Anyone who has hiked the Hickory Knoll Road to Jones Gap section of the Bartram Trail in Macon County has come upon an old school bus parked tire-less beside the trail. It is an oddity, to say the least, especially considering how remote and densely forested is the trail. Hikers often stop to ponder the bus’s location, take some photos outside and inside the bus, and question the age of the bus and how it got there. Judging by the bus’s style and wording stenciled on the sides and back of the bus, it could be as old as the 1940s.
Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy director Brent Martin offers this about the mystery of the bus in his book, “A Hiker’s Guide to the Bartram National Recreation Trail in Georgia and North Carolina”:“Everyone wants to know the story of the old school bus. According to a reliable source, the bus housed migrants working at a nearby orchard some years ago. Remnants of the orchard can be seen on private land to the north of the bus, which has also served as a hunter’s cabin.”
Indeed, if one looks around from where the bus is parked, through the thick trees surrounding it can be seen what appears to be an overgrown “road” and beyond is a field and some farm buildings. Thus, it is logical that what appears to be a wilderness area completely off the beaten path was 60-80 years ago a maintained apple orchard on the outskirts of Franklin.
For anyone who wants to see the bus but not walk from Hickory Knoll Road to Jones Gap (off Highlands Road and Gold Mine Road), a hike to the bus and back is also an option.