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This trail follows the ridge line to the tallest spot on Pigeon Mountain. Toward the end of the trail is a "rocktown," rocks of unusual shapes and sizes.

Pigeon Mountain forms the right side of a "Y," jutting off Lookout Mountain just north of the Chattooga-Walker County line and ending about 3 miles west of Lafayette, Georgia, In between the two mountains is McLemore Cove, and almost all of Pigeon Mountain is within the Crockford-Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area. Half an hour south of the bustling city of Chattanooga, Pigeon Mountain offers a wide variety of outdoor fun including fishing, camping, and many multi-use trails. Rocktown, however, is designated strictly as a hiking trail.

Champaign Glass Evidence of water erosion creates an eerie stone formation where the base of this rock is half the size of the top.

The trail to Rocktown has little change in elevation. This wide footpath is great for groups, however we do not recommend the trail for families because of the abundance of potentially dangerous wildlife both along the trail and in Rocktown itself (see below for a further explanation). Initially the trail is nondescript, but within half a mile the first of a series of large boulders can be seen. There is dense vegetation along the entire trail including numerous berries. Among the berry bushes we could identify were blackberry, wild raspberry and huckleberry.

At the end of the trail are a strange series of boulders and outcroppings that have been given the name Rock Town by those who pass through it. It is well named, for it indeed looks like a town.

More than 200 million years ago this area was once great ocean, that at one time completely covered both Pigeon and Lookout Mountains. The water washed away the softer limestone while leaving other, more durable rock. In many places the effect of the water is apparent, from curved holes in solid rock to tiny mazes of stone netting. In downtown Rock Town you can visit the Champaign Glass, where water has eroded the base of a 50-foot tall rock, leaving the cap precariously balanced on what little remains.

Once in Rock Town the trail ends, and it's fun to take a few minutes to explore. There are numerous squeezes and caves, but beware, these are often havens for wild animals. In one squeeze we found a bobcat growling at us. The fact that the animal did not leave may have meant she was nurturing young, always a dangerous situation. There are developed trails that lead to other areas of Pigeon Mountain, so keep an eye out for the trail blazes for the return trip to the car (an ugly sort of pink that one member of our group described as orange.)

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Rocktown Trail
Rocktown Trail maps and directions
Trail reports for Rocktown Trail
Historic reports for Rocktown Trail