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Black Rock Mountain State Park Visit
With Spring FINALLY arriving and the weather being perfect, Blythe Bird Watchers decided to head out for a short hike at Black Rock Mountain State Park in the mountains of north Georgia.
It's nice living only about one hour away from the Appalachian Mountains, mainly because we can easily make day trips or cheap weekend trips there. It's especially nice during this time of year when all the migrating birds have returned for yet another breeding season. We were excited to see and hear some of these newly arrived birds and got a couple of decent photos and recordings.
I've come to learn that elevations above 2,500 ft. generally seem to mimic the environments of the north (Michigan, Ohio to some extent...etc.). At this elevation, you can also see oddities for the south; Common Raven, Black-Capped Chickadee, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, and Red Crossbill, among others. Of course, not really oddities at all for the mountains though.
I always labelled birds as "northern" and "southern" species, but gave little thought to this crazy elevation idea. (Seriously, I was blown away last year when I learned that we could actually see a Raven in Georgia.) We have yet to photograph one, but we have in fact seen a couple.
Back to Black Rock. It sits on a small part of the eastern continental divide (the tall point in the land where water flows one way down to the Atlantic and the other way to the Gulf of Mexico). The trail we hiked (the Tennessee Rock Trail) was actually partially situated on the continental divide, with the tallest point at 3,640 ft. The views were amazing, as usual for the Smokies.
View from the top of Black Rock Mountain, elevation 3,640 Ft. Also On the Eastern Continental Divide.
Connor on a HUGE rock face next to the Visitor's Center
Our hike on the Tennessee Rock Trail was a nice, short length of 2.2 miles. We were able to pick up an interpretive guide to the trail at the visitor's center for only $1. I'd definitely recommend this guide not only to learn more about the sights as you go, but also for the excellent map on the back of the book. As you pass the 25 different sights in the guide, you can also see exactly where you are on the map. If only every trail was mapped this nicely!
Here are some cool things we saw along the way:
Pink flowers called Bashful Wakerobins. Members of the trillium family. (No idea how it got that funny name!)
Butterfly: Red-Spotted admiral These were all over, along with Tiger Swallowtails
Flame Azalea
Rhododendron
Blue-Headed Vireos...singing ALL throughout trail.
Black-Throated Green Warbler...also singing all throughout trail. This one is reaching for a tasty bug!
My son, Connor and I at the summit of Black Rock Mountain
A Boulderfield; apparently one of only a few in existence. After the thaw of the last ice age 10,000 years ago, all these rocks were left in a pile like this. (Connor was super excited to see his first boulderfield, as you can see!)
After we finished the Tennessee Rock Trail, we headed over to Black Rock Lake and did a quick loop around the entire lake, which was only .8 miles or so.
There were two white ducks and two Canadian Geese (not pictured) ooo
Patrick enjoying the view
I hope you enjoyed this short blog about our trip to Black Rock Mountain. We will definitely make it back up there, maybe in the summer. Look for some pieces in my store later this summer featuring sketches from this trip!
~Blythe Birdwatchers
