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| Arabia Mountain Trail |
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Rock outcroppings the size of football fields, streams rushing over woodland waterfalls, hundred-acre farms just like grandpa used to have, and fields of wildflowers undulating in the breeze. The Arabia Mountain Trail respectfully visits all of these natural wonders as it winds through 2,000 acres of protected parkland in south DeKalb County.
The trail features several new arched granite bridges, a wooden boardwalk, and a short segment over a rock outcropping. Future phases of the trail are funded and in development. These phases will connect Evans Mill Road to Murphey Candler School and Klondike Road with a new covered bridge over Stephenson Creek. Future phases that are yet to be funded and designed will connect Lithonia with Stone Mountain Park and connect the existing trail to Panola Mountain State Park and Rockdale and Henry counties, including a bridge over the South River.
Hard-surface, multi-use trail from Lithonia to 1 mile south of the Davidson Arabia Mountain Nature Center on Klondike Rd. (3.85 miles)
Spur trail (0.7 miles) is built to the west entrance of The Mall at Stonecrest.
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| Trail History |
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The Area's multi-use trail idea was conceived after Ed McBrayer, of the PATH Foundation, and Kelly Jordan, of the Arabia Mountain Alliance, realized there was an old railroad right-of-way between Lithonia and the former quarries that used to operate near the Nature Center. They approached the apparent owner of the RR corridor, Hanson Aggregates, to see if they would donate it for use as a linear park and trail and they did!
The DeKalb County commissioners accepted the donation subsequent to an environmental assessment and survey of the property. Additional tracts were secured by the Arabia Mountain Alliance working with the County's greenspace program and other private donors. Georgia Department of Natural Resources gave approval for the path to skirt the Vaughters' farm. Much public relations and negotiating was done with adjacent neighbors when the trail was proposed and as it was constructed to minimize any adverse impact. Today, the neighbors have begun to use the trail themselves on a daily basis.
The trail construction was funded by:
$1,000,000 - Transportation Enhancement Program administered by the Georgia DOT
$125,000 - DeKalb County
$450,000 - PATH Foundation (donations from private sector)*
$50,000 - The Mall at Stonecrest and their parent Cadillac-Fairview
$50,000 - Georgia Forestry Commission for reforestation along Klondike Road near the mall.
A portion of these funds has been deposited into a maintenance endowment account for perpetual maintenance of the trail by the PATH Foundation.
The PATH Foundation oversaw design, engineering, and construction of the trail in cooperation with the DeKalb County. The trail was built primarily by Kemi Construction, an African-American owned firm based in East Point, Georgia.
The trail features several new arched granite bridges, a wooden boardwalk, and a short segment over a rock outcropping. Future phases of the trail are funded and in development. These phases will connect Evans Mill Road to Murphey Candler School and Klondike Road with a new covered bridge over Stephenson Creek. Future phases that are yet to be funded and designed will connect Lithonia with Stone Mountain Park and connect the existing trail to Panola Mountain State Park and Rockdale and Henry counties, including a bridge over the South River. |
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