Georgia Natural Wonder #273 - Boat Rock Nature Preserve - Fulton Co. (Part 2)

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #273 - Boat Rock Nature Preserve 

I visited this next Atlanta Georgia Natural Wonder over a year ago, back when I was doing the Battle of Utoy Creek (GNW #267). Boat Rock is a small urban boulderfield located in southwest Atlanta, Georgia. Boat Rock has a long history of climbing and held one of the first bouldering competitions in the U.S. back in 1985. Names like Robyn Ebersfield, Ron Kauk, Bob Cormany, Curtis Glass, Shannon Stegg, Rich Gottlieb and Jerry Roberts ring throughout the nearly mile long stretch of egg shaped granite boulders. In the late 1990’s access to Boat Rock was threatened by an encroaching subdivision development. Local climbers, along with SCC, jumped into action to save this beloved boulder field. In 2005, SCC worked with the developer to purchase 7.8 acres, with another 4.5 acres donated by a climber. 

  
All these photo's this post were taken by TRD on his 1st date a year ago with Jill from California. 

My TRD scrolling Nugget comes from a Disco song by the Hues Corporation



Boat Rock is not only known for it’s unique granite boulders, but also as SCC’s first purchase and major acquisition project. Iconic photos of construction workers blowing up boulders while climbers scale rocks in the forefront have become a battlecry image for SCC, reminding us that access is not permanent, easy or cheap. 

 
Jill was a customer on an Atlanta Sightseeing Bus Tour and she was interested in exploring Atlanta further with me. I had never been here and this was a first date. I found an area with Boulders but it was not the Boat Rock Preserve, I was beginning to feel a little disappointed. 

You know how I like Boulders:

Rocktown (GNW #11)
Rock City (GNW #22)
Zahnd Tract (GNW #81)
Rocky Face (GNW #97)
Shaking Rock Park (GNW #124)
Alcovy Mountain (GNW #129)
Pigeon Hill, Little Kennesaw Mountain (GNW #131)
Sweat Mountain (GNW #143)
Etowah River Gorge (GNW #156)
Bell Mountain (GNW #164)
Sosebee Cove (GNW #187)
Cherokee Bluffs (GNW #233)
Broxton Rocks (GNW #242)
Glen Emerald Rock Garden (GNW #260)

   
This wasn't the Boat Rock I read about, Jill was looking for snakes more than at the Boulders.

In 2018, in an effort to curb vehicle break-in’s, SCC installed a gate and game cameras at the Boat Rock parking lot. Please lock the gate behind you when you enter and leave, and do not leave valuables in your car! 


We got back in the car and drove further down the road and found the parking area. The gate was open. There was signage. 

The climbing at Boat Rock is exclusively granite bouldering–very technical and takes a great deal of balance and foot work. A miscue can cost you flesh or shoe rubber. But the rewards far outweigh the risk as this area will literally “blow open your bouldering pallette” and make you not only a better, but more humble, climber. There are lots of delicate slabs; but just when you think you’ve figured out Boat Rock, you come across a climb like the bulgey “Paint Can” which are sure to stretch your climbing imagination. 


Jill says this is more like it.

Access is offered in accordance with the Georgia Recreational Use Statute (Georgia Code 51-3-22 et seq.).  If you choose to enter this area you are voluntarily choosing to assume all risk of personal injury and/or property loss. 

  
Boat Rock is really impressive. 

Numerous hazards exist on the property, some of which may not be obvious or apparent. These hazards include, but not limited to: steep open cliffs; slippery surfaces; steep and natural walkways, trails, and roadways; loose unstable rocks; falling objects; the possible failure of fixed climbing anchors; and the conduct of other users.

  
This was great fun for just outside I-285. 

Few people (except rock climbers) are aware of this fairly small but amazing park in south Fulton County just outside City of Atlanta that holds an impressive array of large rounded boulders – some the size of whales, some the size of buildings. 

   
Found a cool couple practicing.

