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 or attempt a 30-mile ride of challenging switchbacks and hills. Learn about National Heritage Area is dominated by two geological oddities known as two cultures that form the modern fabric of the NHA. At the Flat Rock Archives, monadnocks. Natural wonders, compelling history and heart-pumping activity see how enslaved people settled Native American lands and thrived in the midst all converge here. of enslavement, emancipation and segregation. Tour a slave cemetery and a farm that was worked by one family for nearly 200 years. At the Monastery of Hikers can discover rare plants and intriguing geology at The Davidson-Arabia the Holy Spirit, meet a community of Trappist monks who moved to Georgia Mountain Nature Preserve and Panola Mountain State Park, a National Natural during a war and built a place of peace. Visitors can discover extraordinary Landmark. Get lost above the trees at the peak of Arabia Mountain and view architecture, an unparalleled bonsai exhibit and gift shop selling tasty treats the city of Atlanta in the distance. Find the remnants of the quarrying industry and crafts prepared by the monks themselves. that once prospered here and shipped the stone that built monumental buildings across the U.S. Modern shopping, dining and lodging amenities at Stonecrest Mall. Bike along the Arabia Mountain PATH, past historic farms and along the shoals www.arabiaalliance.org Follow us on Facebook and @arabia_alliance of the South River. You choose your pace and your distance – a short meander Photo courtesy: Phil Varney Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve Panola Mountain State Park The lunar-like landscape of Arabia Visitors can navigate the nature preserve A National Natural Landmark, this park Mountain is the most easily identified vista through miles of hiking trails and the Arabia showcases one of the area’s monadnocks, of the National Heritage Area. The moun- Mountain PATH. Trails are open to the isolated rock formations that seem to rise tain itself is part of a 2,550-acre DeKalb public dawn to dusk. There is no fee for from surrounding hills. The rare ecosystems County nature preserve, which also includes parking or for use of the trails. Leashed at Panola Mountain have been protected other large formations of exposed granite, dogs are welcome. Fishing permitted, with from development since 1972. Today, it wetlands, pine and oak forests, multiple a valid state license. Special group tours is a recreational haven where visitors streams and two lakes. The delightful native and education programs also available. can spend the night at a primitive plant species, such as the signature red campground or sleep in a tree! The diamorpha, which blooms in the early Nature Center & Mountain Access park also offers programs on archery, Park Entrance spring, and fall’s yellow daisies, make it @ 3787 Klondike Road, Lithonia 30038 orienteering, birding and tree-climbing. @ 2600 Highway 155, SW, Stockbridge 30281 seem as though the rock is in constant Mountain Base Mountain access only with a metamorphosis. @ 4158 Klondike Road, Lithonia 30038 ranger-guided tour. Alexander Lakes Recreation Area Open Daily: Dawn to Dusk http://gastateparks.org/PanolaMountain for @ 4835 Flat Bridge Rd, Stockbridge 30281 While the Nature Preserve is considered an programs and hours. exceptional ecological wonder, the area is also very much influenced by the hand of man. The evidence of quarrying activities is apparent in the industrial debris left on the mountain and in the abandoned structures once used by workers for storage, offices and shelter. Metal spikes Eric Bowles that were used to split the granite are The “sensitive fern” is one The succulent called still embedded in the rock. of the many flowers found diamorpha blankets the on the granite outcrops. mountain with a red 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 City Hall remains of one of the area’s first African @ 6920 Main Street, Open M-F 9am-5pm -American public schools and cemeteries, visit an early lending library and marvel at the granite architecture. The habitats of Arabia The Lithonia Woman’s Club was the area’s first lending and Panola Mountains library. Today, it remains a community landmark and attract diverse species of gathering space. Left: Quarrymen “raise a ledge” near butterflies and birds. Photo courtesy: William Bishop Lithonia. Monastery of the Holy Spirit Flat Rock Archives The natural