Stone Mountain Sunset

Atlanta’s Sunset Tradition...map

From Stone Mountai...

One of my favorite places to go is Stone Mountain Park. I Know its got an awful history with the Civil War Memorial and the Rebirth of the Klan and all. But it doesn’t take away from the beauty of it.

I feel like U2 on the Rattle and Hum album when they were talking about Helter Skelter. “Charles Manson stole the song,” they said, “We’re stealing it back.” I feel the same way about the mountain: It’s a beautiful piece of Nature, I’m taking it back, personally. The Rock is the Rock is the Rock, it is not racist or anti-union or anything bad. Hell, Stone Mountain is a Black dominated town. I take a little solace in that it would make those commemorated on the side of the rock turn over in their graves.

I will speak at length about the park at a future time. There are two terrific hikes there. Today, here is a simple tidbit. Go to the top of the mountain and watch the sunset. You can climb the 1.4 miles up (The recommended route) or take the SkyRide up. The walk up should take no more than 35 minutes and it’s a pretty difficult stretch. But you owe it to yourself to do this at least once.

The amazing thing about it is that the sun sets right through the middle of downtown Atlanta. Sunsets are beautiful in and of themselves. This, to me, should be the official Atlanta way to watch the Sun pass into tomorrow.

And remember, Go to the top of the mountain and watch the sunset.