Stone Mountain

If you like rocks, this is the place for you! Stone Mountain is a large granite exfoliation dome (with an amusement park). I just found out about this amusement park writing this review. You can pay $8 to park and hike all over and up to the top of the dome. Or you can pay $25 to do the attractions that include a skyline cable car ride to the top, scenic railroad, Paddlewheel and Ducks boat tours (in summer), a museum and even a sledding hill in winter. I've only done the hiking part.

The hike is a nice one right up the hill side, fairly steep in some places. The trail is 1.3 miles to the top and is 1683 ft above sea level. The top is 825 feet above the surrounding areas and on clear days you can see up to 60 miles! The view is terrific. The rocks are very slippery when wet, so avoid rainy days. The top is also accessible by the Summit Skyride (for a fee) and has bathrooms. The park also has 15 miles of hiking trails including the one to the top.

The bas-relief carving is of three Confederate heros of the Civil War. See more photos in my "exploring the Atlanta area" entry of my Southeast US blog.

The most popular events at Stone Mountain are the laser shows. They occur in the evenings, during warm weather. The show is projected on the mountain and dynamic music accompanies the show. This is a family friendly event. You are sure to see numerous children dancing around with glow sticks.

Okay, this mountain is for the beginners, like me. But I did it. I climbed my first mountain and that was only a couple of days after a
serious car accident. The view is really nice. We took the skyride down,
which I liked, but it was too short. The views were awesome! I really
can't say enough, as I am so glad that I did this. We did this together
on our honeymoon and it means that much more.