beauty of the 2,000+ acre preserve at the The Archives protects and shares the history of Flat Rock Archives Monastery of the Holy Spirit and the artistry of its historic Flat Rock, GA. This predominantly African-American @ 3979 Crossvale Road, Lithonia 30038 buildings set the stage for a place that speaks to the soul. community formed during slavery and its descendants Open T, Th & Sat 10am-4pm The Monastic Heritage Center is built around a rehabilitat- share the story of how their community survived www.flatrockarchives.org ed historic barn and includes an exhibit center, the largest through slavery, emancipation, segregation and the . bookstore of its kind in the Southeast and a renowned Great Migration. bonsai greenhouse. At the visitor center, interactive Guided tours of the exhibits share stories of the area including monasticism area, including the through the ages and why a group of monks chose slave cemetery, Georgia as their home in 1944. The Cloister and Abbey are available. Church are architectural marvels built by the monks themselves from poured concrete. The Monastery Visitor Center & Gift Shop M–Sun: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Abbey Church and Trailhead Daily Dawn to Dusk @ 2625 Hwy 212, Conyers 30094 The founders of the Flat Rock community in a photograph www.trappist.net c. 1890. Notable decedents include football greats Warren Moon & Willie Gault and comedian Chris Tucker. Arabia Mountain PATH ATLANTA WILD ANIMAL RESCUE EFFORT THE ARABIA MOUNTAIN GEO-PATH This multi-use hike and bike trail bisects the AWARE rehabilitates in- Explore the AMP through Learn more at: http:// National Heritage Area and takes you across jured and orphaned native a geocaching adventure. arabiaalliance.org/ granite monadnocks, historic farms and scenic wildlife and educates Use a GPS device, such explore/geocaching-ad- river vistas. The PATH Foundation designed people about habitats as your smart phone, ventures/. and built the trail to link the historic, cultural and peaceful coexistence. to locate more than 60 and natural wonders of the area. This is not a Ambassador animals caches across five series NPS PASSPORT STAMP rails-to-trails; therefore, the terrain can be participate in public pro- to earn coveted pathtags. Get stamped in the intense with amazing vistas, challenging grams & tours every Sat & Complete all the finds in Arabia Mountain NHA! switchbacks and dramatic elevation changes! Sun at 1pm. 4158 Klondike the Geo-PATH series and All of the above sites Open dawn-to-dusk. Multiple trailhead Road, Lithonia 30038 earn a trackable, custom participate in the locations. www.arabiamountainpath.org www.awarewildlife.org geo-coin. NPS Passport program. Arabia Mountain To Stone Mountain 8.8 Miles to entrance d R a i n o h t i L / n i 75 d a R t l n e u p 85 Arabia Mountain o a M h National Heritage Area e C n k o c t o 285 S R Lithonia Lithonia National Register Community Park Historic District 20 Par ATLANTA kwa d y R v d l C Bruce Street Historic Area B o l v 285 ia in LITHONIA r g 20 t t s o LITHONIA WOMAN’S CLUB / u n t d H S CITY OF LITHONIA n w in To Atlanta I y a a M i Lithonia Trailhead 17 Miles to 75/85 n Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta o International Airport h Exit 71 t GA-212 i L Exit 74 E 75 20 20 85 Exit 74 W Cov ington Hwy Stonecrest Exit 75 Mall Trailhead W M o a ll o P d k ge w id r B r o y S e w ol n P D Stonecrest Library a r p f H i n o d n g a Hay d e e d d o en y R Q R r u R a C l r r l R e y i r a k R l e d i d H e o d 20 r k n n e a o l n P r K Vaughters’ u d T R Farm l il ARABIA ALLIANCE @ VAUGHTERS’ FARM M s an Ev k e e Salem Road r C Rockland Rd d e d Rd Plunkett R g d R an r d l i k e c r o g R B n i f e p GA-212 l a o n P d S a o To Augusta R DAVIDSON-ARABIA MOUNTAIN B r d o r NATURE CENTER 126 Miles w Evans Mill Trailhead a n d s d M il o l G R d N FLAT ROCK Arabia Mountain Peak ARCHIVES 954 ft d R e l Future Connection i Flat Rock a to Atlanta Beltline v Historic Area s Arabia MountainTrailhead s o r AWARE Wildlife Center Panola C d R Shoals k c Trailhead o Klondike National Register R t Historic District a l F S Goddard Rd Lyons Rd Lyons Polebridge Creek Trailhead ROCKDALE COUNTY Lyon’s Farm Historic House H n c.1850 o HENRY COUNTY South River o s n n e y e C h B k r r e p o e e w k e e t n r Klondike Rd s S M C ill R d DEKALB COUNTY Panola ROCKDALE COUNTY Mountain Peak 946 ft PANOLA MOUNTAIN STATE PARK GA-155 ALEXANDER LAKE Historic Parker House c.