LIL’ BUTT KNOB

The Pine Mountain Trail is a 23-mile footpath, which crosses and follows the Pine Mountain Ridge in west central Georgia. The trail is inside Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park, close to Calloway Gardens, and popular with people from all over the State. Much of the land once belonged to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose farm was located near the present site of WJSP-TV. Today, volunteers from the Pine Mountain Trail Association maintain the path which includes many points of interest and very few steep inclines. The trail was first developed in 1975 and now is used by over 50,000 hikers and backpackers each year.

The Lil’ Butt Knob route is the shortest of the loop hikes in the park at only 8.8 miles. It is suitable for either day or overnight hiking, with three designated campsites along the route at Beech Bottom, Big Knot, and Grindstone Campsites. This trail starts near Mile #11 on the Pine Mountain Trail, where it crosses GA 190 and follows the blue blazes in a counter-clockwise direction just west of Hines Gap. Heading northwest, hike around the eastern side of a small knob at 1343 feet then make a gradual 200-foot descent to Big Popular Creek. Here the trail makes a series of hairpin turns around the stream before gaining elevation again to cross a small ridge. The ridge separates the Big Popular and Beech Branch drainages.