Wednesday, June 12, 2013

A. H. Stephens State Park (Blog Hike #260)

Trails: Sunset Drive, Lake Buncombe, and Cedar Hill Trails
Hike Location: A.H. Stephens State Park
Geographic Location: north side of CrawfordvilleGA (33.56347, -82.89554)
Length: 3.2 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Dates Hiked: March 2009, December 2013, December 2022
Overview: An easy hike on wide trails through Georgia Piedmont forest.
Photo Highlight:
Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: In eastern Georgia, take I-20 to SR 22 (exit 148).  Exit and go north on SR 22.  Take SR 22 north 2 miles to US 278 and turn right on US 278.  Take US 278 to the first traffic light (Monument Street) and turn left; the Taliaferro County courthouse sits at this intersection. Take Monument Street north 2 blocks, passing under a railroad bridge, to Park Street and turn left on Park St.  Notice the house directly ahead before making the turn.  Take Park St. west 1 block to Alexander Street (the main park road), and turn right to enter the park.  Pass the entrance gate and park in the blacktop parking lot between the park office and the swimming pool.

The hike: Located just off I-20 about an hour west of AugustaA.H. Stephens State Park provides a perfect blend of history and recreation.  The park is named for Alexander H. Stephens, an antebellum governor of Georgia and the Vice President of the Confederacy.  Stephens’ house is the one you passed at the end of Monument Street on your way in.  This restored house along with an excellent Confederate war museum is open to visitors on certain days.  Call ahead to make sure they are open when you visit.
            On the recreation side, the park is best known for its 14 miles of bridle trails, two campgrounds, and two small lakes which provide fishing opportunities.  The park also features a swimming pool and several picnic shelters.  While the bridle trails are not open to hiking, 3 short nature trails connect the park office to Lake Buncombe, one of the small fishing lakes.  Although this park is clearly not a top tier hiking destination, for a nice leg-stretch with some history thrown in, these trails fit the bill.
Trailhead: Sunset Drive
            From the park office, keep small Lake Liberty downhill to your right as you walk west through a mowed grass area toward the park road.  When I visited on a warm spring morning, a group of brown and mallard ducks greeted me with some loud quacking.  Cross the main park road and pick up the paved Sunset Drive Trail, which heads gradually uphill.  Brown metal signs and blue carsonite posts mark the trailheads in this park.  As the trail’s name suggests, you are traveling due west into the sunset.
            Ignore the Cedar Hill Trail, which exits left at 0.3 miles, and continue on the Sunset Drive Trail as it heads through second-growth pine forest.  At 0.7 miles, the Sunset Drive Trail ends at the main campground.  To continue the hike, instead of following the campground road, angle left and pick up the gravel Lake Buncombe Trail which proceeds behind several of the campsites.
End of Lake Buncombe Trail (near lake)
            Upon reaching a wooden gate, the Lake Buncombe Trail turns sharply left, passes a wooden vehicle gate, and heads downhill through an area that shows signs of recent logging activity.  Some faint white blazes mark the path, but since all of the trails at this park are wide enough for a small car to pass, getting lost is not really an issue.
            Soon Lake Buncombe comes into view downhill and to the right.  A wide switchback gradually takes the trail down to lake level, and a small tributary to the lake is crossed.  Just after stepping across the stream, a lakeside picnic table can be seen straight ahead.  About 100 feet before reaching this table, the main trail turns right, crosses a wooden bridge, and ends at a small lakeside parking area.  The aforementioned picnic table makes a nice spot to rest near the midpoint of the hike.
            From the lake, you will need to retrace your steps back along the Lake Buncombe and Sunset Drive Trails.  The shortest route back to the park office is to remain on the Sunset Drive Trail, but if you want to hike every trail in the park (and you may as well since you only have one more to go), angle right and take the short Cedar Hill Trail.  For now the name of this trail is accurate, as the trail heads downhill through succession forest with numerous red cedars.  However, the cedars are losing the battle for sunlight to their taller conifer cousins, so in a few years there will be no cedars left along this trail.
Descending on Cedar Hill Trail
            The Cedar Hill Trail comes out at the main park road at the entrance gate.  To the right, about 1000 feet down the road and on the left is the historic Stephens house and museum.  To the left, the road passes an old school on the right and heads back to the park office where your car is parked.  There is no other trail back to the park office, so a short road walk remains to return to your car and finish the hike.
Historic Stephens house

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