Forest Service, Attention: Taylor Hughes, 1755 Cleveland Highway, Gainesville, GA 30501, or emailed to [email protected].

You may also submit your comments online at the U.S. Forest Service website under Recreation Fee Proposals – Southern Region or by clicking here.

To leave a comment by phone, call 770-297-3000 and tell them you would like to provide comments on the proposed recreation fee changes.

Once public involvement is complete, the proposed fee changes will be reviewed by a Recreation Resource Advisory Committee, which will submit its recommendation to the Regional Forester for a final decision.

Proposed fee changes