AMNHA: Arabia Lake Dam and Cascades (LLV) Traditional Cache

AMNHA Geo-Path Series

AMNHA: Arabia Lake Dam And Cascades

Series: Lands Less Visited

Cache Info: This is a medium sized container.

Arabia Lake was built around 1910 to provide water for the quarrying operations. Trees were allowed to grow on the dam so that today, the lake appears natural when viewed from a distance, .At one time, the lake level was quite a bit higher than is the case now. Prior to 1972, when the county obtained ownership of the lake, someone unknown dynamited the spillway down to the rock foundation. Fortunately, a large earth berm existed above the spillway. As the berm was slowly eroded away by storm flows, the lake level slowly dropped.

Around 2008, the Nature Preserve recognized the problem and determined that the lake level would eventually fall nearly two feet more. A volunteer repaired the spillway to an elevation that would prevent any further drop in water level. The repair resulted in a small waterfall at the spillway, which you can now observe,. An attractive cascade exists below the spillway.

As you walk across the rock outcrop on the Mile Rock Trail, notice the small areas of fresh rock exposed by the process of exfoliation. Over a period of millions of years, overburden on the rock was eroded and weathered away. This allowed the rock to very slowly, but continually expand. This allows a thin top layer of rock to separate from the lower layers. Exfoliation is the process by which Arabia Mountain is continually worn down. Some people say the mountain “keeps losing its skin”.

Cascades Below Arabia Lake Dam.

Park at the Arabia Mountain Nature Center Parking Lot on Klondike Road. Take the bike path south to the Quarry Office Building. At that point, leave the bike path and take the Mile Rock Trail, marked by rock cairns, to the intersection with the Forest Trail. Follow that trail a short distance to the cache.

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Cell service will be limited in various areas on the AMNHA Geo-Path. If you are using your cell phone, you can download the cache info to your phone and travel the trails using the offline mode.

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See additional waypoints for parking coordinates, points of interests and trailheads.

Each cache is classified in one of following series:
Arabia Mountain Adventures
Lands Less Visited
Lithonia's Historic Hike
Panola Mountain Pathways
Past and Present Passages
South River Stroll

Download the passports to collect the passwords:
Geo-Path Passport
Lands-Less-Visited Passport
Past and Presents Passages Passport

Hours:
Sunrise to Sunset