Where should you stay, Dalton or Cheaha?

Runners have two lodging options for Thursday Night before the run. The finish is in Cheaha State Park on top of Mt. Cheaha, the highest mountain in Alabama. The run will finish in front of the Inn at Cheaha. The Inn will serve as the Alabama Race Headquarters Thursday night and again as runners are finishing the run. We will also have a race headquarters hotel in Dalton about 5 miles of the start. Anyone running solo will probably want to stay in Cheaha Thursday night and take the bus to the start. We will NOT have transportation from the finish back to the race start. If you have a crew, you can stay either place. We will have preliminary check-in and accept drop bags at both locations.

Preliminary check-in will consist of a Medical Check, GPS Check, the Pre-run Photo and Drop Bag Drop off. We may have a mandatory pre-run briefing Thursday afternoon. We may choose to send out a detailed email with all the final key information or have the briefing as a live stream. Be sure you have access to your email account in Dalton. Final check-in will be at the start, 8:00 AM to 11:45 AM Friday, April 12th in Rocky Face, Georgia, at Mill Creek. ALL RUNNERS must check in before the start and pick up their SPOT Trackers.

For those staying at Cheaha Inn, Cheaha State Park Thursday night:

Preliminary check-in at Cheaha will be from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM Thursday afternoon. It will be held at the meeting center across from the Cheaha Inn. Friday morning, buses will leave from the Cheaha Inn, probably about 5:00 AM, to take runners to the noon start at Rock Face, Georgia, near Dalton. Everyone riding the bus must leave their drop bags at preliminary check-in Friday Night. Drop bags will not be allowed on the bus. You and your crew may choose to drive to the start. The Drive from Cheaha State Park to the start is 122 miles, 2 hours, 25 minutes (As we said, it’s a Point-to-Point Race.)

Lodging at Cheaha and Dalton, GA

The Cheaha Inn has 30 hotel rooms available to runners. The Inn does not serve breakfast. Cheaha has two large campgrounds with RV and Tent sites. The park has five spacious A-frame 2 bedroom Chalets, and 11 one-bedroom historic cabins. Other lodging is available in Anniston, about 20 miles west of the park. If you are running solo or prefer to have lodging steps from the finish, Cheaha State Park is the place to stay.

There are several hotels near the convention center in Dalton. One will serve as the race headquarters (we will announce that hotel soon). The hotels shown in the link below are all less than 5 miles from the start. We will have runner check-in Thursday afternoon at the race headquarters hotel. If you have a crew that will be accompanying you on your journey, spending Thursday in Dalton would be the easiest option.