Shaking Rock Park

Shaking Rock Park is located in Oglethorpe County, off Highway 78 in Lexington, Georgia.

Shaking Rock

Before being settled by American pioneers and European emigrants, the area around Shaking Rock was a camping ground of the Cherokee and Creek Indians.

Shaking Rock derived its name from a 27-ton boulder that was so perfectly balanced atop a granite outcrop that it could be moved by the pressure of a hand. Over time, the elements have disturbed this balance to a degree that the boulder can no longer be moved. Reportedly, the "shaking rock" was knocked to the earth by the 1886 Charleston earthquake. Other huge natural granite outcroppings in unusual shapes are scattered throughout while a picnic area active beaver pond, and several nature trails with identified trees enhance the park.

The park was established in 1968. Mrs. Andrew Cobb Erwin, Mrs. Sallie McWhorter Hawken and Mr. Thurmond McWhorter (three heirs of the park's former owner, Judge Hamilton McWhorter) donated the land for the park to Oglethorpe County at the request of the Lexington Women’s Club.

Welcome Sign

Since establishment of the park, Mr. Bobby Maxwell has served as custodian.

In recent years, there has been a surge of college students from the University of Georgia, as well as other rock-climbing enthusiasts who have ventured to climb the boulders at Shaking Rock Park.

References

"Online Oglethorpe County Info", History, October 27, 2005. Accessed October 29, 2007.

Protected areas of Georgia

Federal

National historic sites and military parks	Andersonville NHS Jimmy Carter NHS Martin Luther King Jr. NHS Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

National monuments	Fort Frederica Fort Pulaski Ocmulgee

National forests	Chattahoochee Oconee

National wildlife refuges	Banks Lake Blackbeard Island Bond Swamp Eufaula Harris Neck Okefenokee Piedmont Savannah Wassaw Wolf Island

Wilderness areas	Big Frog Wilderness Blood Mountain Wilderness Brasstown Wilderness Cohutta Wilderness Cumberland Island National Seashore Ellicott Rock Wilderness Mark Trail Wilderness Okefenokee Wilderness Raven Cliffs Wilderness Rich Mountain Wilderness Southern Nantahala Wilderness Tray Mountain Wilderness

Wild and scenic rivers	Chattooga River

National trails	Appalachian Trail Pinhoti National Recreation Trail

Other protected areas	Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Cumberland Island National Seashore Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve

State

Parks	Amicalola Falls Black Rock Mountain Bobby Brown Buck Shoals Chattahoochee Bend Cloudland Canyon Crooked River Don Carter Elijah Clark F.D. Roosevelt Florence Marina Fort Mountain Fort Yargo General Coffee George L. Smith George T. Bagby Georgia Veterans Gordonia-Alatamaha Hamburg Hard Labor Creek Hart High Falls Indian Springs James H. "Sloppy" Floyd John Tanner Laura S. Walker Little Ocmulgee Magnolia Springs Mistletoe Moccasin Creek Panola Mountain Providence Canyon Red Top Mountain Reed Bingham Richard B. Russell Sapelo Island Seminole Skidaway Island Smithgall Woods Sprewell Bluff Standing Boy Creek Stephen C. Foster Sweetwater Creek Tallulah Gorge Tugaloo Unicoi Victoria Bryant Vogel Watson Mill Bridge

Historic parks and sites	A.H. Stephens Chief Vann House Dahlonega Gold Museum Etowah Indian Mounds Fort McAllister Fort King George Fort Morris Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation Jarrell Plantation Jefferson Davis Memorial Kolomoki Mounds Lapham-Patterson House Little White House New Echota Pickett's Mill Battlefield Robert Toombs House Travelers Rest Wormsloe

Forests	Baldwin Bartram Brender-Hitchiti Dixon Memorial Dawson Hightower Paulding Spirit Creek

Other	Centennial Olympic Park Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Jekyll Island Len Foote Hike Inn Radium Springs Sapelo Island Stone Mountain Park

County,
municipal
and other

Parks	Chehaw Park Cobb County Parks McIntosh Reserve Murphey Candler Park Okefenokee Swamp Park Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park Roswell Recreation and Parks Seaborn Jones Memorial Park Shaking Rock Park

Forests and nature preserves	Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center Fernbank Forest Marshall Forest Morningside Nature Preserve Phinizy Swamp Nature Park Reynolds Nature Preserve

Nature and environmental education centers	Birdsong Nature Center Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Chattahoochee Nature Center Cochran Mill Nature Center Dauset Trails Nature Center Dunwoody Nature Center Elachee Nature Science Center Georgia Nature Center Grand Bay Wetland Education Center Melvin L. Newman Wetlands Center Oatland Island Wildlife Center Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center Panola Mountain State Park Nature Center Sandy Creek Nature Center Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum & Nature Center Tidelands Nature Center Tybee Island Marine Science Center West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center

Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Georgia Forestry Commission (web)

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