Cherokee County Highpoint Trip Report
Flagpole Mtn
Date: January 14, 2008
Author: Edward Earl
Mike Beavers's road directions are fine. I would like to supplement his report
by providing hints on how to locate and follow the Pinhoti Trail. As he says,
its trailhead is very obscure.
At the exact point on CR-8 indicated by the distance in Mike’s report is a gate
on the north side of the road with a “No Trespassing” sign. The Pinhoti trail
crosses the road about 200 feet east of this point. On the south side, it is
indicated by an inconspicuous 4 foot pole; on the north side, its only
indication is some orange tape.
The trail turns left only a few feet into the trees. It then joins the road
beyond the gate just before a large clear area covered with slash. If the trail
is blocked by a slash pile without turning left, you've already missed the turn.
Once on the road, follow it for less than 5 minutes until a sign indicates that
the Pinhoti Trail branches off to the right of the road at a fork. As the
Pinhoti Trail climbs its way up into the hills, it is occasionally obscure but
frequently marked in several different ways: orange tape, blue paint marks,
white bird's-foot paint marks, and signs with either a bird's foot or
identifying the trail by name. If you ever go more than a few minutes without
seeing one of these kinds of marks, go back and try again. There is some
infrastructure: a couple of bridges, a ladder, and a camp site with a BBQ grill
and a food line.
No part of the Pinhoti Trail is shown on the 7.5' topo map. The general course
of the trail is as follows. It first climbs up Hawkins Hol to the southeast
corner of section 3, then switchbacks up the right side to the summit of point
1,360+, about 1/4 mile south of point 1,525. It then contours around to the
~1,250 foot saddle 1/4 mile east of point 1,525. From there, it traverses the south
side of the ridge to the east, gaining the crest at ~1,750 feet.
From there, it stays close to the crest to the summit of Flagpole.