Purple Trail

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Purple Trail is a connecting trail in the Sutallee Trace, so plan your route accordingly and check your mileage before starting your trek.

The Purple Trail is a 1.5 mile point-to-point connector trail that begins at the White Trail, and concludes at an intersection with the Yellow Trail. The Purple Trail has two segments, #1 connects White Trail to Orange and Segment #2 is from the intersection with Orange Trail to the connection with Yellow Trail.

Segment #1 begins 0.7 miles after crossing the historic Frank Stone Bridge from Boling Park. (1.5 miles from White trailhead in the Park). Purple Trail, Segment #1, can also be accessed by the Hightower Church Trailhead heading East on Segment #1 of the White Trail toward Boling Park, 0.5 miles from the Church Trailhead.

The trail goes through 3 sections with variable terrain lower, middle, and upper. The lower winds along a small creek 0.3 miles and then up to the middle portion 0.5 miles, a recent rebuild, courses through a clear-cut area and roadbed, finally back to singletrack and down crossing Orange Trail, and then turning right onto a roadbed for a short distance. The upper section will be on your left, 0.1 miles, that meanders along another creek, skirting the same clear-cut. In 2024, the Sutallee Trace Stewards, as part of the rebuild, has added several bridges to the upper section to keep your feet dry and easier accessibility, for all ages of hikers.

After 0.4 miles, the trail will climb into mixed hardwood and then into a pine thicket, before it connects with Yellow Trail to the right, 0.3 miles. Purple Trail is a connecting trail, so to get back to Hightower Church or Boling Park Trailheads, you'll need to continue south on the Yellow Trail or backtrack on the Purple Trail.

NOTES:

-To the north, is an emergency access point from Old Shoal Creek Trail Road. This is not part of the trail system or trailhead for the Sutallee Trace.

-Hiking south on the Purple Trail from Yellow Trail, 0.2 miles, there will be a fork please stay to the right. The metal stakes are to keep ATVs and motorcycles off of the trails. The fork to the left is the old trail before the clearcut and might be shown as Purple on some mapping application, which is outdated. If following the old trail, once out of the wood line, stay to your right on the road and it will bring you back to the beginning of the upper Purple Trail.