Why we hike

This hiking group is a continuation of the Old Friends Hiking Club, which started in the early 1960s by Dr. Sam Hay and a small group of hikers from Toccoa, Georgia. We hike weekly, usually on Tuesdays, using the almost unlimited number of trails in Northeast Georgia, Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. These are day hikes, starting at trailheads usually within 1 to 1½ hours driving time.

While most of our hiker friends are retired, we welcome anyone wishing to hike with us. We typically have 10–24 hikers per event, usually 10–15.

We are not aggressive hikers since most of us are a bit older, with our pace being typically between 1.5–2.0 miles per hour. We hike between 4–9 miles, with most of our hikes being 5–7 miles in length. We try to vary our hikes, some easy and some more difficult, and we are always looking for new trails. We do not hike when the weather is forecast to be unfavorable.

We are very friendly and casual. You do not need any special clothing, shoes or hiking gear. We always try to take a group photo to document our hike, and a hike report showing the trail actually taken, a summary of distance and elevation climbed, and photos is normally posted after each hike.

The hike reports from 2003 through March 2020 come from the original hikingsouth.com website, which documented the Old Friends Hiking Club under Tony Presley, who led the group for many years and wrote up every hike. We thank Tony for the time and effort he put into organizing, leading and reporting those hikes — and the many hikers documented in them, whose commitment to this group continues today.