You just have to check out KeMo’s backside!
No, KeMo is not a little-known member of the Kardashian family, but rather, Kennesaw Mountain, located just North of Atlanta. According to the National Park Service, KeMo is the most visited national battlefield in the country and gets more visits each year than the White House. That’s likely because of it’s location in the densely populated NW Atlanta area and the availability of lots of outdoor activities, Civil War history and other nearby attractions.
But most people miss KeMo’s backside, a shapely, well-rounded, and beautiful natural attraction often unseen and unappreciated by those drawn to KeMo’s more recognizable and oft-visited full frontal approach.
Since most people hike the main Kennesaw Mountain trail or the paved road up and down the mountain, we encourage a contra approach, avoiding the crowds, enjoying a longer hike, taking in more scenery and fresh air and getting more exercise. By taking the Mountain Loop trail around the mountain first, then ascending KeMo’s backside of Pigeon Hill and Little Kennesaw before cresting the peak of Kennesaw mountain and heading down the front, you’ll enjoy a fun – and occasionally moderately challenging – hike of 5.8 miles.
One note of caution: plan before you attempt this. You will be walking for a couple of hours, you won’t always be on smooth, flat or paved surfaces, and there are some stretches where you’ll elevate your heart rate. And because you’ll walk through fields, forests, gravel trails, dirt trails, rocks and inclines, be certain you have sunscreen, bug spray, water and good walking or hiking shoes.
Starting Out
Taking the contra route, you’ll start at the Visitor’s Center, wave goodbye to all those people walking up the main trail, and instead follow along the open field that faces Stilesboro Road and Old Highway 41. On some days, you may find Civil War reenactors in camp near the Visitor’s Center and demonstrating canon firings on the field. If so, stop for a visit as the reenactors are friendly and full of information about all things Civil War.
At about 0.2 miles, and before entering the forest section of the trail, you’ll pass by the towering Georgia Confederate Soldiers Monument, an all-marble memorial completed in 1963.
The Forest
Turning into the forest on a sunny day will provide welcome respite from the Georgia heat. In the winter, as the leaves have dropped to the forest floor, you’ll be happy for the sun’s warm. At about 0.8 miles, you’ll come upon signs for Camp Brumby, where you can find foundational remains of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp that operated from 1938 to 1942. The 200 men housed here worked mostly on projects at the mountain, including building signs, creating the trail system, and widening roads. Today, foundations of the headquarters, bath house, and a portion of the mess hall foundation remains at the site.
Enjoy the approximately 2-mile walk through the woods, all on gently undulating ground with approximately 100 feet of elevation change. On this section, you’ll likely see and hear birds, and perhaps encounter a few forest creatures. We’ve seen many squirrels along the way, and a few small deer near the Camp Brumby location. Remember to use caution as Georgia is home to 6 species of poisonous snakes, including the copperhead, timber rattlesnake and pygmy rattlesnake frequently found in the NW Georgia area. You’ll be near the park’s edge, and several homes and a fenced neighborhood sit on the boundary. Please stay on the trails and be respectful of private property.
Pigeon Hill
Just past milepost 3 – just short of your half-way point – the Brumby Trail intersects with the Pigeon Hill Trail. At the well-marked intersection, take a hard-right turn and follow the Pigeon Hill trail. Until now, the trail has been relatively flat. Over the next 1.5 miles, you’ll ascend approximately 700 feet, covering Pigeon Hill, the top of Little Kennesaw Mountain and the peak of Kennesaw Mountain at 1,808 ft.
The Rocks and Big Zig
The trail turns rocky as you leave Pigeon Hill and head up Little Kennesaw Mountain. At a point known as The Big Zig, the trail doubles back on itself through the rocks. Here, you’re at approximately 1/3 of the way up Little Kennesaw Mountain, with approximately 250 vertical feet to climb.
