Stone Mountain Afternoon Multi-Trail Hike

IN a NUTSHELL:   Perhaps too often we Georgians "take Stone Mountain for granite!"  It rivals almost any other natural area in the country with its spectacular rock formations, beautiful lakes, rare native plants, and abundant birds & wildlife. The mountain has a fascinating human history as well, of which its gigantic Civil War memorial carving is but one part.
  Sunday's weather is shaping up to be ideal for a hike, with expected afternoon temperatures in the high 60s and virtually no chance of rain.  On this leisurely-paced "D3" hike we'll stop often to enjoy the scenery and wildlife while hiking portions of at least SEVEN different nice trails.  Much of our planned route (more detail below) has only rarely been offered by the AOC, and occasionally we'll be off-trail.  Exploring some of these "wilder" places can be fun and exciting for those who have been only on the most popular and well known marked trails.

WHERE & WHEN:  We’ll gather at 2:00 PM in the FREE parking lot of the "Red Caboose" Welcome Center, OUTSIDE THE PARK! in the quaint Village of Stone Mountain (detailed directions below).  As pedestrian Park visitors we'll have FREE entrance into the Park via the quarter-mile "PATH" Entrance Trail, similar to NW Atlanta's "Silver Comet."

HIKE PLAN:  I expect that during our 3+ hours together we'll hike a total distance of about 7 miles with likely no more than 700 feet of total uphill vertical elevation gain.  After introductions we’ll hike into the Park from Stone Mtn Village via the half-mile paved "PATH" spur trail.  We'll then pick up the orange-blazed Connector Trail that will take us eastward to the green-blazed Nature Garden Trail.  While in the Nature Garden area we'll spend a little time at the displays of native GA wildflowers, trees and shrubs.  Next we'll connect with the white-blazed Cherokee Trail and hike it eastward to a little waterfall above Venable Lake.  After a brief stop here we'll hike upstream along a lovely short unmarked creekside trail to the former site of the 1996 Olympics Cycling and Archery venue and hike there the Songbird Habitat Meadow Trail and Woods Trail.  After connecting back downstream to the waterfall we'll continue our hike clockwise around the mountain (only partly via the Cherokee Trail) and stop occasionally to enjoy various interesting sights including perhaps the old steam locomotive and the outdoor quarry museum.
  Along the way we intend to avoid disturbing the flora or fauna and to leave the mountain and its surrounding terrain in even better shape than we find it by picking up and carrying out some of the bits of trash left by previous hikers.  I'll bring a few small bags along for this worthy AOC "spruce-up" effort.

  We'll target arriving back to our vehicles at the "Caboose" by about 5:30 PM - before dark.  If there's enough interest after the hike, some of us could have dinner together at the "Village Bakery & German Restaurant" in Stone Mountain Village, just a 2-minute drive down Main Street from the Caboose lot.
  We'll allow up to 3 well-behaved dogs on the hike provided they're leashed and under their owners' control at all times. Please so indicate in your signup notes if you'd like to bring a canine companion.

FOR PHOTOS from our Nov 2010 AOC Stone Mountain Adventure Hike:  Go to Marcus Kubota's nice photo album by clicking this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=303112&id=648793487&l=00a69951aa

FOR  MORE ON STONE MOUNTAIN and its TRAILS: Here are three links that might be useful:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain
http://www.stonemountainpark.com/faq/#Recreation
http://www.stonemountainpark.com/images/maps/hiking/smp_map_hiking_map.gif

DIRECTIONS TO OUR MEETING PLACE:
"RED CABOOSE" WELCOME CENTER OUTSIDE the PARK in the Village of Stone Mountain: (You can click on the above Red "Location Teardrop" for a color online map of our exact meeting spot and surrounding area.)

1.  From "Spaghetti Junction" (the I-285/I-85 interchange in NE Atlanta) take "I-285 East" (actually southward) toward Augusta about 4.7 miles.

2.  Take I-285 Exit #39B (bearing Right off I-285 in a clockwise loop).  Merge onto Stone Mountain Pkwy/US-78 E (toward Snellville/Athens), and go about 5.9 miles.

3.   At Exit #5 bear Right onto the Memorial Drive/Stone Mountain Bypass, and go only about 0.6 mile—then bear Right again at your first opportunity up the E. Ponce de Leon Ave. access ramp.

4.  Turn Left onto E. Ponce de Leon Ave. and go 0.5 mile to the first traffic light.

5.  Continue straight ahead at the light onto Main Street and go southward here for about 0.5 mile (through Stone Mtn village) to the "Red Caboose" Welcome Center and parking lot on your Left, just beyond the RR track crossing and traffic light at Mimosa Drive.
   
6.  Free parking is available by the Caboose, and in the event that these spaces are filled there's normally plenty of free parking nearby on Main Street and its adjoining side streets in Stone Mtn Village.

NEED MAP or CUSTOM DIRECTIONS? If you'd like a map or directions from your specific point of departure, go to Google.com/maps and in the "Search Maps" window enter:

   891 Main Street, Stone Mountain, GA 30083

Then click on "Search Maps," "Get Directions," enter your personal "Start Address, and click the grey "Get Directions" box.

As a destination for your vehicle's GPS system use the above address or the following  Latitude/Longitude Coordinates of our "Red Caboose" parking lot meeting point and trailhead:

33.8053,-84.1700

Free Event with Free Parking!