Highest park in the state of Georgia, Black Rock combines extensive hiking trails, the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, plentiful flora and fauna and impressive views to make it one of the best state parks for the outdoors enthusiast not only in the state but in the nation.

The northern route from Clayton climbs steadily towards Rabun Gap. Continue past the road to the park to visit the gap, most noted for the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, founded at the turn of the century by Andrew Jackson Richie, a pioneer of education in the area. Richie was one of the first to document the history of the area. Sixty years later this school would regain national attention with the publication of the Foxfire books.

Turning back south, the road descends to Mountain City, and Black Rock Road. Turning west on this access road it narrows and begins to climb rapidly. Only a short time later visitors are welcomed by the most famous of the Black Rock views, towards the southern Blue Ridge Mountains.

High in the rugged eastern ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, the area that comprises the park is some of the oldest land mass on earth. The roots of these mountains are probably over a billion years old, while the rocks and dirt nearer the surface were formed later. Typical of the southern Appalachian eastern ridge, the mountains are actually mostly rock, with a thin layer of soil to cover them. When these mountains were originally formed they rose five to ten miles above the earth's surface, towering over the present day Rockies or Himalayans.

An interesting relationship exists between the forces of nature trying to further strip the soil and the mountains themselves. Water, in the form of rain, is the most effective agent of erosion. The five to eight feet of yearly rainfall the area sees would move much of the mountains to the plains of southeast Georgia. However, about 2 million years ago, thanks to the same rain that was so effectively washing the mountains to the sea, a forest arose. Holding the meager topsoil to the earth, the trees stopped the massive erosion and a balanced formed. Water that would erode the mountain now nourished the trees that protected the topsoil. Without the rainfall the forest would die. Without the forest, the mountains would die.

Entirely or partly contained in the park are Lookoff Mountain, Marsen Knob, Scruggs Knob, Boundary Point Knob, and of course, Black Rock. It is bisected by the Eastern Continental Divide and has a lake, also named Black Rock.

The park covers more than 1800 acres of North Georgia land. Flame azalea, rhododendron, mountain laurel come in bloom during the late spring. During the Spring Wildflower program(please call for dates) the rangers guide visitors to the spectacular colors created by the ramp, violets and bloodroot that populate the area.

Near the visitors center are the Ada-Hi, some of the highest falls in the state. Cherokee for forest, these are typical high mountain falls. A light waterflow and periods when barely a trickle can be seen, the falls explode (relatively) during the spring.

Black Rock State Park Links

Black Rock Mountain State Park
P.O Drawer A,
Mountain City, Georgia,30562
(706)746-2141

County: Rabun County

Black Rock Mountain State Park

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