PTA Site Map / www.pinhotitrailalliance.org
The Pinhoti Trail
A Southeast Region Appalachian Trail Connector
The Alabama Section Thru Hike
To be used as a supplement to
the Pinhoti Trail Guides
Sure 16 days is a long time, 146 miles is a long way!
I have done 6 long hikes that add up to 2,120 miles (350, 60, 130, 450, 130,
1000) and also read a lot of trail journals and hiker web sites. Everyone seems to agree
that it will probably take anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks to get your trail legs under you.
During this time it is suggested that you should try to keep your daily mileage around 10
miles per day or, if you’re like me, you’ll just fall out after 10 miles and refuse to go any
farther! The 10 miles between camps idea has been widely practiced for many years
to get hikers through this adjustment period.
Most folks are not and never will be in good enough shape to hike continuous 15 or 20
mile days starting on your very first day. This guide has been created specifically for
this large group of hikers who may never have a chance to hike the 150 to 200 miles
that’s needed to get into that kind of shape. The whole purpose of the 10 mile camps is
to give you the best shot possible at finishing this trail, or any trail, happy, healthy and
ready for more.
The Hike
First, let me say that this is my hike, which should not be confused with your hike.
Everyone's experience level is different. This guide and this website tries to serve all
experience levels. Your daily mileage may / will vary, your campsite choices may / will
be different from mine. Great, always hike your own hike. That’s exactly what I’m doing
here and what I do on the trail. Consider these pages as just a little something to get
your own planning started.
I guess that I could have played with the campsite mileages by adding a few miles here
and taking some away there just for convenience sake, but in the end I decided just to
stick as close to the 10 mile distances as possible.
I did not include the first 34.3 miles of the trail in this guide because that is a road
walk portion and I didn't figure many folks would be interested in doing that.
You'll notice that the first 3 days are short distance days. Day one is short to allow for
driving to the trail and car shuttles. The other two because of scarce water sources
and campsites. These days will also allow some needed time to adapt to the physical
stress.
There will be a hitch hike into Heflin, AL near the mid point of your hike for a 1
night motel stay. You'll be able to sleep in a soft bed, take 2 or 3 hot showers,
eat 2 or 3 huge meals, do your laundry, and replenish your food supply.
Reliable Water Sources
At each of the campsites listed in this guide, there is a footnote called " Reliable
Water". There are, at the very least, dozens of seasonal springs along the
trail. A lot of these springs are at elevations that would require some rain in
the past week for them to be flowing and some of them would require rain in the past
day or so.
As a safety precaution, the "Reliable Water" footnotes should be what you defer
to in your planning and as a result there will be a few days that you will need to carry
extra water during the day. Fortunately, water weight drops pretty fast during a days
hike!
The full text Pinhoti Trail Guides list every seasonal spring on the trail, so when the
time comes for you to drive out to the trail and start your hike, you can make the
decision then of weather the springs will be running or weather you need to plan on only
finding reliable water sources.
Mid Point Re-supply
The town of Heflin is at mile 106.0, almost at the mid point of your hike, and is only 2.8
miles from the trail. This will be the only full re-supply described here, but there are
several more good size towns within 6 or 8 miles of the trail.
In this town stop I’ve included an overnight in a motel. So, you’ll have a chance to
re-supply your food, get yourself cleaned up, do laundry and get a couple of big meals
inside you.
There are also 2 small Mom and Pop convenience stores that are within walking distance
of the trail. These stores will add 2 to 3 miles and about 1 or 2 hours to your day. They
are Able Mall at mile 91.5 and the Cheaha Country Store at mile 96.7.
At mile 79.3, the trail will come within 0.2 miles of Cheaha State Park. There is a small
convenience store there and a very nice restaurant.
Leave No Trace
Well, so far so good, huh? All of that hike your own hike stuff was very nice and
politically correct, right? So, I guess this is where I put on one of my local trail club
t-shirts and draw the line in the sand : )
This is about you and your campsite. When you shoulder your pack in the morning and hit
the trail, go about 10’ and turn around. If it looks any different than it did when you
first saw it the day before (other than carrying out trash left by some bald headed,
bow legged, big eared fool!), then you have done a dis-service to every hiker that comes
along after you.
