The Brinkley Z3210 was about an hour and a half away, so we combined the trip to examine that RV with visiting the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. The mountain was the site of a historically significant battle in the civil war. It was a confederate victory, but it did not prevent the fall of Atlanta a few months later.

Along with a few others in the area, Kennesaw Mountain just kind of sticks up in the middle of the plains. The hike up the mountain is a little over a mile, but it is nearly 700 feet of elevation change. It does not sound like a lot, but it about a 6.5% grade.

The park map is shown below on the left. On the right, it is one of the signs asking visitors to treat the battlefield with the respect and courtesy that it is due.

On the way up, the path was mostly forested. We did not see much in the way of scenery or animals. To be fair, the animals might have been scared away by our gasping for breathe. Kate did not even have the breathe to take a selfie on the way up. She did get some pictures of the historic signs.

There were also a few troop markers on the path.

Near the top, there was a parking lot for people to drive up to the cannon batteries. John asked for an escalator in the Visitor Center, but all they have is a tram on the weekends. We were not going to wait three days for the tram.

Kennesaw Mountain runs northeast to southwest, and this is the direction of the hike. This is the view from about 600 feet up looking east. On the left side, you can see Blackjack Mountain. Just left of center on the horizon, you can see Stone Mountain. On the right side, you can see Atlanta in the distance to the south east. (One of the signs above marks the different landmarks on a horizon map.) There is a haze corrected panorama below that might make Atlanta more visible. (A high-res version is here, but you will have to “go back” to this page.)

To the right of the scenic view, is a set of stone steps and platform leading to the cannon batteries. Yes, there was more going up to do.

Most of the interesting things were from the cannon battery parking lot and up. We saw a group of dark butterflies with a brilliant blue sheen. Our best guess is that these are Red-spotted Purple Butterflies.

There was another view of Atlanta and the four cannon batteries spread along the ridge.

Here is a picture of the geologic marker for the peak, so you have proof that we made it to the top, are good at google searching, or good at using AI to fake photos.

We also ran across someone photographing an Eastern Fence Lizard, so we took a turn taking pictures too.

Kate used her time wisely, and she took more selfies.

The way back down was uneventful, aside from the tripping and almost sliding down the trail a few times. We saw a few flowers and a small herd of deer. One of the deer photos came out weirdly green, due to the shade.

Not surprisingly, the trip down was a lot faster and easier, if not a little more dangerous. We made it back to the visitor center, where Kate went looking for national park book stickers and postcards.