IN a NUTSHELL: Ask any of the hundreds of AOCers who have enjoyed this trip with us in the past. It's a blast!! This time for a change we have the nice Dauset group activities reserved for the entire long Fri-Mon holiday weekend (up to 3 nights of camping for all who wish to camp). Dauset Trails Nature Center is just 50 miles SE of Atlanta. (See detailed Directions below to our special Group-use Area). Feel free to arrive and depart at your convenience at any time between midday Friday and Monday afternoon - Memorial Day.
Our unbelievably low event fee ($30, due to our AOC Treasurer by Fri May 12th) includes a big Sat evening group Cookout and Sunday morning group Breakfast. Also included at no extra charge are a wide variety of exciting optional activities: Unlimited exclusive use of Dauset Trails' fleet of Kayaks & Canoes, miles of scenic mountain Biking/ Hiking Trails, nightly Campfires and much more. At any time, of course, you're welcome to just "chillax" by the lake at our lovely group campsite.
There are dozens of beautiful shaded campsites, and if you choose to spend one or more nights you can sleep comfortably WITHOUT a tent or hammock in one of the "Turkey Roost" covered open-air sleeping structures (see more below). Our volunteers will serve up a big Saturday group dinner and Sunday morning breakfast at our exclusive-use lakeside Dining Pavilion. It's incredibly well equipped, with hot showers, flush toilets, power outlets, electric lights - also plenty of free parking, picnic tables and charcoal grill space.
Camping not your thing? Since our reserved AOC group site is so conveniently close to Atlanta, feel free to do your sleeping at home if you like. As your time permits join us during the day(s) & evening(s) all weekend for whatever activities (or "inactivities"!) that appeal to you - including our 2 provided group meals, campfires, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, etc. Our inexpensive $30 event fee is the same regardless of whether you decide to join us as a "day tripper" over the weekend or spend one or more nights at our group campsite.
"C TO THE 10TH" EVENT! This semi-annual AOC adventure and R & R getaway can aptly be described as "C to the 10th Power." Convenient, Close and Cost-Conscious, it includes big group Cookouts & Campfires—a quality Carside Camping and adventure experience for outdoor enthusiasts from beginner thru expert. In lieu of bringing a tent or hammock feel free to sleep in a Covered-Camping "Turkey Roost" sleeping structure (see more below).
We’ll have FREE Canoeing and Kayaking all weekend with the Nature Center's nice fleet of boats (+ paddles & lifejackets) in the pretty lake by our dining pavilion. As usual we'll provide free 1-on-1 Classes in basic paddling strokes & skills for any who request it. There are also great Cycling and Hiking opportunities, including leader-led group Mountain Bike rides and hikes on the huge network of wooded trails—so if you have a hybrid or mountain bike, consider bringing it - and don't forget your hiking shoes or boots. For the benefit of any who may be new to any of such wilderness pursuits, we'll have experienced AOC volunteers on hand to offer free Counseling in the basic skills of Camping, Hiking, Paddling, and the lore of GA's beautiful native plants and animals. An amazing free bonus of the Nature Center is its free 15-acre “Critter Corral” a.k.a. the "Wildlife Trail," This shady open-air zoo and its adjoining visitor center & museum display dozens of GA's native wild mammals, birds, reptiles and fish in a picturesque lakeside setting. Esp. for the enjoyment of AOC "Dauset Newcomers" we always offer a Saturday AM "Orientation HIke" (~10:00 till lunchtime) from our Pavilion to the nearby Wildlife Trail & Nature Museum and back.
You newcomers will quickly see why we Dauset "veterans" love this in-Credible place! -Your trip Leader Charlie Cottingham, a.k.a "C-square." :-)
CAMPING FACILITIES: There's plenty of nicely shaded level campsite space near our dining pavilion and lake, and for any who prefer more privacy it's fine to pitch your tent (or hang your hammock) in any of the many flat clearings in the adjoining forest. If you prefer you're welcome to sleep on one of the convenient “Turkey Roost” platforms - see below. From the parking area at our group site its no more than a 2- or 3-minute walk to any of the dozens of beautiful tent or hammock sites - or to the Turkey Roosts. Esp. if the weather is unusually cool or wet, feel free to sleep inside your own vehicle or RV, as I (Charlie) often do!
“TURKEY ROOST” COVERED SLEEPING STRUCTURES: These three open-sided roofed buildings are available to us at no extra charge and conveniently adjoin our tent sites. Each Turkey Roost can sleep up to about six with or without tents. Each has two "stories" of wooden decks (~12 feet wide by ~10 feet front-to-back) with stairs and surrounding safety railings. To sleep in a Turkey Roost without a tent simply lay your pad and sleeping bag directly on the deck and perhaps pat a little insect repellent on your face and neck as you go to bed. If you have a small or medium-sized self-supporting dome-style tent (and there's available space) feel free to pitch it directly on one of the covered decks—no rain fly necessary!
