Over the years, Rocktown has been one of our favorite spots to visit.
We first found it over 15 years ago, after seeing it mentioned in a book about North Georgia's natural history. At that time, the roads in and on Pigeon Mountain were terrible, jeep roads really . . . and we weren't in a jeep. As we struggled to find it, Susan became concerned that we would become stuck in a very remote location. (This has been a recurring theme on some of our natural explorations, but so far, it's never happened. She has, however, heard stories my sister tells of a somewhat legendary trip up impassible roads in the Tellico Mountains, in search of Stratton Bald.)
We did finally arrive and found a small sign with the single word, "Rocktown", and nothing else. When we first begin making our way to Rocktown, we almost never saw anyone else there. More recently, climbers have 'discovered' the location, and often fill the parking lot on weekends. Even so, because of Rocktown's hundreds of crooks and crannies, it's still possible to spend the day and hardly see anyone else.
Over the years, we've found that some people seem to expect "Nature" to come with handrails: Rocktown most definitely does not. We've always avoided taking guests with young children, unless they had good control of their children's behavior. Children love Rocktown, if for no other reason than because it's the largest 'playground climbing equipment' they'll ever see.
But, there are numerous locations at Rocktown where you can be walking along on what appears to be level ground, and suddenly find yourself looking down a 20' or even 40' drop. Obviously, children -- or teenagers -- that are running around in an uncontrolled manner are putting themselves at a huge risk.
You also have to watch out for snakes. This is mostly a problem in spring or fall. The rocks are mostly too hot in summer, and too cold in winter for snakes. But, in spring and fall, sunny rocks are a good place for snakes to warm up. We've seen non-venomous snakes, mostly black or rat snakes, several times, but have never seen venomous snakes ourselves. However, copperheads are common in the area. So, you need to look before you grab or step. But that's true almost anywhere in the North Georgia woods. Susan nearly stepped on a copperhead in the Chickamauga Battlefield a couple of years ago.
I then proceeded to make her even more nervous, by taking pictures! But this was in the Chickamauga Battlefield, NOT at Rocktown. Being cautiously alert* is appropriate pretty much every where in the woods. After all, no matter what some people expect, Nature does NOT come with handrails!
*Between the two of us, we've got this down: Susan's cautious, and I'm alert! ;-)
