JDPFu.com 2025

Allatoona Pass
Overview

• Trail Mileage: 3.4 miles total (my pedometer confirmed)
• Altitude: ??? ft above sea level
• Parking: paved – room for 8+ cars; fills up on weekends and some weekdays
• The trail is fairly easy if you stay on the main loop. From the parking area, follow the levy towards the woods passed the STOP sign and head to the right. To the right are memorials to each state in the Confederacy, stop if you like or keep heading up the hill.
  There’s a 4-way cross at the top of the hill. To the right is a small loop that has a crows nest. You can hike around it or go in and back out then head back to the 4-way cross.
  Continue straight thru (since you were in the crows nest) and head up a small hill towards the Regimental Headquarters. Going pass the HQ takes you to the view of the Allatoona Pass.
  Head to the right following the pass until you are given a choice of veering right or left. Going to the right takes you to a small loop that returns back here.
  Veering to the left heads down a slope to a wooden and stone bridge onto the old railroad path (no railroad tracks remain). Head to the right on this huge trail and follow it about 1/2 a mile and take in the views of Allatoona Lake. The lake was extremely low when I visited. Along the way, there are a few offshoots with views of the lake.
  When you reach the end, there’s a STOP sign, turn around and come back.
  This road heads directly towards the parking lot. Just passed the bridge you’ve already crossed is a group of steps to the right that leads to the Star Fort. This was a challenging climb for me and I was out of breath well before the top. Sadly, it was another closed loop that required us to retrace our steps back into the pass and head towards the parking lot.

On a Monday in winter when I visited, mine was the only car in the lot when I arrived around 11am, but the lot was full when I left around 12:24p.

Directions
I-75 exit 283 and head east (right). Go over railroad tracks and from there it is exactly 1.0 miles to the parking on the left. No charge.

Notable Sights
None really beyond views of Allatoona Lake. All the sites listed here are simple signs – nothing remains except paths and mounds of dirt providing fortifications. You’ll have to imagine what it was like for the Confederate and Federal soldiers when they were here.

See the 2008 gallery for photos.