GROUP MEALS: Our lakeside Dining Pavilion conveniently adjoins the campsites and large free parking area. With its numerous picnic tables, clean restrooms, hot water, electric outlets and grill it is ideally equipped for preparing meals and dining - also for socializing with a friendly group such as ours. Its excellent shelter means that we can be confident of enjoying the trip "rain-or-shine." Large coolers are appropriate to bring, with plenty of ice to preserve our favorite beverages and food items – the pavilion is the perfect shady place to consolidate them over the weekend. The king-size raised charcoal grill by the pavilion is ideal for group barbecuing.
For this trip the AOC event leader(s) will provide the main ingredients and supplies for a big Saturday evening meal (~6:00-7:30pm) and for Sunday morning hot breakfast (~8:00-9:30am).
We’ll also host optional “potluck-style” group meals at the Pavilion for our Fri & Sun dinners (~7:30-8:30pm) Sat & Mon breakfasts (~8:00-9:30am) and Sat, Sun & Mon lunches (~12:30-1:30 all 3 days). For any potluck-style meals that you choose to take part in, simply show up and contribute an ingredient or two of your choice - or a small prepared dish, salad, dessert, beverage etc. (E.g., for Fri or Sun Dinner perhaps an hors d'oeuvre plate, pre-cooked covered dish, grilled item, salad, dessert item, etc. For Sat or Mon breakfast: perhaps a dozen eggs, pound of bacon, quart of juice, fresh fruit, half-dozen bagels, etc.) – also please do your share to help with food prep, cooking & cleanup for all of our meals at the Pavilion.
On Friday evening, for the benefit of those who arrive by about 7:30 PM, the Pavilion's charcoal grill will be lit and implements provided for those who would like to barbecue a REASONABLE-sized personal item of your own: e.g., a piece of steak, chicken breast, 2 or 3 hotdogs, couple of burgers, etc.
"PerfectPotluck.com" is a free website that provides convenient real-time access to well organized online charts of gear, supplies, food & refreshment items that each person wishes to bring to share. It's incredibly easy to "click below" and enter or re-edit your own info, and I encourage each of you campers to do so ASAP for the benefit of the group. You can easily see what there may be too little of or too much of and insert or adjust your own contribution accordingly! Our AOC "Group Password" if you happen to need it is AOC2017.
Group Dinners (Fri & Sun ~6:00 - 8:00 PM): If you expect to participate in one or more of these, please Click this Link ASAP to enter or re-edit your items,and please indicate beside each item when you plan to share it: http://www.perfectpotluck.com/meals.php?t=DJME3771&v=25dc2d02d6
Group Breakfasts (Fri, Sat & Mon, ~7:00 - 9:00 AM - Same easy entry and re-editing as for Dinners.) Click this Link ASAP: : http://www.perfectpotluck.com/meals.php?t=YLGS4096&v=25dc2d02d6
Lunches: For those of us who happen to be at the campsite at midday on Fri, Sat or Sunday we'll enjoy putting out various tasty "potluck" items at the pavilion to share, but we don't bother trying to pre-plan specific Lunch contributions. During part of each day many of us will likely be away from the campsite hiking, biking, exploring, etc. Consider bringing a light daypack or fanny pack for carrying a few snack items such as fruit, a sandwich, trail mix, cookies, etc.—plus water and your smartphone, camera, etc
The Club will provide a limited supply of napkins, paper towels, steel silverware, cooking utensils, etc. for group use at the Pavilion all weekend. Our Club policy is to minimize the amount of disposables, so to "Be Green" please bring your own personal insulated and covered drinking mug and your own personal washable plate and bowl, plus personal knife, fork & spoon. We’ll provide a hot-water dishwashing station, "camp suds," scrubbing pads, & towels, and will recruit a small crew to wash & dry dishes after each group meal.
"PRE-TRIP PLANNING HAPPY HOUR," in conjunction with MAY AOC SOCIAL, SUN MAY 7th: The Social will be held between 5:00 and 7:00 at CINCO Mexican Cantina, 2851 Akers Mill Rd, Atlanta, GA, ~1/2 mile east of Cumberland Mall. No big problem if you need to arrive late (or can't make this drop-in Dauset gathering at all). It's esp. recommended for you "first-timers" to address your questions about Dauset Trails and introduce you to others who are on the trip. I'll try to arrive early to hold a couple of tables for us and will give out brochures & maps of the beautiful 1800-acre Nature Center. We'll clarify how to drive to our remote group camping area and what gear, food & refreshments each of us may wish to bring - also firm up a schedule of exciting optional group activities (and relaxing"inactivities")!
