Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Stone Mountain Park

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  Stone Mountain is an impressive mound of granite rising over 800’ above the surrounding ground. The carving on it’s face of Confederate leaders Davis, Lee and Jackson is controversial. In 1915 a group of men re-established the KKK complete with a cross burning on the top of the mountain. The Venable Brothers who owned the mountain gave the KKK a perpetual easement to use the property so when the state purchased the mountain and surrounding land in 1958 it had to be condemned to remove the easement. The work on the carving, which began in 1923 but was  not completed until 1972, struggled through changes of design, project leadership, and master carvers. Funding  was also a problem with money coming from many sources including the KKK and school children.

  The park surrounding the mountain is fairly big and has a conference center, golf course, campground, restaurant and numerous attractions. The ten dollar parking fee includes admission to  Confederate Hall Historical & Environmental Education Center,  the Quarry Exhibit, the laser show, and the trail to the top of the mountain.  For an additional $30.00 you can purchase a Adventure Pass which includes admission to 10 more attractions. Check carefully because all of the attractions are not opened everyday and it may be better to buy individual tickets for the attractions that you want to see.

   Most of the attractions are not accessible so we just paid to park then viewed the carving, visited Discovering Stone Mountain Museum at Memorial Hall ( this seems to be a paid attraction but we didn’t realize that and just went in) and saw the laser show.  All of these are accessible and located in the same area but the park is hilly so most wheelchair users will need to have some help getting from the parking lot to the viewing area. The Summit Skyride is accessible.

  Parking for RVs is located on the road next to Triangle Lot. You may have to drive through the lot to access it. This is the only area specifically for RV parking. Parking may be available in other lots on non-busy days but because of the hills and over all size of the park visiting other areas might be hard if you don’t have a car that can fit in the smaller lots.  Park
33.82299, -84.15282
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georgia1

2 comments:

  1. Hi, I have been limited on time and find it hard to read all the blogs I usually read. But I try to find time to read your blog entries, as for us they are the most informative, interesting and well written. We really enjoy your remarks about the different RV campgrounds you provide.

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  2. Thanks Bob and Linda! I hope you're enjoying setting up your new sticks and bricks. :-)

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