Pine Mountain is an unusual ridge that stands above the landscape in West Central Georgia reaching nearly from the Chattahoochee to the Flint River. It’s located near the town of Warm Springs, which was the cherished healthful, get-away of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It has been suggested that FDR’s depression-era concept of the New Deal may have been born from his relationship to the land and people of this little corner of Georgia.

The landscape is unusual as it offers a mountain experience far from Appalachian chain. The landscape hosts odd mixes of classic mountain species as well as species comfortable in the coastal plain. Trails follow dry sunny ridges to lush wetland creeks. A complex underlying geology helps support niche ecosystems, in addition to creating the warm upwellings of mineral-rich ground water that attracted so many to the warm springs for healing.

The rare Georgia Oak can be found in abundance, and Long leaf pine is common here as well, though it is usually found in much lower topography.

We’ll hike along a section of the Pine Mountain Trail, and we’ll visit Dowdell’s Knob, which has a sweeping view of the southwestern landscape as it rolls into Alabama. This was one of FDR’s favorite places to sit and reflect, where a bronze statue in his honor has recently been installed.

Our hike will be be a little more strenuous than our shorter walks, so be prepared to walk about 4 miles or maybe a little more, on trails that can be rough with roots and rocks, and may have some steep inclines. We’ll plan for a picnic lunch.

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Photos: Ridge-top forest at Pine Mtn, Georgia Oak leaf, and FDR bronze statue at Dowdell’s Knob – by Kathryn Kolb