This section of the trail exposes the deep-rock remnants of ancient mountains, which at the time of their formation appeared more like today’s Rocky Mountains than the eroded and more gentle landscape of the surrounding area. Large boulders protrude from the surrounding landscape, many ranging from 10 to 20 feet tall. You may see some rock climbers here, but we recommend you stick to the trail to enjoy the scenery.
Geologically, this entire area around and including Kennesaw Mountain is referred to as a monadnock, which translates to “lonely mountain” from the Native Americans Abenaki Tribe of the Algonquian Nation. You can learn more about the geologic origins and history of Kennesaw Mountain and Northwest Georgia in a National Park Service PDF file.
Little KeMo and The Saddle
Once you reach to top of Little KeMo, the trail descends into the saddle of the ridge before you start climbing the final 360 vertical feet to the top of Kennesaw Mountain.
Along the saddle are repositioned Civil War-era canons, placed at the site of a Confederate artillery battery known as Fort McBride which exchanged fire with Union troops for nearly 2 weeks during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. As you stop to look at the canons, take a sip of water and consider that it required approximately 100 men to move each canon up to Ft. McBride.
From here, you’ll continue along a relatively wide gravel-and-earth trail until you reach Kennesaw Mountain Drive, the road that allows weekday drivers and weekend shuttles to bypass your walking journey to the top. (Don’t be angry; you chose to walk, and they didn’t get the exercise!) The final ascent is a winding, rocky and relatively steep trail, so use caution.
The Summit: Enjoy Your Accomplishment
At the peak of KeMo, you’re approximately 900 feet above the surrounding area with unobstructed views to Atlanta and Stone Mountain to the South and East. A park sign facing to the South labels some of the most visible points of interest. In the Northerly direction, Kennesaw is at the foot of the mountain, with the twin cooling towers of Georgia Power’s coal-fired Plant Bowen and the rising foothills of the Smokey Mountains in the distance. As KeMo is a wooded peak, you won’t have a full panoramic view. And since you’re in the South, depending on the time of day, elevation and weather, a light fog, high humidity, or atmospheric haze may prevent your mountain top pictures from being crystal clear.
Going Down
You’ll have two options for the route down: a well-traveled, relatively wide path through the woods, or the road. The wooded trail is slightly shorter, while the road circles the mountain to maintain an easy route for cars. The wooded path also continues the signage marking various unit placements in the Civil War battle, so if history is part of the reason for your hike, stay in the woods. But, after you’ve experienced KeMo’s backside, either way will provide an easy, trouble-free and scenic walk.
On the weekends, the road is closed to all vehicle traffic except a National Park Service shuttle that periodically takes visitors to the top for a small fee. Beware the occasional biker who has struggled up the nearly 900-foot, 1-mile climb and now gets to coast down – sometimes forgetting that the speed limit applies to bikers, too.
The Physical Statistics
I use a Garmin VIvoactive HR to track all my physical activities, including locations, distances, elevations and my exertion. A side benefit is that the Garmin Connect software provides good data and graphs that help me recall and fully-form memories of moments, scenery, surroundings and effort. I’ve added a descriptive title line in orange to the standard graphs, generally matching the section headlines in this post. Note that, in the blog post where my Garmin elevation data conflicted with any published data, I generally used the published data as I find elevation information can be sometimes unreliable on the Garmin watch. Otherwise, if you’re considering a watch-style device for activity, I highly recommend the Garmin VivoActive HR.
Before or After the Hike
My first pre-and-post-hike stop was the restrooms in the Visitor’s Center – maybe too much information for you, but remember, unless you’re a bear or forest creature, these are the only real restrooms for miles around. Keep that in mind before you venture away to KeMo’s backside or full-frontal ascent.
The Visitor’s Center offers a good display on the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, including an informative large-format illustrated timeline on the wall. A 35-minute movie also is shown in the theatre.
If you have a hankering for more local history, nearby Kennesaw History Museum, Gone with the Wind Museum and the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History are excellent choices for a one-to-two hour stop. For the sake of other visitors, you may want to visit these museums first as you likely will be carrying the distinctive aroma of “eau de Mont-aine” after your long and winding hike.
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