Stone Mountain Appetizer, Main Course, Dessert.

Whoa, calm down, foodies; it's not a real meal... The appetizer, main course, and dessert refer to the three portions of our hike. We will meet at the Confederate Hall parking area near the restrooms by the hike up trail at 9:45 AM Sunday morning. This is a long hike so we will start promptly at 10:00 on Sunday. 

We will start with an "Appetizer" of going up and down the mountain using some less known trails. This will provide a very good warm up for the rest of this long hike. We will then move on to the "Main Course." We'll explore part of the Nature Garden trail, go through the scout camp area trail, hike on the Cherokee trail and then hit the Songbird Habitat trails. We will follow the Cherokee trail to the Evergreen resort trails for a lunch break. We'll return via the Evergreen resort trail, rejoin the Cherokee trail and proceed onto the covered bridge, to the King's trail at Indian Island.  We'll pop back on to the Cherokee trail before moving on to the grand finale, topping everything off with "Dessert" in the form of one more summit of the mountain.

We will see the Stone Mountain rock carvings at the Crossroads, the Grist Mill, the covered wooden bridge, the songbird habitat, many views of the two lakes, the primitive youth campground, Evergreen resort, nature gardens , a few small waterfalls, other folks enjoying this wonderful park, and hopefully some wildlife including deer, turtles, blue heron and many other birds.

We will hike at a moderate pace, stay together and regroup at trail and road crossings. We can take some short breaks to rest and enjoy. There is one short section (that we'll do twice) that is somewhat steep and challenging, so wear very good hiking footwear.

This event will be rain or shine unless severe weather is forecast.

Directions To Confederate Hall Parking Lot: Note there is a fee to enter the park. You can buy an annual pass. You can parking in Stone Mountain Village and walk about one mile to get to the starting place for free. Just please allow extra time for the extra walking. To the main entrance- From I-285 take U.S. Hwy 78 East (Snellville/Athens) exit. Travel about 7 miles and take Exit 8, the Stone Mountain Park Main Entrance. After entering the main entrance, proceed straight ahead. The road will fork at about 1 mile - stay to the right. Continue to follow the road for another mile. Confederate Hall will be on your left. (Careful - there's a stop sign in front of Confederate Hall for those entering the West Gate.) The parking lot will be immediately after. Wait for the group near the walk up trail. MARTA PARK & RIDE LOT Free public parking in Stone Mountain Village From Hwy 78 take exit 5 - stay right for a half mile - then a quick exit to E. Ponce/Stone Mtn. Village. At the end of the ramp turn left. Drive a mile or so into town. Turn left on East Mountain. Turn right on Fourth Street. There you will find the MARTA park and ride.

There is a parking fee of about $15 for one day parking or you can get an annual pass.

We will cancell this event if the weather prediction warrants.