DawsonTimes.com Your free local source for news, events, and business in and around Dawsonville, GA

Len Foote Hike Inn, a backcountry lodge deep in the Chattahoochee National Forest, is offering its guests solar-heated showers with a new state-of-the-art solar thermal system.  “This solar system is highly efficient and significantly reduces propane to heat water for our bathhouse,” says Hike Inn Manager Stan Krajeski.

A partnership between the Hike Inn and Marietta-based Soenso Energy will make the system an education tool.  “Working with the Hike Inn was a great experience,” says Roger Cone, a principal in Soenso Energy.  “Thousands of annual visitors will take solar-heated showers and learn how solar energy is key to our energy future.”

For more than a decade, the Len Foote Hike Inn – accessible to its guests only by a five-mile mountain footpath beginning at the top of Amicalola Falls – has been a showplace of environmental sustainability.

“We have solar photovoltaic panels, solar thermal water heating, composting toilets and worm beds to help dispose of our garbage,” says Steve Skinner, board member of the nonprofit overseeing the Hike Inn.

“Our guests learn about nature and sustainability while enjoying the outdoors.”

Owned by the Georgia State Parks and operated by not-for-profit Appalachian Education and Recreation Services, the Len Foote Hike Inn, Dawsonville, Georgia, is Georgia’s only backcountry inn. www.hike-inn.com

Len Foote Hike Inn, 240 Amicalola Falls State Park Rd, Dawsonville, GA 30534