These rocks were formed millions of years ago, and are part of an ancient land form that can been seen on Atlanta’s westside from Boulder Park to Palmetto, GA. In addition to climbing practice, these boulders are great for photographs and are interesting forms to walk through and experience. Due to the presence of more soil minerals, unusual plants and a high diversity of trees are found in the forest surrounding the boulders. A trail leads down to a small lake that harbors much wildlife.

  
Jill said our first date rocked.

You walk about 1-1.5 miles total on natural trails that includes a slope from the hill. You can identify trees and visualize the timing of the earth’s events that created the distinctive features of the metro-Atlanta area, including the Boat Rock boulders. 

   
Great fun so close to Atlanta. 

One of the great conundrums of life is that everyone wants to live in a suburbia,  and no one wants to live in suburbia. To deal with this some awesome people banded together and said no, you can’t blow up the amazing massive boulders to build a subdivision, we’re turning this baby into a preserve. Thank you Southeastern Climbers Coalition for giving something to the future besides a 7 lane freeway and a Starbucks!

  
Weaving in and out of the boulders and trees.

Is it goat approved? Oh man, a goat would love this place. However, I can’t recommend bringing the goat during normal business hours because it might be disruptive for the climbers for which this place was created. In the rain though, when nobody else would want to climb? A goat would be pretty awesome. The rear of the preserve is also less heavily climbed than right next to the parking area, so that would make a way better hang out for goat rock climbing.

  
Jill doing a little Jill Jig.

How you get there: The parking area is located at 33.721847, -84.564150. Parking is behind a gate that you must register online to get the code for – the registration is free, but it does require you to certify you will not trash the area. Google it – I’m not providing the link here because this is one of those things you shouldn’t make too easy I suspect. The code will get you through the gate, after which you can park or drive down the two track to a second parking area.

  
Found another pair of climbing dudes.

Time for the hike: At best you’ve got maybe 2 miles, maybe less of walking here between scaling boulders and walking around the small pond. There are no official trails, but many unofficial trails running among the boulders. The boulders range from small kid and timid girlfriend to actual rock climber difficulty. There are caves and various interesting formations that both experienced climbers and people who get vertigo on a six foot ladder can enjoy.

  
Best season to do this hike: I think any time, but the rocks are best scaled when dry.

Trails to Take

From the front, first parking area if you walk up the two track you can get to your first bouldering areas on the left and right. Right hand one is smaller, but with a small cave. To your left you can go into the boulder field…and just keep going. The trails will lead you to various boulders of various difficulty, from running up them to actual climbing and jumping from stone to stone. 

  
The foot trail(s) descend down to a rough and ready crossing of a small boggy creek at the pond, then up the hill again to more boulders just before you reach a road at the subdivision.

 
Coming back down there is a paved path around the pond, long fallen into disrepair and covered in downed trees that’s fun to go around

Then you can make your way back via foot trail to the rear of the boulder field, passed the outhouse and to your car. It sounds short, but we spent close to 3 hours here on bouldering and walking around. For a Sunday in passable weather it was not super crowded either.

  
Boat Rock is a granite playground nestled in the heart of a bustling metropolis. 

It consists of monstrous boulders hidden within a beautiful southern forest. The contrast between this amazing paradise of sharp boulders and the fast-moving cement city that has enveloped this climbing Eden is stark and dramatic. Boat Rock is an amazing respite for the climber stranded in the city, and is the most extensive and varied bouldering park within a few hours of Atlanta.

  
Great place for a 1st date.

Boat Rock boasts a variety of climbers that called the Boat their stomping grounds, including Robyn Erbesfield, Bob Cormany, Ron Kauk, Curtis Glass, Shannon Stegg, Jerry Roberts, and Rich Gottlieb who all have made Boat Rock a destination for those looking to develop technical skills in this slab filled area.

  
Still just friends with Jill here a year later, but we sure had fun this day. 

