PTA Site Map  /  etrail or snailtrail
The Pinhoti Trail
A Southeast Region Appalachian Trail Connector

Northbound snailtrail  /  Section 11
Northern Terminus / Finish Hike
144.9 ~ North FS 500 Trailhead
136.1 ~ Burns Trailhead
Southern Terminus / Start Hike

Reference Points ~ Dugger Mountain Wilderness, Jacksonville, AL
Hike Distance ~ 8.8 Miles
Hiking Time vs Distance ~ 30 Minutes = 1 Mile
Trail Blazes ~ Light Blue Vertical Rectangles
Trail Description ~ Difficult ~ Dry Rocky Ridges, Long Climbs

Driving Directions
For a weekend section hike, you may want to bring two vehicles to the trail so that you can shuttle
yourselves from one end of your chosen section to the other. First, you will need to park your
“finish hike vehicle” at your section’s northern terminus and then drive your “start hike vehicle” down
to your section’s southern terminus.

Northern Terminus / Park Finish Hike Vehicle First
144.9 ~ NORTH FS 500 TRAILHEAD
    Exit I-20 at US 431, east of Oxford, AL.
    Go north 0.3 miles to US 78. Turn right.
    Go 3.9 miles to AL 9. Turn left.
    Go 10.9 miles to CR 55, at the yellow flashing light. Turn right.
    Go 8.8 miles to a dirt road, FS 500. Turn left. There is a black mailbox on the right at this
    turn with the address-20346.
    Go 2.0 miles to the North FS 500 Trailhead parking area, a small pull off on the left.

Southern Terminus / Park Start Hike Vehicle
136.1 ~ BURNS TRAILHEAD
    From the North FS 500 Trailhead, turn around and go back 2.0 miles to CR 55. Turn right.
    Go 4.6 miles to the Burns Trailhead parking area, on the right.








