Pinhoti Trail: Section 23

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• Pinhoti Trail

This portion of the Georgia Pinhoti Trail begins at a small trailhead parking lot on East Armuchee Rd. The Strawberry Mt portion lies to the west. The parking area at East Armuchee Rd has room for 3-4 cars and no facilities or fee. It's also possible to take FS 310 and park where it meets the creek.

This is a multiuse trail, so be aware of other users and know right-of-way rules. The trail is cooperatively maintained by NWGA SORBA, the Back Country Horsemen of Northwest Georgia, and the Georgia Pinhoti Trail Association.

The trail is generally very well-marked at all intersections, look for the white blaze with a turkey foot. Therefore, it's generally not necessary to give turn by turn instructions. Combining the map with trail blazes, the path is generally obvious.

The difficulty level depends a lot on the section and while some portions are admittedly easy, there are more challenging sections most commonly attributed to steep climbs or descents. The first 4 miles pass through the Dry Creek trail system where it has connections to Turkey, Dry Creek, Loblolly, and Wheat trails and are a jumble of wide, easy singletrack and doubletrack/abandoned service road. This does include a notable creek crossing at mile 2.3 (which can vary from a few inches deep to waist-high), as well as a climb of several hundred feet just after the creek.

From mile 4 to about 6.5 is all singletrack including an initial climb, with plenty of classic Pinhoti rocks and roots. Then comes a one-mile descent on gravel service road, followed by nothing but singletrack until the end. There is initially a hump over Pine Needle Hill, then a roll through the Pilcher's Pond area, then a high climb and descent over Horn Mountain with a hike along the ridgetop for part of it with wintertime views. The final descent is a little steeper than other sections of trail.

Caution as you cross paved road Ga 136 into the large parking lot.