Brickhill Bluff Trail at Cumberland Island National Seashore

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WARNING: Trails north of Stafford Beach are lightly traveled and are not be maintained on a regular basis and therefore may be overgrown. Some can also be extremely muddy and even under water after heavy rains and high tides. Before hiking, ask a park Ranger about current conditions. Furthermore, do not hike these trails without wearing long pants and tick repellent. Ticks are prevalent on the trails, even the ones that are maintained.

The most accurate Cumberland Island National Seashore trail map is available through the Georgia Conservancy. You can download a free PDF version, or you can purchase a tear- and water-resistant printed map directly from the Conservancy or at the Cumberland Island National Seashore Visitor Center. The PDF is great for planning your hiking trips, but I highly recommend purchasing a map for use on the trails if you plan to do a lot of backcountry hiking. A free map is available at the Sea Camp Ranger Station, but it’s not that great, plus it tears up pretty easily. Regardless of your decision, be sure you have some sort of map before starting your backcountry hikes.

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Length:  .9 mile  (10 miles from Sea Camp)
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy

The Brickhill Bluff Trail is one of the more useful trails in the backcountry of Cumberland Island National Seashore for it is the trail that leads to the Brickhill Bluff Campsite. Because it sees regular traffic, it is also one of the only maintained trails north of Plum Orchard Mansion. It is C-shaped, with its southern trailhead on Grand Avenue (the main road through the park) approximately 10 miles from the Sea Camp dock and its northern trailhead another mile up the road. At the northern end it crosses Grand Avenue, cutting inland until it connects with the Bunkley Trail, but this section is overgrown, as is the Bunkley Trail. The entire trail is 1.1 miles long according to the trail map, but the section on the west side of Grand Avenue is only .9 mile.

Brickhill Bluff Trail map (click to enlarge)

The Brickhill Bluff camping area begins just 500 feet down the Brickhill Bluff Trail from its southern trailhead on Grand Avenue. However, if you came to camp at Brickhill Bluff, you’ll want to be on the Brickhill River, a tributary of the Cumberland River, so keep on hiking until you get to the water. The campground boundaries are marked with signs, and the area in between is huge. Only four groups of campers are allowed at a time, and all four could easily pitch their tents out of sight from one another.

Signs mark the boundaries of the Brickhill Bluff Campground on Cumberland Island

Campsite at Brickhill Bluff on Cumberland Island

Even if you aren’t camping at Brickhill Bluff, the hike is still worthwhile because of the scenery (assuming you are on the north end of Cumberland Island to begin with). Anyone can hike through the campground, not just campers.

Brickhill River at the Brickhill Bluff Campsite on Cumberland Island

Boat anchored off the shore of Brickhill Bluff on Cumberland Island

When you get to the main camping area on the Brickhill River, the trail sort of disappears. Just follow the river until you come to the other end of the campground where you’ll once again find a more distinguishable trail.

Brickhill Bluff Trail on Cumberland Island follows the river for much of its length

Once the Brickhill Bluff Trail veers from the river and heads back towards Grand Avenue, it again fades at times and is hard to detect, but the route is still obvious. I never did get lost despite the fact that I rarely felt confident that I was still on the trail. There are navigational posts that point the way, but they are too few and far between to do much good other than to boost your morale when you see one.

Trail markers appear sporadically along the Brickhill Bluff Trail on Cumberland Island

One tricky spot comes when you reach the foundation of an old building. I took a right and had no idea where I was going, other than my GPS indicated that I was heading towards the road. I was convinced that I was simply hiking through the woods, making my own way to Grand Avenue, when one of the navigational posts appeared. Like so many other trails on the north end of Cumberland Island, you have no idea where you are, but somehow you just magically end up going the right way.

Remains of an old building on Cumberland Island’s Brickhill Bluff Trail

From the building foundation it is just five minutes to Grand Avenue. As I mentioned, do not continue hiking the Brickhill Bluff Trail on the east side of the road. If your destination is back to the southern trailhead, it is a .75-mile walk along Grand Avenue.

End of the Brickhill Bluff Trail at the north end of Grand Avenue on Cumberland Island

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