Track Rock facts for kids
Track Rock is a special place in the Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area (9Un367). You can find it in the Brasstown Ranger District of the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia. This area is about 52 acres (21 hectares) big. It holds ancient carvings called petroglyphs made by Native American people long ago. These carvings look like animal and bird tracks, crosses, circles, and even human footprints!
What Are the Track Rock Carvings?
Track Rock is one of the most famous places in Georgia for its carved stones. There are six large boulders, each about the size of a table. These stones have hundreds of symbols carved or pecked into their surfaces.
Scientists who study old things, called archaeologists, think these carvings could be very old. Some might be from the Archaic Period, which was from 8,000 to 1,000 B.C. Others might have been made by the Cherokee Indians, who lived here until the 1800s.
No one knows exactly what all the symbols mean. They show animals, birds, tracks, and different shapes. It's a bit of a mystery!
Stories About Track Rock
The first written story about Track Rock was in 1834. It was written by Dr. Matthew Stephenson, who worked at the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega.
One of the most interesting stories comes from James Mooney. He was a person who collected stories from the Cherokee people. The Cherokee had two names for this place: Datsu'nalasgun'ylu, which means "where there are tracks," and Degayelun'ha, meaning "the printed or branded place."
Cherokee stories explain the carvings in different ways:
- Hunters might have carved them for fun while resting in the gap.
- The marks could have been made during a huge hunt when animals were driven through the gap.
- Another story says the tracks were made when animals left a giant canoe after a big flood. This happened when the earth and rocks were still soft.
In 1867, a person who loved nature, John Muir, visited nearby. He met a local who told him, "It is called Track Gap... from the great number of tracks in the rocks – bird tracks, bar tracks, hoss tracks, men tracks, all in the solid rock as if it had been mud."
Visiting Track Rock
If you want to visit Track Rock, there's a gravel parking lot. You can also reach the site by hiking on the Arkaquah Trail.
The Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area is being considered for a special list called the National Register of Historic Places. This list helps protect important historical sites.