Leave No Trace. www.LNT.org
Directions to the Trail
Yep, a week or two is a long time to leave a vehicle unattended at either end of this
trail because both trailheads are fairly isolated and you should probably avoid choosing
this option if possible. What I'll try to do here is give you an alternative that I feel is
the safest and most easily managed way to get to and from the trail.
From several section hikes on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia,
I’ve learned that what works best for me is to drive my vehicle up to where I want to
finish my hike and leave it there. Then I’ll get a ride down to where I want to start
hiking.
For a thru hike on the Alabama section of the Pinhoti, what I would probably do is call
the Police Station in Cave Spring, GA and arrange to leave my vehicle there at my finish
point for 2 weeks. Then I would get a friend to follow me up to the Police Station and
leave my vehicle, keys, contact info and expected date of return with them. Then ride
with said friend down to the southern end at Bull Gap, where I'll start my hike, and be
dropped off. After hiking up to the northern end of the trail at Jackson Chapel Road, I
would walk / hitchhike the 6.3 miles to the Police Station and get my car.
It’s about 100 road miles from Cave Spring to Bull Gap and there’s a pretty good chance
that you could pay someone around the Police Station to give you a ride to Bull Gap if you
can’t find a friend to do it. The shuttle rate around the Appalachian Trail is about $1.00
per mile from where you are picked up to where you‘re dropped off.
You’re probably already thinking that there are a lot different ways you could do this
and you’re right. The basic idea here is for you to find a secure place in Cave Spring to
stash your vehicle. From that point the options are pretty much wide open.
Hope this helps.
Here is how to drive to the Police Station in Cave Spring, GA:
Exit from I-20 at US 431, 2 exits east of AL 21 in Oxford, AL. Turn left.
Go 0.3 miles to US 78. Turn right.
Go 3.9 miles to AL 9. Turn left.
Go (40 miles ?) to US 411 in Center, AL. Turn right.
Go (20 miles ?) to the red light in downtown Cave Spring, GA.
Go straight through the red light for 0.1 miles.
The police / fire station is on the left.
Here is how to drive from the Cave Spring Police Station to the beginning of your
hike at the Bull Gap Trailhead, near Sylacauga, AL:
From the Police Station in Cave Spring, go west on US 411 for (20 miles ?) to AL 9 in
Center, AL. Turn Left.
Go (40 miles ?) to US 78. Turn right.
Go 3.9 miles to US 431. Turn left.
Go 0.3 miles to I-20. Turn right.
Go 2 exits to the AL 21 exit in Oxford AL. Turn left.
Go (30 miles ?) to AL 148 in downtown Sylacauga, AL. Turn left.
Go 10.5 miles to the first dirt road on the left, Old Rocky Mountain Road / USFS 607,
on top of the ridge. Turn left.
Go 50 yards to the trailhead parking area, on the left.
The beginning of the Pinhoti Trail is on the right, directly across from the parking area.
Here’s how to walk / hitchhike from the end of the woods trail / end of your
hike at Jackson Chapel Road and begin the road walk to the Police Station in
Cave Spring, GA:
When you get to the end of the trail at Jackson Chapel Rd, turn right.
Go 1.5 miles to the dead end / T intersection. Turn left on the dirt road.
Go 0.5 miles to GA 100. Turn left.
Go 4.0 miles to Cave Spring, GA, at the intersection of GA 100 and US 411.
Turn right on US 411 and go 2 blocks to the red light in downtown Cave Spring.
Go straight through the red light for 0.1 miles.
The police / fire station is on the left.
