400 Million Years in the Making! Explore a Land That Has Taken 400 Million Years to Form

Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area Arabia Mountain Georgia Partner of the National Park Service

400 Million Years in the Making! Explore a land that has taken 400 million years to form. The Arabia Mountain cultures that form the modern fabric of the NHA. At the Flat Rock Archives, National Heritage Area (NHA) is dominated by two geological oddities known see how people survived enslavement and segregation to build a resilient as monadnocks. Natural wonders, compelling history and heart-pumping Black community in the rural South. Tour a farm where enslaved people once activity all converge here. toiled and the cemetery where those people and their descendants are buried. Hikers can discover rare plants and intriguing geology at The Davidson-Arabia At the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, meet a community of Trappist monks Mountain Nature Preserve and Panola Mountain State Park, a National Natural who moved to Georgia during World War II and built a place of peace. Visitors Landmark. Get lost above the trees at the peak of Arabia Mountain and view can discover extraordinary architecture, an unparalleled bonsai exhibit and gift the City of Atlanta in the distance. Find the remnants of a once-massive quarry shop selling tasty treats and crafts prepared by the monks themselves. industry that sent Lithonia granite off to build monumental buildings in the Modern shopping, dining and lodging amenities at Stonecrest Mall and in U.S. and around the world. downtown Lithonia. Bike along the Arabia Mountain PATH, past historic farms and along the shoals For more information, visit arabiaalliance.org. Follow us on Facebook, of the South River. You choose your pace and your distance – a short meander Instagram @arabiamountain_nha and Twitter @arabia_alliance. or a 30-mile ride of challenging switchbacks and hills. Learn about two Photo courtesy: Phil Varney Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve Panola Mountain State Park

The lunar-like landscape of Arabia Mountain How to Hike One of Georgia’s major conservation successes, is the most easily identified vista of the • Keep your dogs leashed – that way, everyone this State Park showcases the pristine National Heritage Area. The mountain itself can enjoy the trails. ecosystems of Panola Mountain, a rare is part of a 2,550-acre DeKalb County nature example of an untouched monadnock in the • Get a permit for professional photography preserve, which also includes other large American Southeast. Panola Mountain (the rangers will tell you where to get the formations of exposed granite, wetlands, has been protected from development best pictures). pine and oak forests, multiple streams and since 1972. Today, it is a recreational two lakes. The delightful native plant species, • Do not use fires, fireworks or smokebombs. haven where visitors can spend the such as the signature red diamorpha, Help us protect this rare and fragile night at a primitive campground or which blooms in the early spring, and ecosystem! sleep in a tree! The park also offers fall’s yellow daisies (photo below) make programs on archery, orienteering, Park Entrance it seem as though the rock is in constant • Leave no trace – take only pictures and leave birding and tree-climbing. Mountain @ 2620 Highway 155, SW, Stockbridge 30281 metamorphosis. the landscape untouched behind you. access only with a guided tour. Alexander Lakes Recreation Area $5 parking fee. While the Nature Preserve is considered an Nature Center & Mountain Access @ 4871 Flat Bridge Rd, Stockbridge 30281 exceptional ecological wonder, the area is @ 3787 Klondike Road, Stonecrest 30038 Visit gastateparks.org/PanolaMountain for also very much influenced by human hands. programs and hours. Mountain Base The evidence of quarrying activities is @ 4158 Klondike Road, Stonecrest 30038 apparent in the industrial debris left on the Open daily, dawn to dusk. mountain and in the abandoned structures once used by workers for storage, offices and shelter. Metal spikes that were used to split the granite are still embedded in the rock.

Eric Bowles

The “sensitive fern” is one The succulent called of the many flowers found diamorpha blankets the on the granite mountain with a red outcrops. carpet in early spring before small white blooms pop. City of Lithonia The name Lithonia itself means “stone Take a self-guided walking tour, participate place” in Greek and the city (est. 1856) in geocaching or start your journey on the boomed during the explosive granite Arabia Mountain PATH hike/bike trail. quarry industry. Explorers can see the remains of the area’s first African-American City Hall public schools and cemeteries, visit an early @ 6920 Main Street, Open M-F 9am-5pm lending library and marvel at the granite architecture.

The habitats of Arabia and The Lithonia Woman’s Club was the area’s first lending Panola Mountains attract library. Today, it remains a community landmark and diverse species of butterflies gathering space. Left: Quarrymen “raise a ledge” near Photo courtesy: William Bishop and birds. Lithonia. Monastery of the Holy Spirit Flat Rock Archives The natural beauty of the 2,000+ acre preserve at the The homestead of T. A. Bryant, Sr., a longtime community Flat Rock Archives Monastery of the Holy Spirit and the artistry of its historic leader who worked to keep the Flat Rock community @ 3956 Crossvale Road, Lithonia 30038 buildings set the stage for a place that speaks to the soul. together during the Great Migration, is now the home Open T, Th & Sat 10am-4pm The Monastic Heritage Center is built around a rehabilitated of the Flat Rock Archives. The Archives protects and www.flatrockarchives.com historic barn and includes an exhibit center, the largest promotes the history of Contact: [email protected]; (770) 885-8330 bookstore of its kind in the Southeast and a renowned this community. bonsai greenhouse. At the visitor center, interactive exhibits share stories of the area, including monasticism through the ages and why a group of monks chose Georgia as their home in 1944. The Cloister and Abbey Church are architectural marvels built by the monks themselves from poured concrete.

The Monastery Visitor Center & Gift Shop Open M–Sat: 10am – 5pm

Abbey Church and Trailhead Open daily, dawn to dusk @ 2625 Hwy 212, Conyers 30094 The founders of the Flat Rock community in a photograph c. 1890. www.trappist.net Notable descendants include football greats Warren Moon & Willie Gault and comedian Chris Tucker.

Arabia Mountain PATH Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort Vaughters’ Farm This multiuse hike and bike trail connects AWARE rehabilitates DeKalb County was once the dairy capital of Georgia, and sites across the National Heritage Area, taking injured and orphaned Vaughters’ Farm is one of the few remaining remnants you across granite monadnocks, historic farms native wildlife and of the area’s agricultural past. Farmer S. B. Vaughters and scenic river vistas. The PATH Foundation educates people about raised dairy cows, beef cattle and horses here, restoring designed and built the trail to link the historic, habitats and peaceful a landscape that had been ruined by cotton farming as cultural and natural wonders of the area. coexistence. Ambassador he did so. Today, you can see the historic Vaughters’ This is not a rails-to-trails; therefore, the animals participate in Barn and meander through the Meadow Loop Trail! Open terrain can be intense with amazing vistas, public programs & tours dawn to dusk. @3366 Klondike Road, Stonecrest, 30038. challenging switchbacks and dramatic every Sat & Sun at 1pm. elevation changes! Open dawn-to-dusk. @4158 Klondike Road, NPS Passport Stamp Multiple trailhead locations. Stonecrest 30038 Get stamped in the Arabia Mountain NHA! All of the www.arabiamountainpath.org www.awarewildlife.org above sites participate in the NPS Passport program. Arabia Mountain

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River/Lake/Creek Gift Shop Green Space Picnic Area to Stockbridge Gateway/Visitor Service 6.6 Miles MONASTERY OF Point of Interest Hiking THE HOLY SPIRIT

Trailhead Biking

Mountain Peak: Arabia and Panola Fishing Major Stone Outcrop Monastery Grounds Kayaking

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The Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area 0 0.5 1 2 3 4 is an aliate of the National Park Service. Miles