Georgia Natural Wonder #262 - South River and Forest - DeKalb County (Part 10)

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #262 - South River and Forest - DeKalb County part #10

Now we are winding down our DeKalb County Natural Wonder explorations. These were all pretty good for this far down the list. And, they really do make for a fun weekend excursion right here in Atlanta. I know I am not going to change some of your minds about how fun Atlanta is, but I will give it my best shot like I do every day on the bus tour. We take today's wonder away as a tangent on an earlier post about Panola Mountain (GNW #55) and make it a stand alone wonder as the third main tributary River going in to Lake Jackson and then down past Macon as the Ocmulgee River. Then we found images of a neat forest surrounding this wonder and so, Georgia Natural Wonder #262 is the South River and Forest in DeKalb County.


These first three images are at Panola Shoals which is still in DeKalb County.



Today's TRD Nugget is Neil Young's guitar jam for 9 minutes Down By The River.

From the Wikipedia

The South River is a 63.5-mile-long tributary of the Ocmulgee River in the U.S. state of Georgia. It originates in the city of East Point in Fulton County and eventually flows into Lake Jackson, joining the Yellow River and Alcovy River to form the Ocmulgee.



The present name "South River" is derived from shortening and alteration of the original name South Branch Ocmulgee River.



In 2021, non-profit American Rivers placed the South River fourth on its list of America's Most Endangered Rivers, citing "the egregious threat that ongoing sewage pollution poses to clean water and public health."



River course

The South River’s main headwater streams were piped many decades ago. Born in the city streets near the state capitol and Zoo Atlanta, many of the river’s headwater creeks crawl underground through a combined sewage–stormwater system before the river emerges to flow southeast through DeKalb, Rockdale, and Newton Counties on its way into Lake Jackson. Now, the river daylights at Norman Berry Drive, just north of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, in the city of East Point (Fulton County). From East Point, the river flows across south Atlanta through the Brown's Mill Public Golf Course.

 
All the water features are the South River. This course is in Fulton County.

Then the South River flows into the South River Forest and enters DeKalb County.

From Wikipedia - South River Forest

The South River Forest or Weelaunee Forest is an area in southeast metro Atlanta DeKalb County, Georgia, United States named after the nearby South River. The South River is also known by its Muscogee Creek name, the "Weelaunee" loosely meaning green-brown water. The area includes significant disparate, undeveloped forested parcels that help protect the river and tributaries. 



The area was originally identified and named the "South River Park" by Atlanta's Department of City Planning in a 2017 Design for Nature and identified as one of the lungs of Atlanta to be established as a conservation zone. Subsequently, The Nature Conservancy, the South River Watershed Alliance, South River Forest Coalition, Save the Old Atlanta Prison Farm, and others collaborated in an effort to hold Atlanta accountable to its conservation plan for the area.



In 2021, local community members and Muscogee Creek representatives dubbed the South River Forest the "Weelaunee Forest". The forest once held a prison farm, and it is a proposed site for a police training facility that has garnered protests.

History

The Muscogee Creek people inhabited the area and referred to the South River as the "Weelaunee", until they were forcibly displaced in the 1820s and 1830s. Inscribed stones from a Carnegie library are among items dumped in the area.


Old Prison Farm.

In 1999, Jillian Wootten wrote a historical analysis of the honor farm facility in the forest. Plans to officially designate the area as a national park began in the early 2010's, a smaller portion of it was designated the South River Park in 2017 by the Atlanta City Planning Commissioner Tim Keane.

Developmental Threats

The South River's largest urban tributary, Intrenchment Creek, flows through the South River Forest. East of Intrenchment Creek, in unincorporated DeKalb County, lies 136-acre Intrenchment Creek Park. In January 2021, DeKalb County approved a land exchange that gave 40 acres of public parkland at Intrenchment Creek Park to real estate mogul Ryan Millsap who was then CEO of Blackhall Studios. Community efforts to prevent the exchange began in 2018, when it was first discovered that DeKalb County was in negotiations with Millsap, and were dubbed Stop The Swap. Ongoing efforts to reclaim the land for the public include the Stop The Swap citizens lawsuit. Shortly after DeKalb County leadership approved the land exchange, Millsap sold Blackhall Studios (now known as Shadowbox Studios) and retained the 40 acres of former public parkland for himself.


