Vogel State Park is a or 94 hectares state park located at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest. It became one of the first two parks in Georgia when it founded a state park system in 1931. Much of the park was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s.
The park features streams, a waterfall, and Lake Trahlyta. At elevation it is one of Georgia's highest altitude state parks. The mountainous habitats surrounding the lake support a wide assortment of plants and animals.
Within the park are a series of hiking trails. These include the Bear Hair Gap Trail and the more strenuous Coosa Backcountry Trail, which leads up toward Blood Mountain and the Appalachian Trail near Neel Gap. Vogel Park features camping sites, cabins, swimming, boating and other recreational activities.
Description and history
Vogel State Park is located south of Blairsville on US Highway 19 in the north Georgia mountains. At nearly altitude, Vogel State Park is usually cool during the summer months, and is one of Georgia's most popular state parks. Vogel features hiking trails, cabins and a pond known as Lake Trahlyta, which was created when the Civilian Conservation Corps dammed Wolf Creek. The lake is named for Trahlyta, a Cherokee maiden who is buried a few miles from the park at Stonepile Gap. The Corps workers, located at the CCC Camp at Goose Creek just north of the park, also built the first cabins, picnic areas and camping grounds at Vogel.
Vogel is Georgia's second oldest state park. The land comprising the park was donated to the state in 1927 by August H. Vogel and Fred Vogel, Jr. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The two were heirs to the Pfister & Vogel Leather Company, a Wisconsin tannery founded by Frederick Vogel. The Vogel family harvested bark from oak and hemlock trees located on thousands of acres they owned in North Georgia. The bark was shipped to Wisconsin and used by the company for tanning leather. During World War I, a synthetic method to tan leather was developed so there was no further need for the north Georgia resources. The Vogels gave their land to Georgia to create the state park.
Vogel State Park Lake Dam, also known as Lake Trahlyta Dam, is a high earthen embankment. The long dam has a maximum discharge of per second. Its capacity is , although its normal storage is . It drains an area of .
Facilities and activities
Vogel State Park hosts a variety of outdoor activities, including camping, hiking, backpacking, boating, fishing and swimming. The park includes 103 tent, trailer and RV sites for camping, 18 walk-in campsites, and 35 cottages. About 95 of the camping sites contain electrical hookups and water. Also on site are four picnic shelters and a group camping facility, a pioneer campground, backwoods primitive campground areas and hot showers.
The centerpiece of the park is Lake Trahlyta. The lake has a swimming beach and boat launch for non-motorized watercraft, and offers seasonal rentals for pedal boats, kayaks, and paddle boards. It contains bass and bream and is stocked periodically during each trout season with about 5,000 trout. Also at the park are a general store, miniature golf course and a Civilian Conservation Corps museum.
Hiking
The park features four hiking trails, covering a wide variety of conditions, forest habitats and difficulties. These include the moderate difficulty -long Bear Hair Gap Trail marked by green blazes. It begins and ends in Vogel, although most of the trail loops through the Chattahoochee National Forest. The park also features a Trahlyta Lake Loop Trail and the Byron Herbert Reese Nature Trail (.8 miles).