Georgia Natural Wonder #194 - Sloppy Floyd State Park. 827

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #194 Sloppy Floyd State Park

We are winding down the top 200 Natural Wonders of Georgia and I notice we have skipped over some State Parks. Now we came to this North West section of Georgia in some earlier post

John's Mountain/Keown Falls - GNW #127

 

The Pocket - GNW #165



Zahnd Tract - GNW #81



We return to that part of the state with the Taylor Ridge, home of the Pinhoti Trail, which is certain to get a separate post for a future GNW designation. Taylor Ridge is approximately 40 miles in length. But today we focus on the State Park.



James H. Floyd State Park is a 561-acre Georgia State Park located near Summerville at the base of Taylor Ridge.

The Man

The park is named after Democrat James H. "Sloppy" Floyd who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1953 until 1974 and was from the area. He was so thin as a young man and his football jersey hung so loosely on his frame that his coach began calling him “Sloppy.” In true Southern fashion, Floyd embraced the nickname and would post it on campaign signs. (It’s even on his tombstone.)



Floyd attended Middle Georgia Junior College before enlisting as a private in 1941 in the United States Army Air Forces, serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He served until he was discharged as a major in 1946. He later rose to serve as the Adjutant Quartermaster of Georgia’s Veterans of Foreign Wars.



Floyd would go on to represent Chattooga County in Georgia’s House of Representatives for 22 years, where he became chairman of the Georgia Appropriations Committee and developed a strong authority over the state budget. Floyd served in the House of Representatives from 1953 until his death, cause by a sudden heart attack, in 1974.



When civil-rights leader Julian Bond was first elected to the state House in 1965 - one of 11 black candidates to win House seats after the federal Voting Rights Act forced redistricting - Floyd moved to block Bond from taking office. Bond was part of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which had issued a statement denouncing American involvement in Vietnam. Asked by a reporter to comment on the statement, Bond, who hadn’t taken his oath of office yet, said he supported it.



Floyd, a World War II veteran, was incensed. He argued that Bond’s opposition to the war meant he couldn’t uphold the Constitution, as the oath demands. Prompted by Floyd, the state House voted 184-12 to keep Bond from taking his seat. Bond appealed in federal court, and the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Bond was reelected the next fall; again, the state House refused to swear him in. Until, that is, the Supreme Court ruled in Bond’s favor. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that The First Amendment “requires that legislators be given the widest latitude to express their views on policy.” On the day Bond was finally sworn in, Floyd left the chamber in protest.



Floyd, who died in 1974 at 54, may have been on the wrong side of history, but that didn’t keep lawmakers from naming a state park after him, as well as the buildings in downtown Atlanta.

The Park

Surrounded by rural countryside and the Chattahoochee National Forest, the park offers many activities, including camping, hiking and fishing. In addition, the park contains two lakes that total 51 acres and a children’s playground.



This quiet park in northwest Georgia offers outstanding fishing on two stocked lakes. Visitors can hike along three miles of lake loop trails and relax in swings while watching for the many bluebirds that live in the park.



The trailhead to the scenic 60-mile Pinhoti Trail is only a 1.6-mile hike away.



Children especially enjoy the playground, feeding ducks from the lake’s boardwalk and renting pedal boats. A small campground and four cottages are nestled on tree-covered hillsides.



The 561-acre park’s laid-back blend of immense natural beauty and rich (some would say colorful) history won us over within minutes after we pulled through the gate.



The setting is stunning, with twin lakes in the foreground, the massive Taylor Ridge (named after Richard Taylor, a Cherokee Indian chieftain) in the background, and the Chatthoochee National Forest all around.


Crossing the Boardwalk.

But where the landscape is dynamic, the energy of the park is peaceful and pastoral, with open grassy areas, tree-covered hillsides, and about the same number of fishermen as there are ducks and geese.

TRD Addendum

My wife and I came here years ago, in fact most of these Park images are mine. There were marvelous Pine Trees on the lake shore.


View from boardwalk, note the reflection.


View to boardwalk from trees.


Pavilion on lake.


Crossing the boardwalk.


Net image. Great for wheelchairs.

Marble Mine Trail

The one-mile Marble Mine Trail may be accessed from the day-use area. This trail follows the old road to the Marble Mine, one of the park’s most scenic features.


Wife and Hendrix.

