Pinhoti Trail Opens New Connector Trail
Friday, 09 April 2010 18:34
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Pinhoti Trail Opens New Connector Trail
By Larry Wheat
I suspect that most readers are unaware of, and certainly have not ridden, the regional Pinhoti Trail portion that lies on an old railroad bed west of Rome and south of Summerville, GA. The Friday and Holland sections of the Pinhoti share these 12 miles with the Simm’s Mountain Trail. Equestrians, fat-tire bikers, and hikers enjoy this flat, all-weather surface trail. Until now it has not been used by many equestrians because parking and easy access were not available. That has changed and now this location is expected to see more use, especially by equestrians.
The railroad bed trail is about one mile from the US Forest Service High Point trailhead  that provides considerable equestrian rig parking space and toilets. Going north, the Pinhoti Trail crosses through the parking lot and climbs the adjacent mountain, then goes northward toward Dalton and east to the Cohutta Mountains. Hopes of riding south from the trailhead were realized when The Conservation Fund purchased 242 acres of private timberland that lies between the Forest Service trailhead and the railroad trail. This was done to provide an easement for the Pinhoti Trail. A Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association (GPTA) volunteer designed a connector trail and other local volunteers cleared brush and some trees. On April 6, 2010, the initial trail tread cut-in was completed using a mini-excavator generously donated and operated by Dr. Ken Humber, of Humberland Guest Ranch near Waleska. This provides a safe dirt surface trail that allows equestrians (and others) to park at the High Point trailhead and ride to the railroad trail. Essentially, this opens about 12 miles of trail to equestrians. I have ridden both the connector and the railroad trail, and recommend this ride for everyone.
The photo above shows Dr. Ken cutting in the tread on rather flat land. Much of the new connector is flat pine woods. The photo below left shows that there are also some hills in the trail, mainly as one approaches the railroad trail.
The resulting tread path is about 4-feet wide as shown here.
The High Point trailhead is shown to the left, and two riders on the railroad bed trail are shown on the right.
Now that you know about this new riding opportunity, your question may be “How do I find the High Point trailhead?” Here are the directions:
Directions to High Point Lookout Parking Lot on Georgia Highway 100
 This location is about eight miles south of Summerville (GA) on the east side of state highway 100. Hwy 100 runs north-south near the Alabama border. From Rome you may go west on state highway 20 to highway 100, then go north several miles. You will see the parking lot and a large sign that contains “Pinhoti Trail Parking, Chattahoochee National Forest.”
For those driving from the north or east, you may get on US 27 and drive to Summerville. In Summerville take Georgia highway 100 south about eight miles and look for the parking lot sign on the east side of the highway.
This is a large parking lot with plenty of room for many large horse rigs. Pit toilets are available. There is not any water source at the trailhead.
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SEFTC Regional Conference
Tuesday, 16 March 2010 13:31
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Join Us at the SEFTC Regional Trail Conference May 20-23
You are invited to four days of learning, fun, and fellowship at the Southeastern Foot Trails Coalition’s (SEFTC) General Conference to be held May 20-23 (Thursday – Sunday) at the DuBose Conference Center in Monteagle, Tennessee. Registration information is now available at the SEFTC website and also on that of many trail clubs in the Southeast.
This grand, biennial event will feature daily workshops and hikes for the Southeast’s trail community. The DuBose Center is located about an hour northwest of Chattanooga, a mile off Interstate 24. Perched high on the Cumberland Plateau, it offers excellent housing options and numerous nearby hiking opportunities. Daily workshops will provide leaders in various fields present to educate the hiking community. Evenings will feature special events, such as a speaker and/or entertainment.
Lodging options include the following: both motel and dormitory-style rooms, a few group cabins, and camping on the premises. Attendees need to sign up in advance with your registration for all meals you may choose at the facility. Thursday’s opening night individuals are on their own to secure dinner at one of several nearby restaurants before the general meeting at 7:00 p.m. Experienced leaders are being provided for all hikes.
The DuBose Center prides itself in making arrangements for those with vegetarian and vegan food needs; the registration form provides a place to indicate either of these preferences.
