March 6th, 2008 - Pinnacle Mountain is very recognizable as it has one of the last of three remaining fire towers in all of the Cherokee National Forest sitting on its summit.  It's also the highpoint of Washington County, Tennessee at an elevation of 3520 feet.  

For the past 15 years I've looked up at Pinnacle Mountain almost on a daily basis from my place of work (Buffalo Valley Golf Course in Unicoi), but today was my first trip to the top of this mountain.  And I did it the hard way...                              

Pinnacle Mtn... Taken From the Golf Course Last Summer (Arrow Shows the Fire Tower)

The summit/tower can normally be reached by driving up a forest road off of Dry Creek Road, but the gate was closed so I parked my car (at 2000' elevation) and set out on foot.  I think I would have done it this way regardless of the gate, as I wanted this highpoint to be a true climb.

The first 2.5 miles ascended steadily on a graveled road until it crossed over "Briar Creek" in a gap.  It was here that the road split, so I got in my backpack to look for my map, and I realized that I'd brought the wrong one.  And guess what?  Somehow I'd deleted the Pinnacle Mountain waypoint from my GPS too.  So I was clueless on which way to go, but I decided to take the road to the left.               

From here the road got worse with gullies and rocks... to the point that you would probably need a high clearance vehicle if you were driving it.  After another 1.5 mile or so of more climbing, I came to another intersection in the road, and I decided that with the odds of picking the correct road twice, I probably wouldn't find the summit today.  It was just a few seconds later that two mountain bikers came down the road to my left and stopped to talk.  One of the bikers was very familiar with the area and pointed me toward the road to my right. 

After another ~1.5 miles on this road I reached the summit of Pinnacle Mountain.  As seen in the photos, the fire tower needs lots of repairs, but plans are in the works to completely refurbish this tower along with adding a hiking trail, and then open it to the public as a lookout tower (read more here).  The steps to top of the tower have been torn down, and I didn't even think about trying to climb it, so my views weren't all that great.  But I did have a nice vista toward Unaka Mountain through the powerline cuts, and I could vaguely see my golf course through the trees.  I took a few photos and returned down the mountain.  My GPS registered 11.0 miles round trip with an elevation gain of over 1500'.  This completed my 4th East Tennessee County Highpoint.            

Directions:  In Johnson City,  take Cherokee Road (off of University Parkway, next to Pine Oaks Golf Course).  Go a few miles and then take a left directly across from Cherokee Middle School onto Lone Oak Road (which eventually turns into Dry Creek Road).  Go approximately 5.5-6.0 miles after turning at Cherokee Middle School, and you'll see a forest service road with a gate on your left.  

Total Miles Hiked:  11.0