Take Your Next Vacation at Stone Mountain, Georgia

Would you like to visit something that is 400 feet above the base of a mountain, stands 90 feet high and 190 feet wide, and spans three acres, stretches 360 feet horizontally and 190 feet vertically? Then I've got the place for you, Stone Mountain.

My family and I visited Stone Mountain last summer and enjoyed every minute of it. I would like to invite you, your family and friends to experience nature's natural beauty.

Stone Mountain Park is 16 miles east of Atlanta, Georgia. The park rambles over 3200 acres and within its boundaries, it offers recreational and educational opportunities in a setting of natural beauty.

What is Stone Mountain? Stone Mountain is the world's largest exposed granite monolith. It rises 1,683 feet above sea level, and 825 feet above the gentle land surrounding it. Geologists actually refer to "Stone Mountain" as a special kind of rock, because of it difference from the surrounding geology. Only here did that ancient molten surge ever reach the surface. Stone Mountain contains hundreds of natural elements. In various places on the mountainside, slick saucer-shaped depressions, each one a few inches across, form a strange landscape. Lightning bolts carved these out, superheating the surrounding rain moisture and literally steam-blasting away the granite crystals, thus fusing the surface.

In 1909 Helen Plane, President of the United Daughters of the Confederacy advocated a memorial carving on the side of Stone Mountain. After editorials were written, politicians made speeches, the UDC decided the time had come, 1915. They invited sculptor Gutzon Borglum to visit the mountain and develop plans for a memorial. Borglum had already made a reputation with his statue of Lincoln in the U.S. Capital, and figures of the apostles in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan. He proposed a 1200-foot carving of mounted Confederate leaders leading a thousand marching soldiers. He estimated the carving would take 10 years. World war I hit and the fund-raising and planning of the memorial stopped for several years. After the war, the carving resumed.

In December of 1923, 20,000 people gathered for the unveiling of General Robert E. Lee's head. However, over the course of the next year, progress slowed and in March of 1925, Borglum destroyed all his models and sketches and left Georgia forever. Some say he abandoned the project because he realized it couldn't be done. Others say he had been approached about Mount Rushmore. Realizing that Rushmore would vault him onto the world stage. Another sculptor, Augustus Lukeman, stepped into Borglum's shoes and began redesigning the memorial into something more achievable.

He was unable to incorporate Borglum's design into his own so he blasted the work off the mountainside and began version 2 of the monument. In 1928, Robert E. Lee, his horse, and Jefferson Davis were blocked out of the granite. But the monument was halted because of land issues. For decades the partial sculpture, a sort of scar on the mountainside, waited to be completed.

The Georgia State Legislature began trying to acquire the land around Stone Mountain, in order to create a state park and finally complete the monument. After all the legal wrangling, the Great Depression and World War II, in 1964 carving resumed. This took a total of 35 years to complete and Walker Hancock was now the director. Aided by new rock-sculpting technology, Hancock and his chief carver, Roy Faulkner, completed the memorial in 1970, nearly 50 years after its start!

The Stone Mountain carvings consist of General Robert E. Lee on his horse, Confederate President Jefferson Davis on his horse, and General Stonewall Jackson on his horse.
The Stone Mountain Museum offers videos and photomurals that tell you how the carving of the mountain was done.

Stone Mountain Park offers an assortment of other enjoyment for the entire family.

Scenic Railroad: The Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad takes visitors on a five-mile excursion around the mountains base, aboard a full-size locomotive.

Crossroads - An 1870 bustling southern town. Stories told by colorful townspeople, musicians and skilled artisans demonstrating crafts including glass blowing, candle making, blacksmithing, candy making, and ice-cream production. There is a working gristmill with bakery producing breads and cakes, a general mercantile store, a leather outfitters shop with hand crafted leather goods, iron works and Native American crafts, plus so much more.

Crossroads townspeople are in period clothing and interact with the visitors making them part of the activity. Musicians roam the street, the Rain Wizard conjures up rain with the help of nearby kids and the talking fountain amuses all.

The six-acre town was built on part of an existing parking lot located in front of the Railroad Depot.

Paddle-wheel Riverboat - Journey back in time on the Scarlett O'Hara, an authentic 150-passenger side-wheeler built at Stone Mountain Lake in 1976. The brief, tranquil cruise offers unique park vistas. The Henry O'Grady, an even mightier 300-passenger riverboat is available for chartered cruise.

One of the parks main attractions is the high-speed Swiss cable car that ascends to the top of the mountain and offers unparalleled views of the Confederate Memorial. The summit provides incredible views of Atlanta, the Appalachian Mountains and surrounding countryside. The sky lift's Summit Station displays numerous historical photos of the mountain.

Antebellum Plantation - The plantation is a world to itself, a collection of 19 historical Georgian buildings that take you to the time before the Civil War.

Confederate Hall - Here you'll learn about the Civil War and Georgia's experience during this tragic period in American History.

Antique Car and Treasure Museum - This museum, one of the best Small Car Museum in the United States, offers different views of Southern history, told through a fine collection of 20th-century vehicles.

Stone Mountain Inn & Restaurant - Located just a few steps away from the park's main attractions. Enjoy a traditional Southern atmosphere, along with fine dining at the Inn's Mountainview Restaurant.

Stone Mountain also offers golf, tennis, pedal boats and pontoon boats, for you to tour the 363-acre lake at your leisure. It also offers hiking, a 15 mile jogging and biking path and camping in the park's 441-site family campground.

On the west side of the mountain is a walking path to the top. You can enjoy breath-taking views, climbing to the top on Stone Mountain. For a small town country girl from Kansas, this was unbelievable. Word of advice; if you go in the dead of summer, take water with you while you climb to the top.

You can find out more about Stone Mountain Park at www.stonemountainpark.com. The park has something going on in nearly every month of the calendar year.