First Day Hikes

There are 64 state parks in Georgia.  Many of them are participating in the First Day Hikes on January 1, 2015. Find a hike near you.  
http://ncparks.gov/naspd/firstday.php

Jasper County (30) - Shady Dale

D.A.R. Monument 

Located in Jasper County, Shady Dale is a small community with a population of approximately 242 people.  The town was incorporated in 1882.  Historically Shady Dale was an important stop on a stagecoach route from the Savannah River to the Chattahoochee River.  The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument in 1940 to mark the location of an inn.  The well also commemorates the importance of Shady Dale as a stagecoach stop.  

Today Shady Dale is home to a Cal-Maine Foods Inc. processing plant.   Cal-Maine Foods Inc. is the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the United States.  

However, this small town is most known for it's rodeo, now in it's 31st year.  Sponsored by the local Shriners and Masons, this rodeo is an IPRA sanctioned professional rodeo event and draws lots of people to this small southern town.

Bank of Shady Dale now
serves as the town's City Hall

The 159

There are 159 counties in my home state of Georgia.  So, I have set a goal to visit all 159 counties in Georgia.  In the process I hope to experience all that Georgia has to offer and to discover more about the history and the people of the state.

Here is a list of the counties:

Appling

Atkinson

Bacon

Baker

Baldwin

Banks

Barrow

Bartow

Ben Hill

Berrien

Bibb

Bleckley

Brantley

Brooks

Bryan

Bulloch

Burke

Butts

Calhoun

Camden

Candler

Carroll

Catoosa

Charlton

Chatham

Chattahoochee

Chattooga

Cherokee

Clarke

Clay

Clayton

Clinch

Cobb

Coffee

Colquitt

Columbia

Cook

Coweta

Crawford

Crisp

Dade

Dawson

De Kalb

Decatur

Dodge

Dooly

Dougherty

Douglas

Early

Echols

Effingham

Elbert

Emanuel

Evans

Fannin

Fayette

Floyd

Forsyth

Franklin

Fulton

Gilmer

Glascock

Glynn

Gordon

Grady

Greene

Gwinnett

Habersham

Hall

Hancock

Haralson

Harris

Hart

Heard

Henry

Houston

Irwin

Jackson

Jasper

Jeff Davis

Jefferson

Jenkins

Johnson

Jones

Lamar

Lanier

Laurens

Lee

Liberty

Lincoln

Long

Lowndes

Lumpkin

Macon

Madison

Marion

McDuffie

McIntosh

Meriwether

Miller

Mitchell

Monroe

Montgomery

Morgan

Murray

Muscogee

Newton

Oconee

Oglethorpe

Paulding

Peach

Pickens

Pierce

Pike

Polk

Pulaski

Putnam

Quitman

Rabun

Randolph

Richmond

Rockdale

Schley

Screven

Seminole

Spalding

Stephens

Stewart

Sumter

Talbot

Taliaferro

Tattnall

Taylor

Telfair

Terrell

Thomas

Tift

Toombs

Towns

Treutlen

Troup

Turner

Twiggs

Union

Upson

Walker

Walton

Ware

Warren

Washington

Wayne

Webster

Wheeler

White

Whitfield

Wilcox

Wilkes

Wilkinson

Worth