Photograph by John E. McDonald
One afternoon, Sheila Granger was scouting a ridge for a camping site in Clayton. She heard a clicking sound and turned to see a sight that stopped her in her tracks and changed her life.
“It looked like a huge man with huge shoulders, maybe seven feet tall,” she says. “It had humanlike facial features and a hairy body the color of cinnamon. So, this thing’s looking at me, and I’m looking at it. Finally, I hollered for my husband, and it dropped into a run. I was shaking afterward— not with fear, but with adrenaline.”
Afterwards, she noticed a fresh pile of scat nearby. The whole experience evoked her all-time favorite movie, The Legend of Boggy Creek, a 1972 cult classic about a Sasquatch-like cryptid, the Fouke Monster, reportedly spotted in Arkansas.
The call of the wild proved irresistible. In 2018, Sheila and her husband, Scott Granger, launched Squatch-Fishing Outfitters in Ellijay, a sort of diplomatic embassy for the hirsute that strives to connect visitors with Bigfoot, or at least provide a goose-pimply walk in the woods. (For those less Sasquatch-inclined, the couple also leads fly-fishing tours.)
From April to November, the Grangers’ Bigfoot expeditions bring a group of about 10 people into the Chattahoochee National Forest, where, for two nights of intensive observation, they traipse about with night-vision equipment, thermal cameras, and audio-recording devices. “We can’t guarantee that you will see Bigfoot,” Scott says. “But we can guarantee you a good time. Most people leave our expeditions as new best friends.”
In Bigfoot culture, you do not need an “encounter” to be a “believer.”
“There’s a difference between believers and ‘knowers,’” Scott says. “Knowers have actually seen one. We’ve had a lot of skeptics become both believers and knowers.”
The Grangers make a compelling case. Scott grew up in northern Florida. A Navy veteran, he is a retired federal law enforcement officer. Sheila, who is from southern Georgia, has worked as both a sheriff’s deputy and a hospice nurse. They come across as credible and level-headed—not wild-eyed conspiracists.
So they fit right in here in the mountains, where Bigfoot’s by-God existence is taken for granted, as if he is just one more moody but beloved cousin who dwells in the bramble. There is Bigfoot Event Lodge and Conference Center, the groovy dispensary Bigfoot Cannabis Co., and even Bigfoot Septic Pumping. Sometimes the Grangers take their clients to Expedition Bigfoot, the museum in Cherry Log. If hulking bipeds are your thing, you’re in the right neck of the woods.
“I was a skeptic,” Scott says. “I’m a lifelong hunter. But since we’ve started this business, I’ve seen and heard things.”
Like what?
“The closest I’ve been to one is 15 yards,” Scott says. “Once we spotted some eyeshine about 30 yards ahead of us. We put the light on him, and he took off running, but not before throwing a rock at us.”
The Grangers also have recorded possible vocalizations, which include a clacking sound, whoops, howls, and a mighty, leonine roar. “When you hear the whoop turning into a roar, you know you’ve exceeded their boundaries,” Scott says.
These critters are purportedly “curious” about us, but shy. So what’s happening during these encounters, according to these outfitters, is two different groups of hominids, warily tracking each other.
“Where there’s one, there’s usually others around, often with offspring,” Scott says. “They’re like us. We wouldn’t want strangers coming into our living room and messing with our kids, so why would they?”
It’s best to coexist, to sit around a campfire and listen for that bump in the night before the woods we all share get enveloped by subdivisions. “Only about 30 percent of the United States is inhabited,” Scott observes. “There are hollers in north Georgia where no person has been since the Native Americans. You don’t have to believe to savor the mystery of what could be out there.”
Insider Tips
When to Go
Bigfoot is always around, but for the comfort of us less-furry humans, tours operate during the warmer months, from April to November.
Where to Eat
Ellijay Wood Fired Pizza offers authentic, artisanal Neapolitan fare using locavore ingredients.
Pro Tip
In Bigfoot lore, peanut butter is often used as bait, but the Grangers do not recommend any offerings: Says Scott, “That could create an expectation.”
EXPLORE NEARBY
Courtesy of Babyland
Cleveland
“BabyLand changes with the seasons, so we stay fresh. I’d encourage people to come and see all the seasons we celebrate, but especially the spring. You should really visit the Gardens at Eula Springs, which are also on the property and influence what we display inside with the Cabbage Patch Kids. We have daffodils, cherry blossoms, apple trees, and more to see. You could imagine the spring here in North Georgia is outstanding for this. Our spring season at BabyLand will start in mid-March, so it’s a great time to enjoy it.” – Margaret McLean, Director of Communications
This article appears in our March 2026 issue.
