The Appalachian Trail
Connections - Alabama-Georgia Pinhoti and the Benton MacKaye
The Pinhoti Trail ~ pin-hoe-tee
The 335 mile Pinhoti National Recreation Trail / Millennium Legacy Trail is a continuous
point to point hiking trail that travels through nearly equal measures of high rocky ridges,
stream filled gorges and quiet hollows along the final southern reaches of the Appalachian
Mountains from east central Alabama to northwest Georgia. In Alabama it is almost entirely in the
Talladega National Forest, Alabama's Forever Wild Land Trust. In Georgia it is mostly in
the Chattahoochee National Forest and on private land easements with roughly 50 miles of road walk in 2008.
In 2008 the trailhead was ten miles east of Sylacauga at Bull Gap. The Pinhoti southern terminus is now in
east central Alabama at Flagg Mountain, near Weogufka, which is
known for being the last southern Appalachian mountain that rises above 1000 feet. Tannehill State Park located
south of Birmingham claims to be the Southern Most
Terminus of the Appalachian Mountians. For the record, I have been to the absolute southern point of the
Appalachians while kayaking the 631 mile Alabama Scenic River Trail in 2009.
The Pinhoti northern terminus is in north-west Georgia near Blue Ridge, about 11 miles south of Tennessee,
where it intersects with the Benton MacKaye Trail around milepost 70.
The Benton MacKaye Trail
Hiking east 70 miles on the BMT will put you at Springer Mountain, the current southern terminus of the
famous Appalachian Trail.
I continued north about 125 miles on the BMT to connect with the Appalachian Trail at the Fontanna Shelter
in North Carolina. The Benton MacKaye Trail strives to give the backpacker a more remote wilderness
experience than it's big brother the Appalachian Trail. Nearly 2/3 of the trail passes through designated
wilderness areas and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. During this nearly 300 mile route, the trail
has only two shelters, many of these miles are not blazed, and there are few, if any, trail structures.
Most of the Alabama Pinhoti is truly remote, passing through no towns and one State park, the Cheaha; it does
have
seven shelters between Helfin and the Georgia border. The Georgia Pinhoti is fairly remote, but mostly
the trail simply connects one State or County park to another; no shelters, but walks directly through several
towns including Cave Spring and Dalton, and is a multi-use trail, horses and bicycles are allowed.
The BMT should be considered ABSOLUTLY REMOTE. On the section that I hiked in 2008 there were VERY few
blazes, frequent trail turns without any signage, and one store, Webb Brother's Grocery in Reliance on the
Hiwassee River - virtually NO resupply. comparatively, the A.T. is a super highway - scores of people, regular
shelters, and crossroads leading to a town every 20 miles. The 90% of the A.T.
could be done as a series of Day Hikes - I know a couple of women that slack-packed half of it, literally.
Even the famed "One-hundred Mile Wilderness is no more than a long-weekend hike and it's neither
wilderness nor 100 miles long.
The Appalachian Trail
Summary: Alabama to Maine on the A.T. - 2,548 miles in 204 Days.
I suspect that I won't write on this section because the A.T. is well covered on the net.
Factual information about the Appalachian Trail can be found at the ATC.
Or: For lies, lies, and more lies - read & follow one of these hikers TrailJournals.com