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Trail Review / Stone Mountain Park, Georgia /

Indian Island

King's Trail, the short loop around the island at the covered bridge

If I’m short on time, or out with a dog that can’t do a long hike, this is where I go. Indian Island sits in Stone Mountain Lake at the far end of the covered bridge, with the mountain across the water on one side and open lake on the other. The park calls the path around it King’s Trail.

The bridge came from Athens. Washington W. King, son of the bridge builder Horace King, built it over the Oconee River in 1891, and it was taken apart and carried to the park in the 1960s. The park named it for him in 2019, and the trail on the island carries his name too.

Most of my sunrise mornings start in the island lot, so this loop is the part of the park I have walked most. Everything below comes from those mornings: the laps the watch recorded, the photographs taken on the island, and the animals and flowers I found there.

Getting There

Location Detail

Indian Island sits in Stone Mountain Lake, joined to the rest of the park by the covered bridge. Drive across the bridge and the lot is right there on the island. It is small. When it is full, there are bigger lots at the top of the main road, and the Grist Mill has four of its own.

  • Parking pass, $20 per vehicle per day or $40 for the year when bought online; the gate can charge more.
  • Park gates are open daily, 5 a.m. to midnight (checked September 2026).
  • Parking: 21 spaces, 2 of them accessible (my own count, September 2026)
  • 3 more just past the covered bridge, on the mainland side
  • Overflow: the four Grist Mill lots, close to 100 spaces by my estimate
  • No restroom on the island. There is usually a portable toilet just across the covered bridge, and permanent restrooms by the Grist Mill, up the hill on the mainland side.
  • Picnic tables on both sides of the lot, about 6 on the right and 3 on the left as you face the island from the bridge, and more near the high point.

Open the lot in Google Maps. The pin is the middle of where my recordings start.

Map of one lap of Indian Island, cut from the recording of October 19, 2024, with the shoreline and the high point marked
One lap, cut from my recording of October 19, 2024, 0.90 mi. The green dot is where the lap began and the orange one where it closed; the blue line is the shoreline from OpenStreetMap and the triangle is the island's high point by the USGS grid, with contours every 20 ft.

What to Expect

Trail Details

There is more than one path on the island. I take the one that follows the shore, because the view keeps changing: the mountain across the water, the open lake, the woods in between. None of it is marked. The Cherokee Trail has white blazes, the Nature Garden Trail green and the connectors orange, but King's Trail has none. It is hard to get lost on an island, though: keep walking and you come back to the lot. Parts of the shore path are a little technical, narrow and right on the water, with a lot of roots to step over. Walking it counterclockwise, the way I do, most of that comes in the first half. The climb to the high point is not nothing, and there is a little overlook up there, though the trees usually block the view.

The Numbers

  • Distance: 0.89 mi (1.44 km) a lap, the median of 44
  • Elevation change: 30 ft around the shore, 43 ft from the lake to the high point
  • Time to walk: about 19 min on the move, 21 min with stops

The Positives

  • Short enough for a quick visit, or a dog that can't do a long hike
  • The covered bridge, built in 1891
  • The mountain, the lake and the woods from one path
  • A choice of paths, the shore one with the best views
  • Plenty of picnic tables, by the lot and near the high point
  • Hard to get lost, since it is an island

The Negatives

  • The lot on the island is small
  • Narrow stretches right on the water, where one misstep could put you in the lake
  • A lot of roots, mostly in the first half the way I walk it
  • No restroom on the island
  • Some of the picnic tables have seen better days
Elevation along one lap of Indian Island, from the USGS elevation grid
Elevation along the same lap, read from the USGS 3D Elevation Program grid (cells 10 by 12 m) rather than the watch, whose own elevation on a walk this flat is mostly noise. The lap climbs 60 ft in all, counting every rise of 3 ft or more on the grid.

From the Trail

The Views

What I stop for on the way around, each from a morning in the log.

