The "Cauldron" - Former Quarry

You are in one of the most unusual places in Stone Mountain Park.

The area of the former quarry, where basalt was extracted by open pit mining, was filled in at the beginning of the 20th century. The interior of the quarry was planted with trees, mainly maple and spruce, and connected to the rest of the park by paths.

The exposed wall of nepheline basalts was formed by cooling lava, with 13-18 meter high columns perpendicular to the cooling surface. The thicker the columns, the denser the lava that formed them. At the top of the wall there is spherical weathering - external factors (water, wind, temperature) cause the corners of the columns to crack, rounding them. At the foot of the wall we see sharp-edged boulders.

The walls of the former quarry were declared a natural monument in the 1980s.