Where Nature, History and Culture Meet
The Arabia Mountain NHA spans 40,000 acres of the Georgia Piedmont, encompassing powerful historic sites, beautiful greenspace and two massive granite outcrops (called “monadnocks”). Explore a landscape that has taken 400 million years to form.
Hikers can explore the National Heritage Area’s monadnocks and discover rare plants thriving in the unlikeliest of places. Visit the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve and Panola Mountain State Park (a National Natural Landmark) to explore these granite outcrops. Keep an eye out for the Atlanta skyline as you hike!
Walk or Bike
Walk or bike down the Arabia Mountain PATH, a paved, 33+ mile trail that connects sites throughout the National Heritage Area. Visit a weekend wildlife show at the Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort (AWARE), which works to rehabilitate Georgia’s native wildlife. Ride through historic Downtown Lithonia, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and see the city that grew from a thriving granite industry.
Discover the Flat Rock Archives, which preserves the history of one of the oldest African-American communities in Georgia. Following emancipation, local leaders such as T. A. Bryant, Sr. to keep together this African-American community in the rural south, creating a 150-year history of resilience. Visit the Flat Rock Archives to discover the complex stories of this place and its people, from enslavement to emancipation to the present day.
Contemplation and Beauty
At the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, meet a community of Trappist monks who live in a place of peace, contemplation and beauty. Visitors can see extraordinary architecture, a beautiful bonsai collection, and discover more about the lives and history of the monks themselves. The Monastery also includes one of the largest privately protected greenspaces in metro-Atlanta, which you can walk or bike through on the paved PATH.