I'm not going back down there other than winter, too many mosquitos. Actually they weren't so bad on boardwalks I look back those fellows standing there fishing Constitution Lakes Trail.

Due west of Intrenchment Creek Park, on the other side of Intrenchment Creek, is 296 acres owned by City of Atlanta that was the Old Atlanta Prison Farm.



A 171-acre police training facility was proposed for construction at the site in 2021.


A decentralized protest movement called Stop Cop City formed in opposition to the construction of the facility—which opponents commonly refer to as Cop City. Save the Old Atlanta Prison Farm but Stop Cop City?

The South River flows on and provides Water features for the Sugar Creek Golf Course right outside I-285 at Bouldercrest Road.



Now the only Whitewater I found in DeKalb County is the Panola Shoals right at Panola Road.



This would a fantastic swimming hole for DeKalb County if only.



There is a  beach and a lot of sandy area.



There are also Warning signs about swimming there.



Tricky water slide with this big ole tree and the rocks at the bottom.


I may try to tube this one day, still got my Grady card, saved me at ER after my Yellow River infection (GNW #148).

Now the rest of this post may not be in DeKalb County, but I want to continue the South River float down through Rockdale, Newton, and Henry Counties. These may be relocated down the road as I get more detailed on Henry County.



The South River is one of only two urban-origin rivers in the state of Georgia. Its watershed comprises approximately 544 square miles of creeks and streams that drain large sections of Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Henry, Rockdale, Newton, and Butts Counties.



The South River flows 60 miles southeast across Atlanta and the heritage area, offering metro area residents an escape from urban life. Great hikes along the South River include:

• Arabia Mountain PATH near Panola Mountain
  
• DeCastro Trailhead
  
• Everett Park (kayak/canoe launch coming soon!)
  
• Lorraine Park and Trailhead
  
• Panola Shoals Trailhead
  

Pollution of the South River from DeKalb County’s sanitary sewer system goes back to 1961. The South River Watershed Alliance is an environmental organization that works to restore the river through awareness, advocacy and recreation. 



Today, thanks to the SRWA and its environmental justice focus, the river is an ideal location for paddling, birding, hiking, biking and exploring.



The SRWA offers guided paddles on the river spring through fall. 



Sign up for those, as well as other events held by the SRWA, on their Events page.



The South River runs through a narrow wooded valley, skirts some exposed bluffs, and winds along the base of several tall, gumdrop-shaped granite outcroppings that include Panola and Arabia Mountains. Evidence of habitation and development are common along the South River but somewhat surprisingly do not occur in sufficient concentration to spoil the wilderness beauty of the stream.


Panola Mountain.

Despite its urban setting, the river’s shores are exceptionally wooded, even in its upper reaches. Water quality continues to improve.



The South is a city river, beginning close to the Atlanta airport and winding through DeKalb and Rockdale Counties before forming the border between Newton and Henry Counties and entering Lake Jackson forming the Ocmulgee River which then flows to Macon, Georgia where it meets the Oconee and becomes the Altamaha River – Georgia’s largest river. The Altamaha drains into the Atlantic Ocean on the Georgia coast near Darien and Little Saint Simons Island. Running through metro Atlanta's population center, the South has been ravaged over the years by sewage runoff, heavy siltation due to development, and all of the substances and chemicals that come from roads, parking lots, and people's yards. In many places, you can find the recent high-water mark of the South by looking at the line of trash and debris on the bank. The smell of chlorine from upstream water treatment facilities is not overpowering, but it never quite goes away either.

