Page Type:
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Mountain/Rock |
|---|---|
Lat/Lon:
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32.84058°N / 84.74575°W |
County:
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Harris County |
Activities:
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Hiking |
Season:
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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
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Elevation:
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1395 ft / 425 m |
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Overview
Dowdell Knob was named after two pioneer Harris County settlers, Lewis & James Dowdell of Virginia ancestry, who settled there in 1828. The peak, and much of the land located in FD Roosevelt State Park, was owned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (the 32nd President of the United States). He often came to the nearby Warm Springs to treat his polio, and would frequently come to the summit of Dowdell's Knob to relax and rest.
While the peak is located 100 feet away from the parking lot, the view from the summit is amazing, and one can easily see how Roosevelt would find comfort from his pains while relaxing on the summit. There is a nice 4.3 mile Loop Trail that goes around the summit. The loop trail is part of the larger Pine Mountain Trail built and maintained by the Pine Mountain Trail Association.
For those who are into County Highpointing, Dowdell's Knob is the county high point of Harris County.
Getting There
From the intersection of GA 190 with US 27A/ GA 85A/ GA 116, take 190 West roughly 3.2 miles to the Harris/Meriwether county line where the spur road for Dowdell Knob turns off. Turn left (southwest) at this signed intersection and take the spur road to its end ~1.3 miles at the small parking lot for the picnic area.
Red Tape
Dowdell Knob is located within FD Roosevelt State Park. Like all of the Georgia State Parks, there is a daily use fee for parking anywhere within the park. Annual Georgia Park Passes are good at all state parks such as FDR. The daily fee is $3.00 while the annual pass available from the park service (good for all Georgia State Parks) is for sale for $45.00.For further information, you can contact the FDR park office for fee/permit rates and other information by calling 706-663-4858.
Camping
There are many back country spots to camp in the area, as well as cabins. Contact the Park Service (information below) to make reservations.External Links
The Pine Mountain Trail Association. All of the trails around the Pine Mountain area, and within the FDR wilderness, are maintained by the Pine Mountain Trail Association. A volunteer organization that makes maps, as well as builds and maintain over 23 miles of trails.Official Home Page of FD Roosevelt State Park
2970 Ga. Highway 190
Pine Mountain , GA 31822
Reservations (800) 864-7275
Park (706) 663-4858
Stables local (706) 628-7463
Note: maps of this area are hard to find (see the additions and corrections section for details). The park office has an okay map that you can get for free. They also have a map for sale made by the Pine Mountain Trail Association that you can buy for $3.50. If you think you might want to do more in the area, I highly recommend getting the map as it is very detailed and high quality.
The weather at Dowdell's Knob courtesy of weather.com
gabem - Mar 6, 2008 7:48 pm - Hasn't voted
Map CaveatOn the Pine Mt Trail Association's website they list several places to purchase maps for the trails. Two that I tried were Kinnucans in Columbus and REI in Atlanta. Neither had maps (they both said they hadn't seen them in a while). However, that was not an issue as there is a decent weather proof map of the trails available at the Park Office. You will be required to stop into the office for parking permits and back-country camping permits, so you won't be going out of your way. There is only 1 road that travels the ridge of Pine Mountain and the office is located on the south side of the road a few miles from the western terminus of the trail and entrance to FDR state park.
Aeldrin - Mar 7, 2008 2:22 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Map CaveatGood points about the maps for the area. There are a few good trail guides for Georgia (The Homan guides leap most to mind) that have decent trail maps (though not exact topo maps). For a lot of the areas I go into now, I generally make custom maps using Topozone or the National Geographic software (whose name of the package I forget). Good job pointing out that trail maps can be acquired from the Park Office. I'll put that on the main page. Thanks!
kavak - Sep 16, 2009 10:14 am - Hasn't voted
Highpoint NameI am sure that it is grammatically correct to call it "Dowdell's Knob" as you have done. But when I did my search on SP for this area, I was unable to come up with a result, because I was using the USGS map name of Dowdell Knob. I am not sure if it is worth it to change the name or that you would want to. Just sayin...
Aeldrin - Feb 6, 2010 10:59 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Highpoint NameThat is a good point. I have seen it both ways. I'll see if I can change it.