Boat Rock is notorious for being saved from urban progress by advocacy groups, especially the Southeastern Climber’s Coalition. Today, the area is divided between being held for climbers, and still owned by others, so climbers have to be aware of where boundaries are. Future plans seem to incorporate the outlying areas that possess interesting problems into use for climbers of Boat Rock permanently.

  
Jill was a little dolled up for bouldering.

The pinnacle of climbing season is late January, where it doesn’t usually get blistering cold in this area of Georgia. The closer to summer, the ever-present humidity makes its presence known to climbers. Spring and fall are beautiful times to enjoy this park, but as the foliage is beautiful on the trees, it does inhibit navigating the boulders for beginners and new-comers.

   
Boat Rock is a place for climbers of all varying ability level.

 

Directions

1) From Atlanta, take I-20 W past I-285 to GA-70 S/Fulton Industrial Blvd. SW. Take exit 49 from I-20 W.

2 ) Use any lane to turn south (left from Atlanta) onto GA-70 S/Fulton Industrial Blvd. SW

3) Go 3.8 miles  Take slight left onto Bakers Ferry Rd.

4) Go 0.5 miles  Turn left onto Boat Rock Rd. SW

Boat Rock Bouldering Area
1238 Boat Rock Rd SW, Atlanta, GA 30331

Fulton County (Part 2)

We've had such long Wonders recently, we have not been able to do history or other tangents on Fulton County. We did our first tangent on Fulton County and Atlanta as just a general introduction with (GNW #263). There are 241 Properties on the National Register of Historic Places in Fulton County. Heard on Radio recently, they added 8 more. There are 530 Historical Markers or Monuments, we have touched on a lot of those with our post on the Civil War. There are 15 Towns and Cities in Fulton County but we already covered Roswell in (GNW #144 - Part 1) (GNW #144 - Part 2) (GNW #144 - Part 3) There are six former unincorporated communities. Let's continue with the Properties on the National Register of Historic Places in Fulton County.

61 16th Street Apartment Building



The 61 16th Street Apartment Building is an early 20th century apartment building and falls within an era of prolific apartment construction in Atlanta. Apartment construction was prominent during this period due in large part to the extension of streetcar lines into suburban areas of Atlanta in the early 1900s. It is a good and intact example of the Colonial Revival style. 

  

63 Mangum Street Industrial Building



The nomination meets National Register Criterion A because its use as a manufacturing plant and southeastern headquarters for Westinghouse Electric fits into the broad patterns of our history as an industrialized nation. The property meets Criterion C because it is a good example of an industrial building built to be a factory/assembly plant with a large work area, small office area, and plenty of windows. In this typical interior format for this type of industry, it functioned during the historic period.

 
Apartments now.

696 Peachtree Street Apartments

 

The 696 Peachtree Street Apartments is significant at the local level under Criterion C in the area of architecture as an excellent example of an early 1920s Georgian Revival-style apartment building designed by the architectural firm of Hentz, Reid and Adler. 

 

The firm was among the most important architectural firms of the 20th century in Atlanta. The building retains its historic Georgian Revival-style character-defining features that it had upon its completion in 1923 and retains its original use as apartments.

 

705 Piedmont Avenue Apartments

 

705 Piedmont Avenue is significant in architecture as a good example of a "country house" type apartment building. Designed to be compatible in scale and character with the surrounding residential neighborhood, this type of design was popular in Atlanta during the early 20th century. Designed by architect Russel Conklin, the building reflects minimal Italian Renaissance Revival detailing.

 

Academy of Medicine

 
Just click to get to Wikipedia description some of these next properties. 

 

 

Adair Park Historic District

The Adair Park Historic District is significant in the areas of architecture and community planning and development as an intact and historic in-town Atlanta neighborhood which developed from the 1890s to the 1940s. 

   

The most predominant house type and style within the district is the Craftsman bungalow. 

 

Charles R. Adams Park

Charles R. Adams Park is nominated under Criteria A and C at the local level of significance as a good example of an urban park designed by William L. Monroe, Sr., who played a role in several Atlanta parks and gardens between the 1920s and 1960s. 