 
Doesn't stop swimmers (Waders) at Panola Shoals.

Despite the South's problems, conditions on the river have improved drastically since the early 1990's. After 60 miles of the South were declared "extremely polluted" by the EPD in 1991, the city of Atlanta began diverting 26 million gallons of treated wastewater to the Chattahoochee basin (where it originated) from the South. The condition of the river has improved markedly in the past 10 years.



American Whitewater

River Description Klondike Rd to Ga 138/Stockbridge Hwy

This beautifully forested 3-mile-long suburban Atlanta run has a terrific bike path shuttle.

The whitewater consists of Albert Shoals (III) and several class I ledges.  



Albert Shoals is runnable above 200cfs and becomes fun at 300 or 400cfs.  The primary route starts on the far right side and works its way down through terraced ledges and chutes all the way to the far left.  


It's quite satisfying, especially if you manage to avoid getting hung up on the moraine of junky rocks that litter the runout at the bottom.   



Above 2,000 cfs, the speed of the current and the size of the holes to skirt bump the difficulty up a notch to III+/IV.  



There's an established portage trail on river left.



The paved bike trail that runs remotely through the woods along the river has two river access points in the span of this reach.  Unfortunately the Klondike Road put-in for this section is not one of them.  The first bike trail access point is the De Castro Trailhead located 0.6 miles downstream of the Klondike Rd bridge and 0.2 miles downstream of Albert Shoals.  The second is, thankfully, at the take-out at Ga 138/Stockbridge Hwy (aka Lorraine Park).   In order to bike shuttle AND put in upstream of Albert Shoals, start 6 miles farther upstream at the Panola Shoals Trailhead. 



That section, Panola to Klondike, is similarly undeveloped and wooded, like this subsequent section but it's flat.

River Description GA 81 to Snapping Shoals Creek

The South River is one of the most polluted rivers in the metro Atlanta area. At one point the flow was 90% sewer water. This might have improved but the stream still smells terrible. This run is a short section of the South that has easy access to some interesting shoals. The rapids known as Snapping Shoals are straight forward but become dangerous at high water. Snapping Shoals is located on the county line between Henry County and Newton County. The shoal is classified as Class III rapids

High Water Snapping Shoals.

The first river feature is a small low-head dam almost immediately past the put in. I (American Whitewater) ran this at low water with no problem as it is very shallow and no hole could develop. The dam immediately before Snapping Shoals was once used as a hydro-electric production plant to power a local machine shop.


Can see dam and shoals from this collage and aerial image.


Kayaking the Snapping Shoals. 



Made it past the Snapping Shoals.

The rest of the run is nothing but whitewater down to the confluence of Snapping Shoals Creek. 



Paddle a few yard up the creek to the road access and takeout.



So how's the fishing? Better than you might expect. Largemouth bass are at the top of the food chain, and they appear quite healthy. Redeye bass are native to the South, and used to be caught in the numerous shoal areas that dot the river. Some say that the pollution problems of the 60's, 70's, and 80's wiped them out. GRF would be really interested to find out if redeyes still exist here.


Rockdale River Trail.

A relative newcomer to the lower reaches of the South is the spotted bass. Spots were illegally introduced in Lake Jackson during the 1990's and have started showing up in the South in the stretch of river downstream from the dam below GA Highway 81.



DeKalb County (Part 10)

Our travel through DeKalb County has taken us through most of the 2024 Football season. The only thing left is notable People.

Notable people

Decatur

B.o.B. - rapper, singer, songwriter.



James Banks III (born 1998) - basketball player.



Jarren Benton - rapper.



Harrison Butker - NFL placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs.



Jason Carter - politician.



Mark David Chapman - killed John Lennon. Columbia High School, my cousin was a classmate and remembered him as weird even then, 1972.



Paul Delaney (born 1986) - basketball player in the Israeli National League.



Rebecca Latimer Felton - first woman US Senator. (Honorary for a Day)



Ian Garrison - professional cyclist.