The Campsites
Northern Terminus / Finish Hike
Day 16 ~ 8.2 miles / Section 13 and 14
172.0 ~ Spring Creek Shelter to 180.2 ~ Cave Spring, GA
Reliable Water ~ At Mile 166.7
Day 15 ~ 8.9 miles / Section 13
163.1 ~ Davis Mountain Shelter to 172.0 ~ The ATA Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Mile 162.7
Day 14 ~ 11.8 miles / Section 12 and 13
151.3 ~ Oakey Mountain Shelter to 163.1 ~ Davis Mountain Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Mile 147.3
Day 13 ~ 6.3 miles / Section 12
145.0 ~ North Dugger Mountain Shelter to 151.3 ~ Oakey Mountain Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Mile 144.9
Day 12 ~ 10.3 miles / Section 10, 11 and 12
134.7 ~ Choccolocco Creek Shelter ~ 145.0 ~ North Dugger Mountain Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Shelter
Day 11 ~ 10.3 miles / Section 10
124.4 ~ Laurel Shelter to 134.7 ~ Choccolocco Creek Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Shelter
Day 10 ~ 10.4 miles / Section 9 and 10
114.0 ~ Lower Shoal Shelter to 124.4 ~ Laurel Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Shelter
Day 9 ~ 8.0 miles (plus 2.8 miles to trail from Heflin) / Section 8 and 9
106.0 ~ US 78 Bridge ~ Heflin, AL ~ HoJo Motel to 114.0 ~ Lower Shoal Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Motel
Mid Point Re-Supply ~ Heflin, AL
Day 8 ~ 3.7 miles (plus 2.8 miles from trail to Heflin) / Section 8
102.3 ~ Rio Grande Crossing to 106.0 ~ US 78 Bridge ~ Heflin, AL ~ HoJo Motel
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 7 ~ 11.5 miles / Section 7 and 8
90.8 ~ Friendship Campsite to 102.3 Rio Grande Crossing
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 6 ~ 11.5 miles / Section 7
79.3 ~ Cheaha State Park to 90.8 ~ Friendship Campsite
Reliable Water ~ At State Park
Day 5 ~ 12.3 miles / Section 5, 6, and 7
67.6 ~ Skyway Loop Trail Campsite to 79.3 ~ Cheaha State Park
(return 0.6 miles on SLT to the Pinhoti)
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 4 ~ 12.7 miles / Section 5
55.7 ~ Talladega Creek Bridge to 67.6 ~ Skyway Loop Trail Campsite
(follow SLT 0.6 miles to campsite)
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 3 ~ 6.9 miles / Section 4 and 5
48.8 ~ Scott Lake to 55.7 ~ Talladega Creek Bridge
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 2 ~8.0 miles / Section 4
40.8 ~ Farkelberry Rock to 48.8 ~ Scott Lake
Reliable Water ~ From Home
Day 1 ~ 6.5 miles / Section 4
34.3 ~ Bull Gap Trailhead to 40.8 ~ Farkelberry Rock
Reliable Water ~ From Home
Southern Terminus / Start Hike
PTA Site Map / Top of Page ^-^
The Pinhoti Trail
A Southeast Region Appalachian Trail Connector
The Alabama Section Thru Hike
To be used as a supplement to
the Pinhoti Trail Guides
Sure 16 days is a long time, 146 miles is a long way!
I have done 6 long hikes that add up to 2,120 miles (350, 60, 130, 450, 130,
1000) and also read a lot of trail journals and hiker web sites. Everyone seems to agree
that it will probably take anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks to get your trail legs under you.
During this time it is suggested that you should try to keep your daily mileage around 10
miles per day or, if you’re like me, you’ll just fall out after 10 miles and refuse to go any
farther! The 10 miles between camps idea has been widely practiced for many years
to get hikers through this adjustment period.
Most folks are not and never will be in good enough shape to hike continuous 15 or 20
mile days starting on your very first day. This guide has been created specifically for
this large group of hikers who may never have a chance to hike the 150 to 200 miles
that’s needed to get into that kind of shape. The whole purpose of the 10 mile camps is
to give you the best shot possible at finishing this trail, or any trail, happy, healthy and
ready for more.
The Hike
First, let me say that this is my hike, which should not be confused with your hike.
Everyone's experience level is different. This guide and this website tries to serve all
experience levels. Your daily mileage may / will vary, your campsite choices may / will
be different from mine. Great, always hike your own hike. That’s exactly what I’m doing
here and what I do on the trail. Consider these pages as just a little something to get
your own planning started.
I guess that I could have played with the campsite mileages by adding a few miles here
and taking some away there just for convenience sake, but in the end I decided just to
stick as close to the 10 mile distances as possible.
I did not include the first 34.3 miles of the trail in this guide because that is a road
walk portion and I didn't figure many folks would be interested in doing that.
You'll notice that the first 3 days are short distance days. Day one is short to allow for
driving to the trail and car shuttles. The other two because of scarce water sources
and campsites. These days will also allow some needed time to adapt to the physical
stress.
There will be a hitch hike into Heflin, AL near the mid point of your hike for a 1
night motel stay. You'll be able to sleep in a soft bed, take 2 or 3 hot showers,
eat 2 or 3 huge meals, do your laundry, and replenish your food supply.
