Stone Mountain (DeKalb County, Georgia)

 

A few miles east of downtown Atlanta, a large granite dome erupts from the green hillsides. It seems incredibly out of place in this area and more appropriate to my former home in the Sierras. With that said though, it seemed like a great destination to explore this morning. After researching the site, I learn that it has been turned into something of an amusement park Lets see what this is all about. As I pull through the gate and pay my admission fee, I start looking for a parking lot for the Cherokee Trail, which circles the natural monument. After parking my jeep, I head across the street and quickly enter the woods.

The trail is well worn, but not overly developed. It's a bit on the cold this morning, which may be deterring the masses from joining me on the trail, but that's just fine with me. I prefer the solitude sometimes. The woods itself reminds me very much of those I used to explore as a young boy on my grandparents' farm in western Kentucky. I'm also reminded of Robert Frost's famous poem, the Road Not Taken. The fall foliage here is very much the yellow wood of his verse.

Along the way, the trees occasionally part ways and open up to a granite slope, which again reminds me of hiking near Reno, but here the deciduous trees reign supreme instead of the conifers that I've been so used to for the last several years. It's a nice change. The trail also runs parallel to an old railroad track, which adds character. 

I see a few other hikers and trail-runners along the way, but it's not very crowded at all. I also note that I am more at ease here than I would be hiking in the Sierras. Not that I was ever afraid to hike, but I was normally very hyper-aware of tracks and other signs of predators back there, and while the same fauna live here (though in lesser numbers), I somehow feel less on edge being out in the forest. It's difficult to explain and not necessarily a good or bad thing, but just a difference that I'm becoming aware of.

The trail opens up into a large developed plaza known as the memorial lawn. I must assume that festivals and concerts are held here, given the seating and overall shape of the area. Most prominent though is a gigantic carving on the side of the mountain. The stylized images of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and "Stonewall" Jackson adorn a huge panel hewn from the granite. While I certainly don't celebrate these mean or what they stood for, they are thought of by many as heroes of the Confederacy that lead to the American Civil War. To me, however, they were rebels on the wrong side of a just cause and what they fought for was despicable and tarnishes any glimmer of goodness in the human race. I don't celebrate the men, but I can recognize the artistry and grandeur of the panel holding their images. 

Continuing around the granite behemoth, the trail begins to run parallel to small creek. The water is surprisingly clear and as I walk, I note a small bridge leading to a "nature garden". The garden is really nothing more than a circle of stone blocks, each engraved with a woman's name who was a member of one of the organizations that helped develop this park. It's a nice touch.

The trail is pretty well marked all along the way, but I eventually reach a point at the far end from where I started, where I get a little confused. A number of group picnic structures have been built in and around the area, but I eventually find my way and then suddenly come up on a bridge and antique grist mill. The signs indicate that the mill was relocated here in the 1960's, after serving a nearby community for nearly a century. It's a rich piece of history that adds to the character of the trail

From here, the path is right alongside the shoreline of Stone Mountain Lake; literally right beside the water. A covered bridge leading to small island catches my attention and it again was relocated here to add to the character. After crossing a land bridge across the lake, the trail follows the opposing shoreline and opens up to amazing views of the autumn colors below the white granite dome erupting from the earth. 

The final half-mile or so of the trail traverses a long granite slope, which would normally be no problem for the Merrell shoes I'm wearing, which I bought specifically for walking on granite slabs, but the morning dew is dripping off the trees and creating hundreds of slicks along the granite that I must cross to return to the jeep. I carefully make my way across and finally reach the parking lot. This has been a pretty interesting hike and I logged about 6.1 miles along the way. This really was a nice hike and I'm really glad I did this one.