Direct trail access between Dugger Mountain and Piedmont, AL?

[DSettahr]

One of the online maps I'm using to prepare a rough itinerary for a thru-hike of the trail (the one at lifeat2mph.com) appears to show a link trail connecting the town of Piedmont, AL, directly to Dugger Mountain by way of Meadow Ridge Drive to the south of the town. The map calls it the "Piedmont Cutoff." However, I can't find any other reference to this trail existing in any other source of information. If such a trail does exist, it would be helpful to use for reaching the town to do a resupply, as I would be able to avoid a longer walk/hitch along roads to the east of the town.

Is there a trail that connects the town directly to the summit of the mountain? Or perhaps an old road that can still be easily followed? (I think there was once a fire tower on the summit, so a road would make sense.)

If not, I've not problem using the roads to the east, but as I'll be going SOBO, I don't want to skip road access thinking that there is a trail access later on, only to find that the trail access doesn't exist. There appears to not be any easy way to get back into Piedmont from any location further south along the trail, either, so I'd probably end up backtracking if that turned out to be the case.

Thanks in advance.

[AO2134]

The Pinhoti joins Chief Ladiga Trail which is a paved, multi-purpose trail It takes you to Piedmont AL. The Pinhoti shares the chief ladiga trail for less than a mile. Instead of turning left back onto pinhoti going south bound, you could take this paved trail to the heart of Piedmont AL. It would be between 6-7 miles. Of course it would be easy hiking considering it is a paved trail and from the section I did, very flat. If you google Piedmont AL zoom in a few times and look for a trail going east-west right through the heart of Piedmont AL. This may be an alternate which would keep you off the roads and not getting lost.

I did that section a while ago and I didn't see the alternative trail you spoke of, but I wouldn't be surprised if I simply missed it.

Hope this helps.

[AO2134]

I create "video guides" of my hikes. You can see the chief ladiga trail intersection the Pinhoti at about minute 10:45 on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cx5LWyRrRU

I was going NOBO though. Instead of taking that left onto the Pinhoti off of Chief Ladiga Trail, you can continue on that paved trail shown for about 6-7 more miles to the heart of Piedmont AL.

[charlielima]

I live in Piedmont, and don't know of a shorter way into town from the trail. The easiest way is from where the Pinhoti crosses the Chief Ladiga Trail, it is about 7 miles into town, easy flat walk. There is a campground at that trail intersection, and you might be able to hitch a ride to town from there.

[Matt65]

Hope you enjoy your hike! Don't hesitate to ask for help here or on the Facebook groups for the Pinhoti. There are several locals that will help you out with shuttle, food drops etc.

Personally If I had to walk into town I would take Ladiga. If you only need to resupply you could easily arrange a pickup. There is also a campground near the Ladiga/ Pinhoti intersection that you could probably get a ride from.

[Matt65]

[DSettahr]

Thanks everyone. This is very helpful.

[ngneer]

The Pinhoti joins Chief Ladiga Trail which is a paved, multi-purpose trail It takes you to Piedmont AL. The Pinhoti shares the chief ladiga trail for less than a mile. Instead of turning left back onto pinhoti going south bound, you could take this paved trail to the heart of Piedmont AL. It would be between 6-7 miles. Of course it would be easy hiking considering it is a paved trail and from the section I did, very flat. If you google Piedmont AL zoom in a few times and look for a trail going east-west right through the heart of Piedmont AL. This may be an alternate which would keep you off the roads and not getting lost.

I did that section a while ago and I didn't see the alternative trail you spoke of, but I wouldn't be surprised if I simply missed it.

Hope this helps.

Where it crosses the Ladiga is MP 6-7 back into town is MP 14ish