Ghetto Mafia - hip hop group.



Omari Hardwick - actor.



Keri Hilson - singer, actress.



Kiera Hogan - professional wrestler.



Jan Hooks (1957–2014) - actress and comedian.


with Phil Hartman SNL, both gone too soon.

Chris Horton (born 1994) - basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.


Joshilyn Jackson - author.



Emily Jacobson (born 1985) - saber fencer.



Jacquees - singer, songwriter.



DeForest Kelley - actor, screenwriter, poet, and singer.

Bones
"He's dead Jim."

Alec Kann - professional soccer player.



LightSkinKeisha - rapper.



McClain - girl group.



China Anne McClain - actress, singer.



Sierra McClain - actress, singer.



S.P. Miskowski - author.



Efrain Morales - soccer player for Atlanta United.



Amy Ray (born 1964) - singer, songwriter, Indigo Girls.



A. E. Stallings - poet and critic, first American Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford.



Michael Stipe - lead vocalist, R.E.M.



Baby Tate - rapper, singer.



Andrew Toles - outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers.



Rock Ya-Sin - NFL cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens.



Jordan Walker - MLB outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals.



James Walraven - serial killer.



Dunwoody

Ryan Seacrest, host of American Idol, Wheel of Fortune.


Ryan and Vanna.

Erin Andrews, ESPN reporter, lived in Dunwoody while working for Fox Sports South.



Bret Baier, Host of Special Report with Bret Baier.



Harris Barton (born 1964), former professional football player, San Francisco 49ers.



Black Lips, "flower punk" band.



Alex Caskey, professional soccer player, Seattle Sounders FC.



Sada Jacobson (born 1983), Olympic fencing silver and bronze medalist.



Charles London (born 1975), quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons.



Robert Duncan McNeill, director and actor, known for Star Trek: Voyager.



Robin Meade, anchor CNN Headline News.



Fran Millar, former Georgia politician 1998-2018.



Kip Pardue, actor.

Remember the Titans QB.

Pat Swindall, lived in Dunwoody while serving in the US Congress.



Corey White, former NFL cornerback.



Jeff Williams, poker player.



Cindy Wilson, singer, songwriter and a founding member of new wave rock band The B-52s, lives in Dunwoody.



Sally Yates, former U.S. Attorney General.



Matt Porwoll, Emmy and Sundance award-winning documentary cinematographer (Cartel Land, 2016)



Stone Mountain

Rick Beato, YouTube personality, musician, songwriter, music producer and educator, resides and runs Black Dog Sound Studios in Stone Mountain.



Jerry Blackwell, late AWA professional wrestler, nicknamed the "Mountain from Stone Mountain".



MarShon Brooks, NBA basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies, grew up in Stone Mountain.



Bryce Brown (born 1997), basketball player in the sraeli Basketball Premier League.



Domonic Brown, professional baseball player for the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League, attended high school in Stone Mountain.



Morty Buckles, racing driver, born in Stone Mountain.



Kevin Cone, retired NFL football player from Stone Mountain.



Violet Chachki, drag queen, lived in Stone Mountain.



Apollo Crews, professional WWEwrestler billed as from Stone Mountain.



Noureen DeWulf, actress; grew up in Stone Mountain.



Fast Life Youngstaz, American hip hop group.




TRD Scrolling Nugget Swag Surfing. Things are usually going good when they blast this song at Sanford Stadium the student sections are swaying.

Donald Glover, actor, writer, comedian, and rapper; grew up in Stone Mountain.



Jim Goad, author and publisher; resides in Stone Mountain.

Goad with Slampira.

Phil Gordon, professional poker player, grew up in Stone Mountain.



Andrew Goudelock, professional basketball player for the Shandong Golden Stars of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).



Malcolm Harvey, former sheriff of Stone Mountain who has been implicated in the murders of two women in Zaragoza, Spain in 1992.



