When: Friday, April 25 to Sunday April 27, 2025
What: Camp Merrill Ranger’s Open House (Saturday, April 26)
Who: All Trailmen and Registered Adults
Where: 1 Camp Merrill Dr, Dahlonega, GA 30533 (see directions and valuable information below)
Costs: Free
Special Instructions:
The U.S. Army Rangers have trained in the Appalachian Mountain since 1951. The Ranger Open House is an annual event opened to the public and hosted at Camp Merrill. Guest will get to see firsthand demonstrations of hand-to-hand combat, military skydiving, and battle simulations that highlight survival skills and mountaineering. The Ranger Open House is an exciting display of the capabilities of America’s Army Rangers. This event is free and will also showcase military vehicles and modern day military equipment.
Directions to Camp Merrill Camping:
Use the address for The OverHang at 1 Camp Merrill Dr, Dahlonega, GA 30533 to get you to the forest service road.
Most everyone will come in from Dahlonega on Camp Wahsega Rd. Upon arrival, you will come to a four-way stop and the main gate to Camp Merrill will be directly in from of you (DO NOT ENTER THE MAIN GATE). Turn LEFT onto Hightower Church Rd. Continue a few hundred yards and turn RIGHT onto SSG B Charles Rd (Forest Service Rd 141). There should be an open yellow gate. In a hundred yards or so, you will see the Etowah River that you will drive across (solid rocky bottom and shallow). Then you will see a second yellow gate that should also be open. Stay on the main service road for about 2.5 miles until you see Troop GA-2717 trailer (you have arrived). Ask for Bill Ingram or Andy Jobson for Troop GA-8611 camping location (plenty of tent or hammock spaces).
I have circled Mt. Zion Church on the map if you’d like to use that spot to meet up before driving into the camping area. I would not plan to park there overnight as you may be towed.
The gates will be closed and locked on Saturday and will be unlocked either Saturday night or Sunday morning, so enter on Friday night and plan on staying until Sunday morning. There is no electricity, bathrooms, or potable water, there is a creek for filtering water. This will be rough car camping.
On Saturday, a couple pick-up trucks will be used to drive everyone back up the forest service road to the Camp Merrill activities and back to campsite afterwards. Everyone will need to take their lunch or money to purchase from food trucks. There will be port-a-potties available around Camp Merrill but not at camping site.