The spring and winter rainfall generates a small 35-foot waterfall over the marble outcropping. Beyond the mine, it connects to the 330-mile National Scenic Pinhoti Trail and presents several winter views of Lookout Mountain.

Atlanta Trails

Hike the Marble Mine Trail in Georgia’s James H “Sloppy” Floyd State Park to an abandoned mine entrance, a trickling waterfall, and beautiful sunset views over a glassy lake.



Rising high from the surrounding forest, an enormous, arched rock outcrop drips a steady, narrow, single-stream waterfall from its towering crest. In front, a still, cool-blue pool collects the waterfall’s continuous drip, reflecting the massive, carved cave above. This stunning sight is the final destination on the Marble Mine Trail, a less-than-two-mile roundtrip hike at Georgia’s James H “Sloppy” Floyd State Park just south of Cloudland Canyon.



This adventure explores a large, abandoned mine entrance on a relatively easy hike. It’s a scenic adventure, departing from the park’s beautiful lakeshore and rising gently through a leafy forest. And it’s a great adventure for families with kids, too: the mine’s cool factor combines with the trail’s relatively short distance and easy effort, making it a great beginner-friendly hike.

Marble Mine Trail: the hike

The adventure begins at the parking area at the park’s picnic shelters, located across the lake from the James H Sloppy Floyd State Park State Park office (view maps and driving directions). If you’re up for a bit of extra distance, hike across the boardwalk to the trailhead from the park office, catching beautiful lakeside views to start the hike.


The lake is especially beautiful in the fall, as vibrant autumn leaf color reflects in the glassy lake surface.

The hike follows orange trail blazes from the trailhead, venturing along a wide gravel roadbed for much of its length. A canopy of young hardwood trees frame the sides of the trail, casting dappled patterns of sunlight and shadow on the forest floor.



Scattered white marble fragments litter the trail, evidence of the area’s mining history.



The trail climbs gently, passing several abandoned, vine-covered mining buildings, now in ruins.



The hike reaches the mine’s entrance at just under one mile.



A large cavern cuts deep into the massive, exposed rock outcrop, creating a dramatically arching cave.



Deep depressions dive deep into the hillside on each side of the mine, and a wooden boardwalk extends below the large rock overhang, providing a partial view into the caves. A stream trickles overhead, tumbling 35 feet into the placid blue pool beneath the mine entrance.



After exploring the mine, the route flips in reverse, retracing its outbound to return to the trailhead and parking area at just under two miles. At the trailhead, explore the lakeshore to catch the reflections of the surrounding forest in the lake’s glassy waters. Sunsets at the park are simply beautiful. As the sun dips towards the horizon, the sunset’s array of color reflects on the smooth water of the lake below.



Pinhoti Trail

The Pinhoti Trail is a 330-mile National Scenic Trail that traverses half a mile through the park. Either the Marble Mine or Jenkins Gap Trail may be used as an approach. The trail can also be accessed North on Highway 27 or South on Highway 100 and hiked 7 miles back into the park either route. The section that comes through the park is Georgia section 7.


TRD views from Taylor Ridge where the highway crossed the Pinhoti Trail.



Jenkins Gap Trail

The Jenkins Gap Trail may be accessed at the Pinhoti Parking Lot.



This hike leads a strenuous climb to the top of Taylor Ridge accessing the Pinhoti Trail.



The Jenkins Gap Trail , Marble Mine Trail and Pinhoti create a 2.9-mile loop with several shorter connectors along the way.

Lower Lake Loop Trail

The Lower Lake Trail may be accessed from the park office or at the trailhead on the spillway. Wildflowers, native flowering shrubs like the Oakleaf Hydrangea, and American Chestnuts can be seen along the way.


Lower Lake Loop Sunflowers too.

Accessed from the connector trail starting by the cabins or campground can create a 1.8-mile out-and-back.

Upper Lake Loop Trail

The Upper Lake Trail may be started at the park office or in the day-use picnic area. This trail takes you over open water, across the boardwalk and between the twin lakes offering great birding opportunities.


Another Net image boardwalk.

Meandering through several wooded, fern covered hillsides the upper lake trail also showcases many woodland wildflowers.



Googled Girls eating Sloppy Joes and only found Joe being sloppy.



Our Georgia Natural Wonder Girls today are sporting Sloppy Joe sweaters. Really had to dig to find these fashion staples of 1940's England and Australia.



Old Sloppy Joe bonus Gals.