Reliable Water Sources
At each of the campsites listed in this guide, there is a footnote called " Reliable
Water". There are, at the very least, dozens of seasonal springs along the
trail. A lot of these springs are at elevations that would require some rain in
the past week for them to be flowing and some of them would require rain in the past
day or so.
As a safety precaution, the "Reliable Water" footnotes should be what you defer
to in your planning and as a result there will be a few days that you will need to carry
extra water during the day. Fortunately, water weight drops pretty fast during a days
hike!
The full text Pinhoti Trail Guides list every seasonal spring on the trail, so when the
time comes for you to drive out to the trail and start your hike, you can make the
decision then of weather the springs will be running or weather you need to plan on only
finding reliable water sources.
Mid Point Re-supply
The town of Heflin is at mile 106.0, almost at the mid point of your hike, and is only 2.8
miles from the trail. This will be the only full re-supply described here, but there are
several more good size towns within 6 or 8 miles of the trail.
In this town stop I’ve included an overnight in a motel. So, you’ll have a chance to
re-supply your food, get yourself cleaned up, do laundry and get a couple of big meals
inside you.
There are also 2 small Mom and Pop convenience stores that are within walking distance
of the trail. These stores will add 2 to 3 miles and about 1 or 2 hours to your day. They
are Able Mall at mile 91.5 and the Cheaha Country Store at mile 96.7.
At mile 79.3, the trail will come within 0.2 miles of Cheaha State Park. There is a small
convenience store there and a very nice restaurant.
Leave No Trace
Well, so far so good, huh? All of that hike your own hike stuff was very nice and
politically correct, right? So, I guess this is where I put on one of my local trail club
t-shirts and draw the line in the sand : )
This is about you and your campsite. When you shoulder your pack in the morning and hit
the trail, go about 10’ and turn around. If it looks any different than it did when you
first saw it the day before (other than carrying out trash left by some bald headed,
bow legged, big eared fool!), then you have done a dis-service to every hiker that comes
along after you.
Leave No Trace. www.LNT.org
Directions to the Trail
Yep, a week or two is a long time to leave a vehicle unattended at either end of this
trail because both trailheads are fairly isolated and you should probably avoid choosing
this option if possible. What I'll try to do here is give you an alternative that I feel is
the safest and most easily managed way to get to and from the trail.
From several section hikes on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia,
I’ve learned that what works best for me is to drive my vehicle up to where I want to
finish my hike and leave it there. Then I’ll get a ride down to where I want to start
hiking.
For a thru hike on the Alabama section of the Pinhoti, what I would probably do is call
the Police Station in Cave Spring, GA and arrange to leave my vehicle there at my finish
point for 2 weeks. Then I would get a friend to follow me up to the Police Station and
leave my vehicle, keys, contact info and expected date of return with them. Then ride
with said friend down to the southern end at Bull Gap, where I'll start my hike, and be
dropped off. After hiking up to the northern end of the trail at Jackson Chapel Road, I
would walk / hitchhike the 6.3 miles to the Police Station and get my car.
It’s about 100 road miles from Cave Spring to Bull Gap and there’s a pretty good chance
that you could pay someone around the Police Station to give you a ride to Bull Gap if you
can’t find a friend to do it. The shuttle rate around the Appalachian Trail is about $1.00
per mile from where you are picked up to where you‘re dropped off.
You’re probably already thinking that there are a lot different ways you could do this
and you’re right. The basic idea here is for you to find a secure place in Cave Spring to
stash your vehicle. From that point the options are pretty much wide open.
Hope this helps.
Here is how to drive to the Police Station in Cave Spring, GA:
Exit from I-20 at US 431, 2 exits east of AL 21 in Oxford, AL. Turn left.
Go 0.3 miles to US 78. Turn right.
Go 3.9 miles to AL 9. Turn left.
Go (40 miles ?) to US 411 in Center, AL. Turn right.
Go (20 miles ?) to the red light in downtown Cave Spring, GA.
Go straight through the red light for 0.1 miles.
The police / fire station is on the left.
Here is how to drive from the Cave Spring Police Station to the beginning of your
hike at the Bull Gap Trailhead, near Sylacauga, AL:
From the Police Station in Cave Spring, go west on US 411 for (20 miles ?) to AL 9 in
Center, AL. Turn Left.
Go (40 miles ?) to US 78. Turn right.