Registration has begun, with all checks made out to SEFTC and mailed to the registrar. There is a registration fee of $25, but those registering before April 1 will only be charged $20. The complete workshops and hikes list will be available in March, and posted to the SEFTC website and hiking clubs.
So come join us for a great hiking and training event in late May.
See SEFTC Conference registration form at Southeast Foot Trails
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Snake Creek Gap Six Mountain Time Trial Series
Friday, 12 March 2010 20:50
Snake Creek runs out of a mountain gap in North Georgia.The gap is famous for being the pass that Sherman snuck his army through on his way to the final battles of the American Civil War. This gap is now becoming known for battles of a different kind. The first Saturday of the months of January, February and March the Northwest Georgia Chapter of IMBA/SORBA holds a time trial series in this gap. This event started off in 2005 with about 50 riders. It has grown every year to this year’s total of 380 riders.
Why would people come in these numbers to Dalton Georgia in the middle of the winter from 15 states and Canada to ride mountain bikes? This race is put on by mountain bikers for mountain bikers. We know what we like and try to give the best we can to our riders. The series is held on the IMBA Epic Georgia Pinhoti Trail with two distance options: 17 or 34 miles. Both are point to point. The 17 milers start at the halfway point of the 34 mile distance which is right in the middle of Snake Creek Gap. There are 2 mountains in the first 17 mile segment and 4 in the second.
The course gets progressively more technical over the last 8 miles on Hurricane Mt. and Rocky Face Ridge. The trail runs right on the razor back edge of these mountains with views off both sides. It is beautiful but you better not take time to enjoy the view. The riders are racing to the finish line at the North Georgia Trade and Convention Center a stones threw of I-75 at Exit 333 in Dalton. This is where they registered and left their cars.
The riders and their bikes are shuttled to their starting lines. It is an awesome sight to see 300 bikes loaded on trailers and trucks. The riders are taken in buses, vans and cars. It looks like a big mountain bike parade when they rollout of the parking lot. They are started and timed individually in true time trial format. The times are kept for the 3 events and your best time counts. The entry fee is for the series. It is your choice how many times you ride it. We run it in some pretty harsh conditions. In six years we have never called it due to weather. The weather down here can be anywhere from 20 to 65 degrees. I think we had it all this year.
The awards are given out at the big party after the March run. A good time is had by all. Usually by March Spring is breaking out and it is a great way to get a jump on the riding season. Money raised from the event goes to support mountain biking in Northwest Georgia. The local Boys’ and Girls’ Club helps us with the shuttle buses and we help them with their mountain bike program. They have 50 mountain bikes and a trailer to haul them. We are helping them build a pump track on their property and donated $2,500 to the cause this year.
You can see the results of this year’s event on nwgasorba.org.Watch the pictures scroll across the top of the home page and see what we are about.
GPTA Update
Sunday, 24 January 2010 20:34
Rock Creek at Dennis Mill in Fall of 2009
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Update from the GPTA BOD
The Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association (GPTA) Board of Directors (BOD) had their bi-annual meeting in Cave Spring Georgia Saturday, February 20th. The board officers are listed on the web site (www.georgiapinhoti.org). The main function of the board is to coordinate the efforts of various stakeholders toward the development and maintenance of the Pinhoti Trail in Georgia (PT). Since the PT in Georgia is a multi-use trail we have board members representing hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians. The entire Pinhoti Trail stretches from central Alabama to the Benton MacKaye and is over 330 miles in length at this time. The Georgia section is about 155 miles long. In addition to having BOD representatives from the users groups we have geographical representation along the route as well. We have two directors from Dalton, one from Murray/Gilmer Counties, one from Rome, and one from Summerville. We also have two from around the state and one from North Carolina.
We move our board meetings around the trail route. Cave Spring is the southernmost city on the Georgia portion of the PT. It is a quaint little town with a great “Trail Town “ feel. We have purchased some very nice metal trail signs for guiding users through the city limits of Cave Spring.
