Georgia - Stone Mountain Park

I usually write about my visits to National Park Service properties, and Stone Mountain Park is not run by the NPS, in fact, I have no clue who runs it. In the middle of the COVID outbreak, I decided to take a road trip to Georgia and Alabama in order to visit National Park Service properties in those two states, and this spot seems to be an additional must see while in the area, so I went.

I met up with an old friend who moved to Atlanta several years ago just outside the park. I strongly urge anyone traveling solo to look up people from their past while in their new town! In this case, I was lucky that Rich wanted to hike, and he met me for a day of hiking at Stone Mountain.

First, we went to the top of the rock. That’s all it is – a BIG rock sticking up from the ground. The hike to the top was a mile long, straight uphill, mostly on bare rock. There are some trees and shrubbery around, but not a ton. Once at the top, you can see for MILES!! I was amazed at how many trees there are in the Atlanta area – most of the houses are not visible from the top of Stone Mountain – you would think you were in the middle of a forest rather than in one of the largest cities in the US.

After that grueling hike, we did a much less grueling hike AROUND the mountain. This is a 5-mile path that is mostly flat, but goes next to the lake, and is very pretty. Along the path there is an interesting exhibit focused on mining of the mountain, a campground, a covered bridge, the Stone Mountain carving view, a playground, etc etc. There is a lot to do there. It was a great day!