Go 3.9 miles to US 431. Turn left.
Go 0.3 miles to I-20. Turn right.
Go 2 exits to the AL 21 exit in Oxford AL. Turn left.
Go (30 miles ?) to AL 148 in downtown Sylacauga, AL. Turn left.
Go 10.5 miles to the first dirt road on the left, Old Rocky Mountain Road / USFS 607,
on top of the ridge. Turn left.
Go 50 yards to the trailhead parking area, on the left.
The beginning of the Pinhoti Trail is on the right, directly across from the parking area.
Here’s how to walk / hitchhike from the end of the woods trail / end of your
hike at Jackson Chapel Road and begin the road walk to the Police Station in
Cave Spring, GA:
When you get to the end of the trail at Jackson Chapel Rd, turn right.
Go 1.5 miles to the dead end / T intersection. Turn left on the dirt road.
Go 0.5 miles to GA 100. Turn left.
Go 4.0 miles to Cave Spring, GA, at the intersection of GA 100 and US 411.
Turn right on US 411 and go 2 blocks to the red light in downtown Cave Spring.
Go straight through the red light for 0.1 miles.
The police / fire station is on the left.
The Campsites
Northern Terminus / Finish Hike
Day 16 ~ 8.2 miles / Section 13 and 14
172.0 ~ Spring Creek Shelter to 180.2 ~ Cave Spring, GA
Reliable Water ~ At Mile 166.7
Day 15 ~ 8.9 miles / Section 13
163.1 ~ Davis Mountain Shelter to 172.0 ~ The ATA Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Mile 162.7
Day 14 ~ 11.8 miles / Section 12 and 13
151.3 ~ Oakey Mountain Shelter to 163.1 ~ Davis Mountain Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Mile 147.3
Day 13 ~ 6.3 miles / Section 12
145.0 ~ North Dugger Mountain Shelter to 151.3 ~ Oakey Mountain Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Mile 144.9
Day 12 ~ 10.3 miles / Section 10, 11 and 12
134.7 ~ Choccolocco Creek Shelter ~ 145.0 ~ North Dugger Mountain Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Shelter
Day 11 ~ 10.3 miles / Section 10
124.4 ~ Laurel Shelter to 134.7 ~ Choccolocco Creek Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Shelter
Day 10 ~ 10.4 miles / Section 9 and 10
114.0 ~ Lower Shoal Shelter to 124.4 ~ Laurel Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Shelter
Day 9 ~ 8.0 miles (plus 2.8 miles to trail from Heflin) / Section 8 and 9
106.0 ~ US 78 Bridge ~ Heflin, AL ~ HoJo Motel to 114.0 ~ Lower Shoal Shelter
Reliable Water ~ At Motel
Mid Point Re-Supply ~ Heflin, AL
Day 8 ~ 3.7 miles (plus 2.8 miles from trail to Heflin) / Section 8
102.3 ~ Rio Grande Crossing to 106.0 ~ US 78 Bridge ~ Heflin, AL ~ HoJo Motel
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 7 ~ 11.5 miles / Section 7 and 8
90.8 ~ Friendship Campsite to 102.3 Rio Grande Crossing
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 6 ~ 11.5 miles / Section 7
79.3 ~ Cheaha State Park to 90.8 ~ Friendship Campsite
Reliable Water ~ At State Park
Day 5 ~ 12.3 miles / Section 5, 6, and 7
67.6 ~ Skyway Loop Trail Campsite to 79.3 ~ Cheaha State Park
(return 0.6 miles on SLT to the Pinhoti)
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 4 ~ 12.7 miles / Section 5
55.7 ~ Talladega Creek Bridge to 67.6 ~ Skyway Loop Trail Campsite
(follow SLT 0.6 miles to campsite)
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 3 ~ 6.9 miles / Section 4 and 5
48.8 ~ Scott Lake to 55.7 ~ Talladega Creek Bridge
Reliable Water ~ At Camp
Day 2 ~8.0 miles / Section 4
40.8 ~ Farkelberry Rock to 48.8 ~ Scott Lake
Reliable Water ~ From Home
Day 1 ~ 6.5 miles / Section 4
34.3 ~ Bull Gap Trailhead to 40.8 ~ Farkelberry Rock
Reliable Water ~ From Home
Southern Terminus / Start Hike
PTA Site Map / Top of Page ^-^
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