Hiking Directions
Southern Terminus / Start Hike
136.1 ~ BURNS TRAILHEAD / CR 55 ~ 846' ~ RW ~ (Photo)
    The Pinhoti Connector Trail begins at the back of the Burns Trailhead parking area, beside the
    Dugger Mountain Wilderness Dedication Marker. Enter the woods on the right and go 0.1 miles
    to the trail sign. The north trail is to the left.
    The log cabin and outbuildings here are the former home of Mr. Pink E. Burns. Mr. Burns died
    just a few years ago at the age of 81. He lived in this cabin until his death and was able to
    survive through the bounty of the forest as a hunter and trapper. He was also a great story
    teller and entertained many a hiker through the years on his front porch. He also didn't mind if
    you brought along Moon Pies and Cokie Colas when you came to sit a spell.
    UPDATE ~ Arsonists burned the log cabin to the ground March 10, 2009.
    WILDFLOWER ~  Beauty Berry ~ Purple ~ July
    RW ~ Go west on CR 55 for 0.1 miles to Jones Branch, running along the right side of the road.
    NEXT RW ~ 8.2 miles.
136.2 ~ SOUTH DUGGER MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS BOUNDARY
    This is the southern boundary of the 9220 acre Dugger Mountain Wilderness area, which was
    granted Wilderness designation in 1999. A big thanks to all the folks who worked so hard for
    so many years to make this happen. At the beginning of this section, you will be traveling along
    Red Mountain. Once you reach the 138.9 ~ Laurel Passage landmark, the trail crosses over to
    Dugger Mountain and begins sidehilling up to the top of the ridge.
138.8 ~ JONES BRANCH ROAD ~ 1240' ~ LC, SW ~ (Photo)
    The trail goes straight across Jones Branch Road.
    You can turn left here on the road and loop about 3 miles back to the Burns Trailhead. The
    Appalachian Trail Club of Alabama and the Anniston Outdoor Association lead annual Spring
    Wildflower Hikes on this loop. These hikes are held on consecutive weekends and the ATCA
    goes clockwise and the AOA goes counter clockwise.
    LC, SW ~ You can go right 0.1 miles on the road to a good spring. There are no fire rings here
    but you will find several flat spots before and after the spring. (Yes, the Volkswagen fender
    on the right, 50' down the road, is from a bug but it's not a native species of the Wilderness : )
138.9 ~ LAUREL PASSAGE ~ (Photo)
    This is where you make the transition from Red Mountain to Dugger Mountain. Look for a good
    winter view on the left of a rock tower up ahead on the ridge.
    WILDFLOWER / SHRUB ~ Mountain Laurel ~ White ~ May
140.1 ~ CAMPSITE ~ SC ~ (Photo)
    The trail turns to the left just before the campsite.
140.4 ~ DUGGER (TURKEY) GAP ~ 1500' ~ LC
    The trail crosses the old Gap Road here. Continue past the fire ring for about 50' and then the
    trail makes a sharp left turn and goes around the west side of Rocky Top 6.
140.5 ~ ROCKY TOP 6
141.0 ~ SISTER RIDGE VIEW / PIEDMONT VIEW
    There are many good winter and summer views of her on the left about a mile away. You can see
    the last peak before she drops off into Piedmont. That is AL 9 that runs across the top of her
    head. OUCH !!
    HAZARD - Starting in late spring, the trail passes through several big 100 to 200 yard
    patches of Poison Oak over the next 1/2 mile.
141.5 ~ ROCKY TOP 7
142.5 ~ DUGGER MOUNTAIN FIRE TOWER (missing) ~ 2140'
    The old Dugger Mountain Fire Tower has been purchased by a private citizen and was flown out
    of here by helicopter. Wilderness guidelines do not allow any man made structures within the
    Wilderness boundaries. The tower site is off the trail to the left about 0.1 miles. There is no
    trail to it and no good landmarks to show you where to start bushwhacking. If you will keep an
    eye on the blazes on the right side of the trail, you will come to 2 blazes about 20' apart.
    There are a lot of rocks through here and for the first 10' the trail goes straight. In the last
    10' the trail zigs to the left, then zags to the right and then zigs back to the left again. You
    can turn left here and bushwhack your way up to the highest point, where the 3 survey markers
    are embedded in the rock. Now, go on just a little farther to the tower site clearing with the 4
    concrete corner blocks. For all of your trouble, there are no views at ground level and no
    "I Dug Dugger" T-shirts either. There is a road at the tower site that goes down and intersects
    with FS 500, 1.1 miles north of the 144.9 ~ FS 500 Crossing.
    WILDFLOWER ~ Indian Pipe ~ Pink ~ September
    WILDFLOWER ~ False Soloman Seal ~ White ~ May / Red Berries ~ September
    WILDBERRY ~ Jack in the Pulpit ~ Red Berries ~ Fall
    WILDFLOWER ~ Indian Pink ~ Pink ~ May
144.3 ~ NORTH DUGGER FLATS ~ 1100' ~ LC, RW ~ (Photo)
    There are 5 creek crossings in the next 0.5 miles. You'll also find a few flat spots close to the
    trail that are suitable for camping. As of 2006, there is only 1 fire ring in this area at about
    mile 110.2. The Forest Service has also done a recent endangered plant species survey and there
    are several areas marked with candy stripe (red and white) survey tape where some were found.
    Please try to stay as close to the trail as possible to avoid damaging anything. Thanks.
    FORDING HAZARD ~ These crossings are about 6' wide, 6" deep and rocky. They are a little
    tricky to cross on a good day and after a heavy rain, even more so. The water won't be over
    knee high so you don't have to worry too much about being swept downstream, but the chances
    of falling in the rocks are high. Use extreme caution.
    WILDFLOWER ~ Chickweed ~ White ~ April
    WILDFLOWER / SHRUB ~  Mountain Laurel ~ White ~ May
144.8 ~ NORTH DUGGER MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS BOUNDARY ~ 850' ~ RW
144.9 ~ NORTH FS 500 TRAILHEAD ~ 860' ~ RW ~ (Photo)
    The trail comes out at the road about 50' above the trailhead parking area.
    Every now and then you will come across an area that has been burned. Most times, these fires
    are started by the Forest Service and are called Prescribed Burns. The main reason for this is
    to keep the leaf layer on the ground, which is called Duff, thin enough so that if there is an
    accidental fire in that area, it won't burn hot enough to kill all the trees. At the same time,
    these controlled burns also keep the Kudzu like growth of Sweetgum and Red Maple under
    control. When there is a fire caused by nature or man in an area where the Duff is thick
    enough to kill the trees, which is what happened here, this is called a Hot Fire. Sometimes an
    interesting thing happens after a Hot Fire, an annual plant called Fire Weed sprouts up, which
    looks a lot like corn in height and leaf shape, and the area will start to resemble a large
    cornfield. I had the opportunity to see this happen here on the north side of FS 500 in
    2002.
    RW ~ This is the water source for the North Dugger Mountain Shelter.
    NEXT RW ~ 2.4 miles.
Northern Terminus / Finish Hike

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Millennium
Legacy Trail
Section 11 Hike Planner

CS ~ Convenience Store
0
TT ~ Trail Town
0
SC ~ Small Camp
140.1
LC ~ Large Camp
138.8, 140.4, 144.3
TS ~ Trail Shelter
0
SW ~ Seasonal Water
138.8
RW ~ Reliable Water
136.1, 144.3, 144.8, 144.9
HS ~ Hot Shower
0