Mason Mill Park near Emory: Sunset Hike with Perfect Weather!

EVENT PLAN:  Clear skies are expected all day & evening this Tuesday, and the weather team at "11-Alive" are calling it a "Perfect 11" because of the fall-like temperatures and low humidity.   Please join us for this easy 2-hour "sunset hike" in NE Atlanta near Emory.
  We'll meet at 6:00 PM by the stone restroom building adjoining the kids' playground at Mason Mill Park—see detailed directions below.  After introductions we'll hike together via the pretty trail system to Medlock Park and back, stopping often to regroup and enjoy the scenery.  Our total distance will be about 4 miles with just one or two steep spots.  By about 8:00 (well before dark) we should be back at our cars.  Feel free to "split" early from the group if you must - it's easy to return to the parking lot.
  Bring your well-behaved dog if you like, but please make sure that he or she is leashed and under your control at all times.
  
ABOUT the PARKS & TRAILS:  Mason Mill and Medlock are two pretty DeKalb County parks on the opposite side of Clairmont Road from Emory University and the VA Hospital.  The parks conveniently connect with one another via a network of shady hiking/biking trails and boardwalks.  The mile-long South Peachtree Creek Trail is the main trail that links them, and like the "Silver Comet" was designed and built to the high standards of the "PATH Foundation."  The trail features a half-mile-long raised wooden deck through the forest canopy above the big rocky creek.  Another exciting portion of this trail takes us over the railroad track via a 3-stories-high wooden walkway and deck.  Hikers are treated here to aerial views of ruins of the early-20th-Century "Decatur Waterworks."
  Lots of creekside spur trails branch from the PATH trail into the surrounding forest and are fun to explore.  We may include in the hike a third park, Ira Melton Park, whose half-mile-long white-blazed loop trail can normally be accessed from Mason Mill Park by walking across the creek on a few stepping stones.

FOR a COLOR MAP of SOUTH PEACHTREE CREEK TRAIL and its interconnecting DeKalb County parks (Mason Mill, Medlock and Ira Melton) click on this link:  http://pathfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/south-peachtree-creek-trail.pdf

FROM "SPAGHETTI JUNCTION" I-85 / I-285 INTERCHANGE in NE METRO ATLANTA to our MASON MILL PARK Meetup Spot:   (For a zoomable color MAP and satellite view of this spot and its vicinity click on the blue & green "Event Location" rectangle near the top of this article.)

1. From "Spaghetti Junction" take I-85 South toward Atlanta about 4 miles and get off at Exit #91 "Clairmont Road."

2. At the end of the exit ramp (assuming you were southbound on I-85) turn Left onto Clairmont Road (toward Decatur) and go about 2.3 miles to the traffic light at McConnell Drive.  (It's the next light south of the big Clairmont/ North Druid Hills intersection, and if you reach the huge VA Hospital you've gone too far!)

3. Turn Left onto McConnell Drive, go just 0.1 mile, and turn Right at the stop sign to stay on McConnell. (Note the small "Mason Mill" directional sign here.)

4. Then turn Left almost immediately at the "Mason Mill Park" entrance sign into the large free parking lot.  We'll gather by the stone Restroom building adjoining the children's playground.

LAT/LON COORDINATES of the Mason Mill Park spot where we'll meet: (You GPS or Google.com/maps users may wish to augment my above verbal directions by entering these map coordinates as your destination.)
  33.8080,-84.3066

Free Event with Free Parking!