Coopers Furnace and Pine Mountain Summit

Let’s hike Pine Mountain’s east loop near Cartersville along with a trip down to the historic Cooper's Iron Furnace.  We will park at the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) visitors center at Lake Allatoona and begin our hike there.  

First we will view the Lake Allatoona dam from an overlook and then hike down to the historic Cooper’s Furnace.  Then we will start heading towards Pine Mountain using the Cooper’s Furnace trail and the Pine Mountain connector to reach the base of Pine Mountain.  As we head up to the top of the mountain using the East Loop, we will gain approximately 800 feet of altitude, reaching the David Archer overlook with an excellent view of Lake Allatoona.  

After a short break to take in the view, we will begin heading back using the East Loop, Pine Mountain Connector and finish on the Laurel Ridge trail, returning to the Army Corps of Engineers visitors center and our cars.  Our hike will transit about 7 miles with a total gain of about 1300 feet, taking us about 3 hours to complete.  I would definitely not recommend this hike for beginners due to the overall elevation gain and length of the hike.

There are bathrooms in the ACE visitor center along with a very interesting museum giving a history of the building of the Allatoona dam and lake and of the former town of Etowah which now sits under about 100 feet of water behind the dam.

• Take I-75 north towards Cartersville
• After passing the Cartersville exits, take exit 290 
• At bottom of ramp, turn right onto Route 20
• IMMEDIATELY after turning onto Route 20, take right onto Route 20 Spur.  This turn is literally 400 feet after turning onto Route 20
• Proceed approximately 4 miles on 20 Spur to the end.  
• At the end, you will see a barricade in front of you. Turn up drive to the right that goes up the the Army Corps of Engineers project office at Lake Allatoona.  Park anywhere.