Bruce Irvin, professional football player for the Chicago Bears, briefly attended high school in Stone Mountain.

With the Seahawks.

Connie Johnson, professional baseball player for Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles and a star for the Negro league Kansas City Monarchs[/url], born in Stone Mountain.



DeQuan Jones, professional basketball player for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Premier League, originally from Stone Mountain.



Wally Joyner, retired professional baseball player, attended high school in Stone Mountain.



Kenny Ladler, NFL football player for the New York Giants, grew up in Stone Mountain.

With the Bills.

Selina Majors, better known by her professional moniker "Bambi", professional wrestler, born in Stone Mountain.

Not the Bambi from Smokerise.

Kenneth Parcell, fictional character in the television series 30 Rock, hails from Stone Mountain and frequently refers to it; the actor Jack McBrayer is actually from nearby Conyers.

Parcell and McBrayer.

Brandon Phillips, professional baseball player for the Boston Red Sox, attended school in Stone Mountain.

With the Reds (Without the Sox)

Cyhi the Prynce, rapper and songwriter from Stone Mountain.



Raury, singer, songwriter, and rapper; grew up in Stone Mountain.



Jake "The Snake" Roberts, pro wrestler, is billed from Stone Mountain.



Richard T. Scott, figurative painter and writer, is from Stone Mountain. Graduate Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia.


Classical painter - The Soloist, The Impermanence of Time. Dawg!

Silentó, rapper, singer, and songwriter, native of Stone Mountain.



Hugh Thompson, Jr, Vietnam War veteran known for his role in saving many civilian lives in the My Lai Massacre, grew up in Stone Mountain.

 
William Calley got three years house arrest, worked at a jewelry store rest of life, married, divorced, one son, died at 80 in Gainesville Florida.


Between 347-504 civilians were killed during the Mỹ Lai Massacre. Their names are immortalized on this memorial.

Amira Unplugged, musician, grew up in Stone Mountain.



Theodore Van Kirk, late navigator of the Enola Gay when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, resided in Stone Mountain.


Van Kirk (left) with Tibbets, and Ferebee, 6 August 1945.



Jordan Walker, professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals.



Kara Walker, painter, lived in Stone Mountain as a child.



Josh Wolff, Major League Soccer player, from Stone Mountain.



Isaiah Zuber, NFL wide receiver, born and raised in Stone Mountain.



Tucker

Kyle Sieg, NASCAR driver.

Kyle Sieg

Ryan Sieg, NASCAR driver.



Shane Sieg, former NASCAR driver.



[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asher_Allen]Asher Allen, former NFL player.



Patrick Pass, former NFL player.

 

A. J. Bouye, cornerback for the Denver Broncos.

With the Texans here.

Steve Walsh, keyboardist and vocalist for American rock band Kansas, lives in Tucker.

 
Walsh and Kansas, then and now.

Seantavius Jones, a professional football player.



Andy Stanley, founder and preacher of North Point Community Church and satellite churches.



Stephen Hill, former NFL player.



Brendan O'Brien, record producer, mixer, engineer, and musician.


Brendan was a classmate at Tucker High School 1978. Sample of all the albums he has produced.

He use to play for Pranks, one of the DeKalb County local bands back then like Choice and Fragile.


Here he is playing lead guitar with Samurai Catfish. Mark Krause was drummer.

Druid Hills

Cully Cobb, founder of the Cobb Institute of Archaeology at Mississippi State University.



Redan

Kevin Butler - Georgia Bulldog - Redan State Champ as DB. Only field goal kicker in the College Football Hall of Fame - 2nd Leading Scorer in history of Chicago Bears NFL Franchise.



Ellenwood

Justin Shaffer (born 1998), NFL player.



Alright, that is a wrap on DeKalb County, thanks to the Baron Von DeKalb for giving us our name. Don't even keep a little bit my kids would say.

The Georgia Natural Wonder Girls today are GRITS for the South River.


Girls Raised In The South.