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We thought we would take you to a quiet spot along a busy road in southeast Dekalb County for a look at the stunning colors of Spring at Arabia Mountain, a historical preserve that also includes sections of Henry County, Georgia and Rockdale County, Georgia. The historical preserve is part of the larger Arabia Mountain Park, which has recently been expanded to nearly 2,000 acres thanks to a major land purchase (940 acres) by Dekalb County,Arabia Mountain Alliance, and The Conservation Fund. The park is managed by the Arabia Mountain Alliance and contains the Davison-Arabia Mountain Nature Center.
a barren wasteland?
You could easily think that the mountain was a barren wasteland based on a casual observation, but you would be wrong. The mountain is alive with beauty, especially in the Spring.We spent the afternoon there one day in April and came away with a whole new understanding of this ancient mountain.
Arabia Mountain, just like Stone Mountain and Panola Mountain, drew Arachaic and Woodland Indians for thousands of years, who were known to quarry the area today called Soapstone Ridge. The earliest Indian settlements were in the Miners Creek area of the South River, but small villages were later established near today's Arabia Mountain.
As settlers replaced the American Indians (the Creek Indians lived in this area), the Lithonia gneiss became important, used in nearby Atlanta to build structures and, beginning in 1855, as paving bricks and later, curbing. After the Civil War, the railroads carried the material throughout the Southeast and beyond. How the area became known as Arabia Mountain has been lost to time. The Davison-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve is comprised of three low ridges, one unnamed ridge on the west side (Arabia Lake) of Klondike Road and two, Bradley Mountain and the smaller Arabia Mountain on the east side of Klondike Road.
PATH has established an asphalt-paved, multi-use trail running from StoneCrest Mall to the Nature Center and beyond. When completed the trail will run more than 5 miles, continuing past the park to the mile-long Flat Rock Spur. Planning is under way to connect Arabia Mountain to Panola Mountain.
On the nature center side of the park Arabia Lake is covered in water lillies that resemble huge four-leaf clover. Significantly different from the stone monadnock on the other side of the road Arabia Lake also holds the remains of the quarrying operation that thrived in the area until the 1940's. Today rusted remenants and empty stone rooms tell the story of the quarries.
To visit Arabia Mountain, take I-20 to Evans Mill Road in Lithonia. At the end of the ramp turn right if you were heading east, left if you were heading west. Continue straight on Woodrow when Evans Mill turns right. Turn right on Klondike. The Nature Center parking is on the right. To visit Arabia Mountain and Brantley Mountain, continue past the Nature Center to a second parking area on the left. For more information on hiking, see Georgia Trails' Arabia Mountain
Take I-20 east to Exit 74 (about 15 miles), Lithonia Ind Blvd. At the end of the long ramp, turn left on Evans Mill Rd, then make an immediate right on Woodrow Dr. Less than a mile later, turn right at Klondike Rd and travel 1.1 miles to the visitors center on the right.
Arabia Mountain, Lithonia, Georgia
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