looking for a little advice - hiking in the southeast

It been a long time since I've been on this forum, as I have been down in the state of Florida, where peak bagging is litteraly throwing out your bag of trash on the top of the dump. Anyway I am thinking of hitting the hills again (its been far to long). I was hopping maybe someone may be able to recommend a hike or two in Georgia or South Carolina. If I was back in the North East, I would be in the high peaks or maybe up to the whites. Something for reference would be a personal favorite of Algonquin then comming back off the back side via avalanche lake. Great views, a few scrambles, not a killer hike but certanlly a challenge. Thanks for any advice.

I've only done the AT in Georgia, but I know this exact question has been asked on the AT section-hikers facebook group. There were a lot of answers, lots of people living in Georgia and the Carolinas. Just a thought.

I moved to North Georgia from Maine a year and a half ago and have been hiking once or twice a week since then in GA, NC and TN. I've done the Algonquin hike you mention although good number of years ago and memories fade. Anyway, even though hikes here are generally less difficult than in the Whites, I could suggest one right off that's pretty stiff -- an out and back up the Algonquin trail from Track Rock Gap to Brasstown Bald the GA high point. It would be 12 miles with over 3700' elevation gain. It's a good stiff climb with elevation gain on the way back also and great views from the State Park building at the top. It's one of my favorites. My favorite hiking book for GA is Jim Parham's book Day Hiking the North Georgia Mountains. One great feature is that he gives GPS coordinates (as well as directions) for the trailheads.

I've only hiked a few places in Georgia (Springer Mountain is worth hiking early in the season ... March ... to see the AT northbounders taking off, Tallulah Gorge) and South Carolina (Caesers Cap) but, in my mind, there is nothing like the White Mountains of N.E. until you get to North Carolina where there are lots of good hikes in the Smokies, Grandfather Mountain Park and Linville Falls area. All in all I prefer New England but I would go back and hike again in N.C.

In Flordia and along the SE coast of Georgia the hiking is flat but is terrific for wildlife viewing ... not to mention paddling. Florida State Parks are amongst the most inviting in the country and our favorites include St. Joseph Peninsula, Myakka, Blue Spring, Silver Spring, Paynes Prairie, the Everglades NP, St. George Is., Cumberland Is. NWR (GA) ... come to think of it, we've enjoyed just about every park we've been to but paddling is our objective and any hikes we get in is a bonus. Many parks have terrific accommodations (camping and cabins) at reasonable rates, especially if you're sharing costs.