Top of Georgia Hostel & Hiking Center

This hostel is brand new about half mile off the Appalachian Trail at Dick’s Creek Gap in GA. They offer shuttle service from the trail. We started hiking to the hostel, the shuttle passed us, and then turned around to pick us up. We were grateful for that! Renaissance and Buttercup were super friendly when we arrived. The prices are a bit expensive and if you are not a thru hiker they charge you $ 10 more. They will do your laundry for you and give you scrubs to wear so everything can be washed which I thought was a nice considerate touch. ($) they offer a foot soak ($ 5) of either black tea (toughening of the feet) or Epsom salt (healing of the feet). The breakfast was $ 8 and not that great. They offer shuttle services to Hiawassee if you need to resupply, but only at 1 and 4 p.m. which was a little irritating. If you need to go in the morning they charge you $ 30 one way! We called a shuttle service who picked us up, took us to town, waited on us and then dropped us off at the trail for $ 40, much more reasonable. The Gear shop on sight left alot to be desired, hardly any food options to resupply. All and all we did have a nice stay but be ready to fork over some bucks.

This hostel got me over my first real low point on my thru-​hike. Friendly, accommodating, knowledgeable– I left feeling ready to take on 2000 miles!

I arrived after a tough first week on the trail, feet tired and stomach empty. A nights stay at the Top of Georgia Hostel and Hiking Center was just what I needed to recover and keep my spirits up! The staff here is fantastic — small things like remembering individual names (and there are a lot of hikers here, so that’s no easy task), offering bits of advice and complementary pack shakedowns really help you feel like you’re being welcomed into the family for the night. Some of the awesome bonuses that come either with your stay or are offered as an extra purchase (relatively inexpensive and well worth it) are:
— A free hot shower and towel
— Options for laundry done on site by the staff here. The Top of Georgia staff will even give you a set of hospital scrubs to wear while they do your laundry, so that everything can be washed at once. That was certainly something I had never seen before!
— Free shuttles into hiawassee for guests starting at 1pm and extending to 4pm (times may change, final pickup is at 6:30).
— Full kitchen and living room with fridge and hiker box
— Entertainment room with tv, books, games, XBOX 360, and most anything else you could want
— Wireless internet and computer access for smokies permits and blog editing
— Option to purchase a hearty breakfast for a little under 9 dollars
— Options to purchase frozen pizzas, ice cream, etc
— Outdoor cooking stands for backpacking stoves
— Lodging for guests as well as their dogs!
— Outfitter and resupply shop
— Trail and Gear Advice and support from Triple-​Crowner Bob «Sir-​Packs-​A-​Lot»
The Top of Georgia Hostel and Hiking Center is about a week’s hike from Springer, and it’s a great stop to take a load off and meet some new friends. We definitely had a blast (so much that much of the crew is zeroing here for a day!) and I look forward to returning in the future to enjoy the hostel and the area more. At only a mile off of the Appalachian Trail, don’t pass this one by.

As a southbound thru-​hiker in 2014, I was very pleasantly surprised about this hostel. You won’t find a comparable hostel until you get to The Green Mountain House in Vermont or maybe The Bearded Woods in Connecticut.
Their work for stay employee Buttercup was adorable and a real pleasure to meet and do business with. Sir-​Packs-​A-​Lot was super friendly, knowledgable, and willing to help out. When I had forgotten my hat, he expressed interest in picking me up and getting me back to the hostel to get it.
The main reason I like this hostel is how clean and spacious it was, allowing us to kind of sprawl out and just enjoy ourselves, watching netflix on their wifi. They also have board games and books to read.
It’s a bit of a way out of town, but they offer free shuttles with stay, but we elected to hitch, and had decent luck with it. Also the have a kitchen you can use, so you don’t need to go into town for every meal, you can cook there.
The only things I would ask for to make it 5 stars is pillows and linen.

I had a higher rating for Top of Georgia within the first few hours of our arrival. It is a new hostel, having opened just this year, and the owner Sir Packs A Lot was so awesome. I had to drop it down to 3 stars after we encountered his employee, Johnny, who was completely rude to not only us, but other hikers as well. He would get totally pissed if you asked him anything and would shuffle around all angry-​like if your question also made him get off the couch. They have wifi that you can use and they will give you scrubs to wear if you need to do laundry (extra $). A shower is included with your stay. I’d say the only other bummer is that there were only 2 bathrooms to use and about 25 hikers to share them with, so I actually woke up at 6am (they open the main cabin at 6:30am) just so that I could make sure I could use the bathroom before getting back on the trail. I personally had a run-​in with Johnny just before we were leaving when I went to use the kitchen sink to wash my hands. This is where he scolded me, telling me «You can’t do that here! This is an area of food preparation and you can’t wash your hands here!» To which I politely said «I’m sorry but it’s my last chance to use running water before the trail and the bathrooms have been occupied for hours». He then made a very snide remark saying something along the lines of me needing to be more educated. Which is funny because I have a Master’s of Science degree, and I can’t help but assume it could be at least 5 more years of schooling than what he has under his belt. If I’m wrong, then he didn’t pay close enough attention in school. This is because, just the night before, they had prepared foot baths in large Tupperware tubs/​containers for the hikers. When they were finished they then proceeded to empty the «foot juice» waste water contents down this same sacred «food prep ONLY» kitchen sink that I was «not allowed» to wash my hands at. I’m not sure I remember learning those Food Safety SOPs when I received my specialization in Food Processing and Technology. Just sayin’. Overall, we did have a nice stay, it’s just that Johnny put a rain cloud over it.