Warwoman Dell / Pinnacle Knob / Courthouse Gap

Here is a great winter hike, suitable for the short days and for all weather conditions. It lies at a low elevation, the trail has a secure tread, getting there involves relatively little driving, and it is varied and pretty, featuring two waterfalls and a lookout.

We park at Warwoman Dell, 3 miles from Clayton on Warwoman Rd. Almost immediately upon leaving the trailhead (1884 ft), marked by a plaque to William Bartram, we come to the first of the two waterfalls on this hike, a two-level cascade on Becky Branch. For the next half hour we hike roughly parallel to Warwoman Rd, then swing north and soon pick up Martin Creek, a picture-book creek with grassy banks and pebbly riverbed as well as swirling rapids and a spectacular falls, viewed from a platform. Leaving the creek, we steadily ascend through open woods to a point close to Courthouse Gap and take a side trail to Pinnacle Knob (3141 ft), which offers a splendid 180-degree view. The Forest Service has been working on rerouting the access trail to the top, so we expect to find it finished. We’ll have lunch on top. At this point we could retrace our steps to the cars, making it an 8.5-mile hike, or, if the weather is good and we want to add another 1.5 miles, we can descend via an old logging road on the west side of Pinnacle Knob to make a 10-mile hike. Total elevation gain is about 2400 ft.

The photo, kindly supplied by Ofelia, shows Pinnacle Knob from above Courthouse Gap.

Kristi will coordinate the carpool at the park-and-ride and Dorothea will join the group at the Clayton Ingles at about 10:00. The hike should finish between 3:00 and 4:00, which may be too early for dinner in Clayton for some--but not us!--so we'll leave the matter open and decide at the carpool who stays and who returns directly to Atlanta after the hike.

From the park and ride take I-85 North to I-985 North. I-985 turns into GA 365/US 23/US 441. Continue to the Ingles in Clayton, GA, for a brief pit stop.  Once back in the cars, continue east onto Rickman Street. Follow Rickman Street for approximately 0.5 mile to its end at signed Warwoman Road. Turn 
right onto Warwoman Road and proceed approximately 2.3 miles to the Warwoman Dell Recreation Area. Turn right on a gravel road leading to the parking lot. The path begins at the far right 
end of the parking lot.

The trip leaders will be contacting you if you have not recently done a D4 hike to determine whether this is a suitable hike for you.