  

The park is significant in the area of landscape architecture for utilizing the principles of naturalistic landscape design that relied on local materials and skilled labor-intensive craftsmanship, as was common in many larger state and national parks during this period. 

   

The design works with the park’s rugged topography and flowing stream to create an urban oasis with rustic stonework, picturesque views, native and exotic plant species, and recreational amenities. 

 

Dang, I'm going to make this a separate GNW. Love this Monroe fellow.

Jack and Helen Adams Lustron House

The Adams Lustron House is significant in architecture and engineering as a good example of post-World War II prefabricated housing and an excellent and intact example of the "Lustron" type of prefabricated house. This innovative and unusual type of prefabrication employed porcelain-enamel baked on steel panels. 

 

Erected on a steel frame, easy to maintain, and supposedly well-priced, the Lustron house was touted as the technologically advanced prefab answer to the housing shortage after WWII.

Alberta Drive-Mathieson Drive-West Shadowlawn Avenue Historic District

The Alberta Drive-Mathieson Drive-West Shadowlawn Avenue Historic District is a small residential neighborhood located within the densely-developed triangle of land bounded by the busy thoroughfares of Peachtree, Piedmont, and Roswell roads, north of downtown in Atlanta's Buckhead community. 

 

In 1907, the Georgia Railway and Electric Company extended its trolley line from downtown Atlanta along Peachtree Road, north to Buckhead and beyond into largely undeveloped land. This accessibility spurred a building boom of which the Alberta Drive-Mathieson Drive-West Shadowlawn Avenue Historic District is an extant remnant. 

  

The Alberta Drive-Mathieson Drive-West Shadowlawn Avenue Historic District is significant at the local level under Criterion A in the area of community planning and development as a good representative example of middle-class garden suburbs that were developed extensively in Atlanta during the early 20th century.

Cecil and Hermione Alexander House

 
Round House in Buckhead.

Ansley Park Historic District

  

 

  
The Apartment building on the right, has the columns from an original antebellum home in downtown Atlanta. Old Governors mansion was in here until 1966.

Apartments at 2 Collier Road

  

 

Apartments at 22–24 Collier Road

 

 

Thomas P. Arnold House

 

 

  

Ashby Street Car Barn

 

 

Atkins Park District

 
Virginia Highlands area. 

  

Atlanta and West Point Railroad Freight Depot

The Atlanta and West Point Freight Depot had great significance to the historical and architectural growth of Atlanta, due to this city's importance in the mid-nineteenth century as a transportation center for the southeast. This railroad depot, built c.1871, was the oldest extant and intact railroad structure associated with the historic center of Atlanta. 



Based on 2026 information, the historic Atlanta and West Point Railroad freight depot located in downtown Atlanta is  generally gone, with some areas formerly holding such structures now serving as parking lots.

Atlanta Biltmore Hotel and Biltmore Apartments

 

 
WSB AM broadcast from atop the Biltmore. Wally Butts conspired with Bear Bryant at the Oak Room here, in a fake news story fixing football games. Both coaches won defamation law suits.

  



Atlanta Buggy Company and Warehouse-Hatcher Bros. Furniture Company

The Atlanta Buggy Company building and the adjoining Ware-Hatcher Bros. Furniture building are significant in architecture as good examples of the utilitarian industrial design used for large manufacturing facilities during the early 20th century. 

 

 

Significant features include load-bearing brick walls, segmentally arched windows, and heavy timber framing and flooring. These two buildings represent the typical utilitarian design used for industrial buildings during the early 20th century.

Atlanta City Hall

  
Across street from State Capital. 

 

I visited this lobby in my walking tour of Atlanta. 

  

Atlanta Constitution Building

  
There were a couple of Pulitzer Prizes won here back in the day.

Atlanta Spring and Bed Company-Block Candy Company

The Atlanta Spring Bed Company-Block Candy Company Building is significant in architecture as a good example of the utilitarian industrial design used for large manufacturing facilities at the turn of the century. Significant features include the masonry construction, segmentally arched windows, elevator tower, fire doors, and heavy timber framing and flooring.

