A Pinnacle Worth Pursuing

Written By: Deena Bouknight | Issue: June 2023

With plenty of pull-offs for sweeping views around seemingly every curve on the Plateau, it may seem like nothing special to discover a hiking opportunity with majestic vistas. Yet, the doable hike to Pinnacle Knob is most certainly worth getting excited about.

It is an elevation of 3,141 peak with open rocky areas ideal for picnics, a good read, and/or an afternoon siesta. The view? Vast expanses of mountains and wilderness are visible almost everywhere you look – except the southeastern direction, which overlooks the town of Clayton, Georgia, in the distance.

The small parking area to leave a vehicle before heading to Pinnacle Knob is located just off Georgia Road. Plateau dwellers need only travel down Dillard Road from Highlands through Scaly Mountain to turn onto Georgia Road and head toward Clayton. A left onto Pinnacle Drive and then onto Courthouse Gap Road leads to a parking area large enough for only a few cars or trucks. “Courthouse Gap” typed into a smartphone GPS takes drivers straight there. The trail is just a few yards or so past where the parking area is located.

Green blazes on a short trail lead to a sign that gives hikers the option of going left on the yellow-blazed Bartram Trail to Rabun Bald (10.5 miles) or to Warwoman Dell (3.7 miles). However, a right toward Warwoman Dell leads to another green-blazed off-shoot on the right that winds up about a mile to Pinnacle Knob.

This hike is on the AllTrails app, so entering Courthouse Gap to Pinnacle Knob not only provides a handy map to keep hikers from getting lost but also gives the mileage – 3.3, out and back – so there is no questioning whether you are on the correct trail.

The quiet trail offers plenty of wildflowers and birding opportunities this time of year; plus, the trail is anything but boring. There are lush, narrow paths resplendent with ferns and other native foliage as well as a wide-open woodsy area with towering trees resembling the Black Forest in Germany. And all this leads to the hallelujah moment when the final steps are onto a wide-open rocky, tiered pinnacle that may inspire a Julie Andrew rendition of “The Hills are Alive.”

Those whose trail legs desire more than a 3.3-mile hike can wind back down from Pinnacle Knob and take a right on the Bartram Trail – toward Warwoman Dell – to hike another mile or so and enjoy plenty of waterfalls, small and larger, along Martin Creek, the largest of which is Martin Creek Falls. The waterway has some decent-sized pools and relaxing areas or summertime refreshing fun.

No need to go all the way to Warwoman Dell, unless an extensive hike, around 10 miles round-trip, is the intention.

Getting back to the parked car at Courthouse Gap is easy: go back to the Rabun Bald/Warwoman Dell sign on the Bartram Trail and take a left to follow the green blazes to the gravel road.