The PT is a great trail in its own right but it also is a part of several other trail systems. It serves as a link from the Appalachian Trail (AT) to the true end of the Appalachians in Alabama. It accomplishes this by linking to the Benton MacKaye Trail which in turn links to the AT. It also serves as a link in what is informally called the Eastern Continental Trail that links trails from Key West, Florida across the United States and Canada. Several people a year attempt this journey made famous by M.J. Eberhart aka the Nimblewill Nomad in his book Ten Million Steps. The Pinhoti will also serve as a leg of the Great Eastern Trail (GET) that is now under development as a north-south route west of the AT that links to trails in the Finger Lakes region of up-state New York. The PT will serve as a link to the AT for the GET as well as being a part of its route.
At the BOD meeting we discussed several of our more pressing initiatives. Larry Wheat has been spear heading an initiative to build a multi-use trail system off the Pinhoti at Dry Creek on the Walker and Chattooga County line. He is working closely with U.S. Forest Service personnel. Several user groups have agreed to help with this project. There is over $100,000 of federal money involved in this project. Parts of it will be contracted out and parts will be built by volunteers. This is a beautiful tract of land and will be a great asset for equestrians, hikers and mountain bikers to enjoy.
The Conservation Fund has been very active behind the scene securing important tracts of land for us to improve the PT and get it off of some of the roads. They have recently acquired 3 tracts of land to this end. I will talk about these from south to north as this is the way most through hikers walk the trail. One is right across from the PT parking lot on GA Hwy 100. This is allowing us to build about a 1.5 mile connector trail to the Simms Mountain Trail that will eliminate a little over a mile of road walking on GA Hwy 100. We have this route roughed in and voted to spend enough funds to get a volunteer with a mini excavator to push in the trail. We will need volunteers later this year to do finishing work on this trail. This and the Simms Mountain Trail will offer about 14 miles of almost flat hiking, biking, and horse riding. It is the easiest section of the entire Pinhoti and is very family friendly. It is also just a couple of miles from Sloppy Floyd State Park with cabins and camping facilities.
Another Conservation Fund project is adjacent to the Chief Vann House in Murray County. The PT is linked to Sloppy Floyd and Fort Mountain State Parks by connector trails. The PT currently goes right by the Vann House. This new addition links this beautiful state historic site to the other state properties. The Conservation Fund acquired land to the east of the Vann House. We have plans to route the PT off of ALT 52 across Vann House property and this new property to the east crossing ALT 52 at the Moravian Cemetery and through Spring Place on its way to Dennis Mill where it reenters the National Forest.
The next project made possible by The Conservation Fund is at Dennis Mill. Currently the Pinhoti enters the National Forest via Peeples Lake Road. This is a dirt road that is open to automobiles. We have been trying for years to get the PT off of this road and into the woods around Dennis Mill. We now have that opportunity. We are currently working on a trail between Dennis Mill and Peeples Lake Road. We have done some preliminary flagging and hope to start construction on this project in the next 2 years. Our intent is for this to be open to horses, bikers and hikers. This should be a boon to all the user groups but I think given the horse loving nature of Murray county it will really be special to them. This is going to require about 3 miles of trail to be built over some very tough terrain. It will open up about 9 miles from Dennis Mill to Baker Branch at the foot of Fort Mountain. We will have plenty of opportunities for volunteer work on this section.
These three land projects are in addition to the several hundred acre tract that The Conservation Fund secured several years ago at the Georgia/Alabama line southwest of Cave Spring. That allowed for development of a 2.7 mile trail corridor for the Pinhoti Trail that leads from the state line to the trailhead at Jackson Chapel Road in Polk County.
The GPTA BOD is a very active and dedicated group. We do a lot of behind the scenes work and as I said we try to facilitate action from our stake holders. If you would like to make donations you can do it on our web site. You can also make donations to The Conservation Fund on their web site. If you are a member of an organization that would like to get involved with the PT please contact us. If you would like to join a group that is already involved with the PT you can find a list of them on our web site.
Happy Trails to You
Rick Moon President
Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association
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Our Mission
To promote, develop, and maintain the Georgia Pinhoti Trail System that:
Connects major long-distance trails in Alabama to the Appalachian Trail via the Benton MacKaye Trail, and
Enhances user value by connecting to and supporting establishment of local official trails
The Association advocates safe, environmentally sound multi-use trails shared by hikers, equestrians, and off-road bicyclists. Our activities are completed in close cooperation with the trail volunteers and various land managers, especially the U.S. Forest Service.
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