A Rewarding Challenge: Edgar Evins State Park’s Clayborn Millennium/Merrit Ridge Trail

Spent Sunday afternoon hiking the Jack Clayborn Millennium/Merritt Ridge Trail at Edgar Evins State Park  in DeKalb County. One of the longer trails in the area,  it combines two trail loops for a rigorous 8 mile there-and-back hike. If you’ve only got a couple hours, take the 2-1/2 mille Millennium Trail loop. (You can download a trail map here)

Echoes of another time

From the trail head parking area, the hike begins as easy amble of a quarter mile or so down to the lake. There you’ll find hints of a once thriving homestead. All that remains are large limestone front and back steps, cut chimney rock, stone pillars which define the shape of the house, and the foundation of a spring house or root cellar nearby. When the lake is down a more modest pile of chimney stones suggests a log cabin once stood about 500 feet away. On a previous trip, one of my sons found an Indian game stone there.

From there, the Millennium loop leads deeper into the woods and gradually up and around the the hillside, below outcrops of cherty bluffs with towering oaks and beeches. Deep in the woods you’ll suddenly come upon the collapsed chimney and rusted reminders of another home, long abandoned. You can't help but pause and wonder what life must have been, totally self sufficient and tucked away in in such a remote pocket.

Ridgetop view of Center Hill Lake

It's a pretty easy walk most of the way around the Clayborn Millennium Loop. If you take the full hike, including the connector trail and Merrit Ridge loop hike you’ll face some moderately challenging up-and-down runs. You’ll be rewarded for the effort, though, as you climb through climax stands of beech and oak for some some great ridgetop views of the lake. 

The connector trail climbs a steep hill, then runs with the ridge before it drops off  past some gargantuan stacked stones. At bottom, it connects with the Merrit Loop, tracing a peninsula as it juts out into Center Hill Lake. The hike climbs and falls along tracks old wagon roads, through cedar thickets and stands of hardwood down to the lake before winding back. At about the halfway mark for the entire hike you can get take a break for a rest or swim at the lake’s edge. At one point, as you approach or depart from the water, there’s 70 foot drop off one side of the trail so be extra careful.

A short run of huge stacked rocks

Overall, both trails are well marked and maintained but this is a hike probably best enjoyed in cooler months. In a few areas it narrowly winds through what can be some lush underbrush and grasses, in season. Ticks could be a problem, unseen snakes, too. And, those great views of the lake from the ridge will be missed when the leaves are on the trees. Late fall, winter through early spring though, you’ll enjoy all this hike offers, and if you like a challenge, you’ll be pleased with the experience whenever you go.