The Georgia National Guard and the Works Projects Administration (WPA) began construction on 17 January 1940, with the site being dedicated on 14 December 1940.

But Colonel Robert Sink, commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, one of the first units to train there, did not like the name.

Members of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment refer to themselves as "Currahees" (it is anglicized name derived from the Cherokee word gurahiyi, which may mean "standing alone").

"[5] After the defeat of Japan, the US Army handed Camp Toccoa back to state control in 1946.

In the late 1940s, it became a satellite camp of Georgia State Prison, which primarily housed young offenders.

The trail is currently the venue for the Annual Currahee Challenge, a three- and six-mile race on the mountain that occurs in the fall.