 

This property is one of two surviving resources associated with Atlanta's first confectionery manufacturer started by the post-Civil War entrepreneur, Frank E. Block. 

  

Atlanta Stockade

The Atlanta Stockade is significant in architecture because it was functionally designed to be a city jail or prison. At the time it was built, it was the largest and most prestigious city-built penal facility in the state. The 1905 addition or enlargement employed both the Neoclassical style from the 1890s and often used for governmental buildings with the Gothic-influenced Medieval styled towers and wings often used for other penal institutions.

 
I remember my pop pointing out this prison up on hill to left (South) coming in to Atlanta on I-20 from DeKalb County.

  

 
Imagine paying rent to live in Jail. 

Atlanta University Center District

The Atlanta University District is an area to the west of Atlanta's central business district occupied by the campuses of the colleges of the Atlanta University Center and related historic structures. Largest collection of HBCU's in America.

 
Gaines Hall and Fountain Hall at Morris Brown College.

Included in the district are the institutions which make up the Atlanta University Center, Morris Brown College, Clark College, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Interdenominational Theological Center, and Atlanta University. 

  
Oglethorpe Building, Morris Brown. Herndon House.  Giles Hall, Spellman College.

Also located within the district are E. A. Ware School,Friendship Church, West Hunter Street Baptist Church building, University Homes residential development, and residential areas that have been associated with the development of the educational complex.

  
Friendship Baptist Church and Trevor Arnett Library.

The Atlanta University District is significant as the location of a group of the country's major institutions of higher learning for Afro-Americana. 

  
Packard Hall, Spellman College. Graves Hall and John Hope Hall, Morehouse College.

These colleges have not only pioneered in offering educational opportunities to blacks, but have been a progressive force in the development of a viable and progressive black community in the City of Atlanta which has had considerable impact upon the nation as a whole. 

  
Quarles Hall, Atlanta University. Sisters Chapel, Spellman College. West Hunter Church.

Atlanta Waterworks Hemphill Avenue Station

Not withstanding the significance of the Hemphill Avenue Station to the city of Atlanta as its second water processing complex, this water-works plant also stands as a good example architecturally of the late Victorian style as applied to an industrial complex.

 
Sits upon the highest geographical spot in Atlanta so uses gravity to move water through City pipes.

 

Atlanta Women's Club

 
Known as Wimbush House. Lot of Weddings and receptions. 

   

Margaret Mitchell was having drinks at Wimbush House with husband, and jaywalked across Peachtree when she was killed by a Taxi Driver. 


13th Street and Peachtree Street. 

Levi Ballard House

The Levi Ballard House is significant in the history of architecture, landscape architecture, historic archaeology, as well as the local history of Palmetto. Architecturally, the Ballard House is an excellent example of the persistence of the Greek Revival style of architecture into the Victorian period. The house retains an exceptional amount of architectural integrity, the only changes made being the addition of electricity, a new roof, and some 1908 second floor redecorating. The house retains the original wallpaper and other decorative features. Excellent examples of craftsmanship are found in the grained wainscoting and doors and the marbleized mantle.

 

House was shamefully torn down before it could be declared an Historical Home in Palmetto, to make room for a Chevron Gas Station.

   

Baltimore Block

 

Modern addition to historic section.

  

Barrington Hall


We explored Barrington Hall back with our post on Roswell. 

Bass Furniture Building

The Bass Furniture Building is significant to both the architectural and historic development of Atlanta. Architect A. Ten Eyck Brown was commissioned to build the east section and design the facade for the east and west section. It is located in an area that, for a century, was considered the social and commercial center for the city; its history and development reflect the growth and change of the City of Atlanta.

 

 

Whew, snuck in 30 NRHP properties on top of today's GNW. Only 210 left for Fulton County.

  
Today's GNW Gals were climbing at the Boat Rock.