FOR MORE about DAUSET TRAILS NATURE CENTER visit their official website at www.DausetTrails.com. Phone number: 770-775-6798. Founded in 1977 and just 50 miles south of Atlanta, the 1800-acre preserve focuses on environmental education and outdoor activities for nature lovers of all ages. The park and its beautiful forested property were privately endowed by two highly esteemed local citizens, Hank Daughtry and David Settles - hence the coined name, DAU-SET." Its friendly hard-working staffers oversee its Visitor Center & Museum, Antique Barnyard, Botanical Gardens, Zoo and other amazing free attractions discussed above. Reserved and paid camping groups such as ours have exclusive use of the entire lakeside camping area and its nice included extras. For a color topo map, which includes the extensive hiking/biking trails network go to: http://www.dausettrails.com/bikemap14.pdf An added bonus of Dauset Trails is its proximity to historic Indian Springs State Park and its quaint village - also lovely High Falls State Park is just a 5-minute drive away. These adjoining parks offer more fabulous hiking trails + waterfalls, lakes, botanical gardens, country stores, antique shops, etc. A beautiful lakeside hiking & mtn biking trail was opened that conveniently connects Dauset Trails with Indian Springs. High Falls is a very pretty place to explore and is directly on our route back toward Atlanta from Dauset Trails.
FOR SOME COLORFUL DAUSET TRAILS PHOTOS (plus an archive write-up) of our AOC September 2010 weekend, go to the following link. Click on "Photo Album." for Courtney & Tom Harjung's superbly done Picasa album: http://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/events/archivedetails.asp?eventid=2650
September 30 - October 2, 2011 photo album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/116047776368239884613/DausetTrailsWeekend?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOvXlqrvwc_hfw&feat=directlink
Thanks to Angela Nelson for the above beautiful group "beach & boats" shot taken on our May 2009 Dauset Trails trip. |
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EASY DIRECTIONS from ATLANTA to AOC GROUP CAMPING AREA & PAVILION at DAUSET TRAILS NATURE CENTER:
IMPORTANT: Please pay close attention to the numbered verbal Directions below. They give the precise mileages between turns and explain the special entrance & exit procedures for reaching our remote AOC Group Site. Don't try to rely solely on GPS! (As an adjunct to these directions you GPS users can enter Lat/Lon 33.2321,-83.9489 as coordinates of our special AOC entrance gate discussed in detail below.)
Our reserved AOC group site is roughly half-way between Atlanta and Macon - just 8 miles east of the I-75 "High Falls Rd" Exit. For many Atlantans this is normally only about a 1-hour drive except during "rush hour." For a zoomable map & satellite view of our special Camper entrance gate and its surrounding area click the rectangular blue & green "Event Location" icon near the top of this article.
1. From the southside I-75/ I-285 Interchange (east of the Atlanta Airport) take I-75 South about 35 miles and get off at Exit #198, "High Falls Rd." (If you live on Atlanta’s east side consider this shortcut: From I-285 Exit #52 take I-675 southward to I-75 South, then it's just 29 miles further to Exit #198 at High Falls Rd.)
2. Turn Left onto High Falls Road (over the I-75 bridge) and go 4.6 miles to Mt. Vernon Church Road (passing through High Falls State Park en route).
3. Turn Right onto Mt Vernon Church Rd and go 3.0 miles and look for a gravel road on on your left with a sign that says, "Dauset Trails Nature Center...Group Camping Entrance." You GPS users may wish to enter the following Lat/Lon coordinates of this gravel entrance as your "destination address": 33.2321,-83.9489 (If you happen to overshoot this entrance, in just 0.1 mile you'll reach the main Dauset Trails paved entrance, in which case you should make a U-turn and backtrack to this proper entrance near the street address "389 Mount Vernon Road.")
4. From Mt. Vernon Road, turn into the gravel Camper entrance road discussed above, and bear leftward for about 100 yards where you’ll arrive at a steel gate. (The gate is just beyond a “check-in bulletin board” and a gravel parking lot for mountain bikers & other “day-use” visitors.) CRUCIAL DETAIL: Enter through this gate toward our Camping Area as follows: The gate is normally "Fake-locked" with an old padlock on a chain. Simply lift the end of the chain off the nail, open the gate, proceed through it with your vehicle, then reclose the gate just as you found it by wrapping the chain and padlock around the gatepost and re-hooking it on the nail.
5. After rewrapping the chain and its "fake lock," drive about 0.8 mile up the gravel road to our covered lakeside campers’ Dining Pavilion ("Group Pavilion #2") and campers’ Parking Area on your Right. (Just before you reach this group area you'll pass through a second steel gate that is normally left unlocked and open for reserved camping groups. We like to leave this second gate in the OPEN position all weekend. If you arrive early and find this second steel gate locked, feel free to ask a ranger at the nearby Nature Center Office to assist you, and you could try reaching them by phone at 770-775-6798.
6. When you arrive, park initially at the pavilion, and consolidate there your coolers, camp chairs, and cooking/dining gear, etc. If other AOCers have already arrived they can assist you in choosing a campsite. The main tent camping area is in the forest near the lake, about 100 to 200 yards to the right of the pavilion beyond the little open-air chapel. The “Turkey Roost” camping platforms are about 50 yards beyond this tent camping area, via the same forested trail.
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