Stone Mountain Sunrise and Cherokee Trail Hike

Come join us for a morning hike at beautiful Stone Mountain Park. There are only a few weekends remaining before we set the clocks back, and you'll have to get up an hour earlier to catch the sunrise. Don't miss this opportunity! We will meet inside the park near the restrooms at the bottom of the walk up trail behind Confederate Hall. The hike will begin promptly at 6:50am so please show up a few minutes early. If you don't already have a pass to get into the park, a day pass can be purchased at the gate for $10 or a yearly pass for $35. If you don't want to pay anything, see instructions below for free parking outside the park. (If you park outside Stone Mt. Park, give yourself enough time to locate parking and 10-15 minutes to make the walk into the park to meet up with the group).

This is not a fitness hike but it's not for beginners either. We do plan to keep a moderate to fast pace with a few rest stops along the way. We'll climb Stone Mountain first and enjoy the view and sunrise at the top for 10-20 minutes.  On the way down we'll pick up the Cherokee Trail and circle the mountain once. Even though we don't plan to slow the hike down for photos, there will be a few good photo opportunities along the way.

Total distance: 7.2 miles

We should be done by 9:50am.

GPS Coordinates: 33.81076800026398, -84.16212379932403

Vehicle access to Stone Mountain Park:  $10 per day.  Annual pass is $35.  There is a discount if you purchase more than one Annual Pass at a time.

Directions: 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.  Look for the large Confederate Hall parking lot on your left where we park during the hike.  We'll gather at our "usual AOC meetup spot," by the stone restroom building at the base of the Walk-Up Trail

You can also enter through the West Gate entrance, in Stone Mountain Village. If you enter here, turn right through the gate and you're just almost to the Confederate Hall parking lot on your left.

OPTIONAL FREE PARK ENTRANCE FOR PEDESTRIANS & BICYCLISTS:

There's no charge for pedestrians or bicyclists to enter Stone Mountain Park.  There is usually plenty of free parking just outside the Park in the Stone Mountain Village area.  The Village is near the Park's "West Gate" entrance which is quite close to Confederate Hall and the Walk-Up trailhead.  You can park near the railroad tracks and walk about 1/2 mile up East Mountain Street and directly into the park, through a small gate (Note that this gate is often locked soon after sunset and you have to walk out around the nearby West Gate and then left to get back to East Mountain Street.)

Another such free parking lot is the "Red Caboose Visitor Center" lot on the Main Street, which has its own paved walking/biking trail into the Park, much like the Silver Comet Trail. To drive to that lot, get off US-78 (Stone Mtn Freeway) at Exit #5, then bear right to exit again about a half mile ahead, turn left onto E. Ponce de Leon Ave, go through the first traffic light onto Main Street and continue about a half mile and look for the red caboose on your left.  In about 10 minutes you can walk into the Park via the paved PATH trail, turn left on Robt. E. Lee Blvd (for ~300 yards) and join the AOC group at the Walk-Up trailhead. (Note the gate on this PATH trail is often locked soon after sunset).

Additional directions and maps can be found at: 

http://www.stonemountainpark.com/activities/map/overview. aspx

Map of two main free parking areas: