Beautiful Panola Mtn State Park: Extended-length guided Summit Hike.

IN a NUTSHELL:  A very well-preserved "sister" of Stone Mountain a few miles to its north, Panola Mountain is a "well kept secret" with relatively few visitors.  Just 15 minutes from the east-side I-20/I-285 Interchange, the State Park is an easy drive from anywhere in the metro area.  (See detailed directions and GPS coordinates below.) 
  The exposed-granite mountain within the State Park is a specially protected conservation area, and hiking to the mountain summit and its surrounding vicinity is permitted only in the company of a ranger-naturalist through a special arrangement with the State Park. This rarely offered longer guided hike should be esp. appealing for those of us who have done previous Panola hikes, since it will include both the summit and new terrain on the shoulders and base of the mountain.  Since there will be a little "bushwhacking" and a couple of slightly steep rocky inclines along the way, we're calling this a "D3" difficulty event.  It is suggested only for those who feel comfortable hiking in such terrain.
  The Park charges a reasonable fee for these ranger guided hikes: just $7 per person, payable individually when we arrive.  The fees go toward improvements in the Park's trails and other facilities.  Each driver who doesn't display a valid GA State Parks annual Parking Pass will also need to pay the standard State Park $5.00 daily parking fee.
  Our AOC group will gather initially in the Park Nature Center where we'll greet one another, register with the Nature Center receptionist, and meet the Park ranger-naturalist(s) who will accompany us on the hike.  We expect to begin the hike there at about 2:00.  The hike will be about 5 miles in length with our uphill ascents totalling about 500 feet in elevation gain.  We can expect to be back at our vehicles by about 4:30 PM

PANOLA'S UNIQUE GEOLOGY & BIOLOGY:   We'll stop often at scenic spots along the hike to observe and discuss the mountain's amazing geology and its rare flora and fauna.
  Like Stone Mountain, Panola is an igneous "monadnock" that took shape about 300 million years ago when huge bubbles of molten magma oozed upward into preexisting rock and earth. After they cooled and hardened, these bubbles slowly became exposed as the softer surrounding layers eroded away, leaving the colossal rock domes that we see today.
  Over the eons, a wide variety of plants began to grow on the weathered granite surfaces and their surrounding terrain, creating habitats for rare flora and fauna that are unique to such rare rocky ecosystems. Notable is the "Diamorpha" succulent whose colonies of thousands of tiny plants thrive in flat sandy "solution pits" atop the mountain.  They sprout brilliant red in midwinter and produce lovely white blossoms each spring.

FOR MORE INFO on PANOLA MOUNTAIN:  Visit the State Park's official website at the following link and click on "Hiking," etc. under "Activities" for more details:
http://www.gastateparks.org/PanolaMountain
For an interesting account and photos of a visitor's April 2010 experience on a guided hike to the summit go to this link:
http://urbanbaboon.blogspot.com/2010/04/panola-mountain.html

PANOLA MOUNTAIN STATE PARK is about a 15-minute drive from Atlanta's east-side I-20/ I-285 interchange. You "Northsiders" bear in mind that it's perhaps an additional 25 minutes to that I-20 interchange via I-285, etc.  SUGGESTION: Re-zero your odometer at each instruction below and pay close attention to the mileages given and driven.

1. From the I-20/ I-285 Interchange on Atlanta's east side take I-20 East just 1 mile (toward Augusta) and exit to your right at the first opportunity at "Wesley Chapel Rd/Snapfinger Rd", Exit #68."

2. Turn Right onto Wesley Chapel Road and go just 0.2 mile to the traffic light at Snapfinger Road.

3. Turn Left onto Snapfinger Road and go about 7.0 miles to the "Panola Mountain State Park" entrance on your left. (Snapfinger Rd becomes concurrent with GA-155 en route to the Park.)

4. Turn Left into the State Park, continue to the parking lot about 0.2 mile ahead and park near the Nature Center. (It's just beyond the far end of parking lot on your right). Each driver who doesn't display a valid GA State Parks annual Parking Pass will need to pay the $5.00 daily parking fee in a self-service envelope and hang the tear-off receipt on your rear-view mirror.

5. We'll gather inside the Nature Center where we each can register and pay our guided hike fee to the receptionist.  (We may also be asked to sign a State Park liability waiver form.)

LAT/LON COORDINATES of NATURE CENTER PARKING LOT.   May be useful in conjunction with the above directions as your GPS or with Google Maps:
  33.6251,-84.1705

GPS USERS BEWARE!  Entering  the generic Internet park name, street address or lat/ lon coordinates as your GPS or Google Maps destination may route you to a dead end in the adjoining Golf Course!  Note the correct directions above, esp. for the final 2 miles into the Park.

PARK NATURE CENTER Phone Number: 770-389-7801.  

Your $7 hike fee (for our Ranger-led hike to Panola's summit) is payable in cash individually to the Nature Center receptionist.
  As mentioned in the Directions above, please also be prepared to pay the cash self-serve $5-per-vehicle parking fee if you don't display a GA State Parks annual pass.  (By the way, the GA State Parks' annual parking passes can actually be borrowed for free from some local libraries, so contact your librarian if you're interested!)

If the event has to be canceled for any reason (e.g. severe weather) we'll do our best to notify everyone ASAP prior to the event (by email and/or phone) and post "Canceled" in the above online event announcement title.  We are under no financial obligation to the Park or to the AOC if the hike has to be canceled.