JDPFu.com 2025

Red Top Mountain
Overview

1. Homestead Trail Mileage: 5.4 miles total (my pedometer confirmed – 13k steps)
2. Total Time: 2+ hours 1st time; 1:40 for 2nd time
3. Altitude: approx 900ft above sea level
4. Parking: paved – room for 8+ cars; fills up on weekends and some weekdays
5. There are many more trails than just Homestead here. All the others seem shorter, but you could easily put 2+ together to get the hike length you desire. I enjoyed the length of my first hike so much that I came back 2 days later and hiked the same trail again, just in the opposite direction.
   On my first hike of the Homestead trail counter-clockwise loop, I did a run/walk for enough of it to cause my left knee to crackle and feet to hurt. I also didn’t eat enough breakfast to maintain my energy level for the entire 2+ hour effort. By the time I was hiking up the last hill to the parking lot, I had real concerns that my knee wasn’t going to hold out. A little google search at the end and I’m confident there’s nothing wrong, just a little extra fluid in my left knee. I had no pain.
   On my 2nd hike of the Homestead trail, I elected to go the clockwise loop. I found this to be much easier for me and my knee. At the first sign of knee issues, I took some Tylenol. Doing that minimized any further knee issues for rest of the hike. Since I was concerned about making it to the end this day, I elected to chop off a little from the hike and took a cutoff that made the hike about 4.3 miles instead of 5.3 mi.

Directions
I-75 exit 285 and head east (right). The road will take you to the visitor center turn in at the Camping Registration sign. You’ll need a Georgia State Parks parking pass – $3 or $30 annually.

Notable Sights
Nice lake Allatoona views.
There’s a stone chimney off in the woods – you’ll have to look for a small unmarked path to find it. It is about half a mile into the loop if you go counter-clockwise.