Stone Mountain's granite top above green woods under pink and gold cloud at sunrise, doubled in the still lake
June 22, 2024, 6:24 AM. Stone Mountain across the water from the south shore of the island.
Yellow dawn sky with a contrail over the far shore, bare trees and cabins along it, the lake still and gold
February 10, 2024, 7:43 AM. The campground across the lake from the east shore, under a yellow dawn.
The riverboat seen across the water from the far shore, its blue hull and red wheel at the foot of the trees, the sky gray over the lake
May 17, 2025, 7:31 AM. The old riverboat still at its dock across the water, from the north end of the island. It is gone now; the memorial post tells what happened to the Stone Mountain riverboat.

Virtual Tour

Indian Island in 3D

Indian Island in three dimensions: turn it, tilt it, zoom in, or follow the route along the ground.

146 KB on a computer, 51 KB on a phone. Needs WebGL2 and a script; nothing loads until the tap.

Terrain from USGS 3DEP lidar at 1 m, fetched September 26, 2026, drawn at 2x vertical scale with contours every 5 ft. The green line is the island lap as the watch recorded it on October 19, 2024, 7:17 AM to 7:37 AM (0.90 mi, walked counterclockwise), draped on the ground and dotted where the ground hides it. The numbered pins are the review's 3 photographs, each where it was taken, by its own GPS or by the watch's track at its clock; following the route pauses at each. The covered bridge stands on the line OpenStreetMap maps it on (159 ft as mapped, © OpenStreetMap contributors), carried 33 ft on to the bank the lidar shows; its box and roof are a sketch. Lit from where the sun rose that morning (7:45 AM, bearing 102°), raised to 3° above the horizon, because the sun was still down during the island lap.

In the Log

By the Numbers

44Full Lapson 44 recorded mornings, Oct 19, 2024 to Sep 26, 2026
0.89 miA Lapmedian; 0.59 to 1.86 mi
19 minOn the Movemedian; 21 min clock to clock with stops
40 of 44Way Roundlaps counterclockwise, my usual way
43 ftHigh Pointabove the lake, by the USGS grid
50Mornings Photographedon Indian Island

A lap is one full turn around Indian Island along its shore, found in every recording on Cherokee Trail, Stone Mountain at build: the watch has to go all the way round within 15 m of the mapped shoreline without leaving the island for more than half a minute. "On the move" counts the time walked at 1 km/h or faster, so standing still for a sunrise does not count; "clock to clock" keeps the stops. Most laps sit inside a longer morning, so these are laps of my own walks rather than a timed route.

From the Island

The Best Mornings Here

The 10 highest color index photographs taken on Indian Island, out of 50 photographed mornings. Each tile links to its morning, and the Indian Island page has every frame and the sunrise record month by month.

Heavy blue cloud over the lake at sunrise, the water rippled below, lit yurts along the campground shore on the left Feb 17, 2024 color index 64.9 Yellow dawn sky with a contrail over the far shore, bare trees and cabins along it, the lake still and gold Feb 10, 2024 color index 49.1 Pink and gold cloud lit from below over the far shore before sunrise, the whole sky mirrored in the still lake, pines on the left Apr 27, 2024 color index 48.6 Gold and blue sky seen upward through tree branches after sunrise, the lake and far shore at the bottom of the frame May 31, 2025 color index 46.1 Gold light under swept blue and white cloud after sunrise, the far shore's pines mirrored in the lake Jun 9, 2024 color index 45.5 Pink cloud over a green wooded shore after sunrise, the lake still and mirroring the trees Jul 26, 2025 color index 44 Orange and pink cloud bands over the far shore before sunrise, ripples spreading across the lake below Mar 16, 2024 color index 41.8 Blue sky with streaks of white and gray cloud after sunrise over the far shore, mirrored in a still lake, leaves hanging in at the right edge May 5, 2024 color index 41.6 Stone Mountain's granite top above green woods under pink and gold cloud at sunrise, doubled in the still lake Jun 22, 2024 color index 41.3 Feathers of white cloud lit gold across a blue sky after sunrise, the lake mirroring all of it Jun 16, 2024 color index 41

On the Island

Seen Here

Every animal and flower I have photographed on Indian Island, by the photograph's own position or where I placed it by hand, most photographed first. A species the log keeps private is left out.

Asked Often

Questions and Answers

How long is the Indian Island trail?

One lap of the shore path is 0.89 miles, the median of the 44 full laps my watch recorded, about 19 minutes of walking or 21 with stops.

How much climbing is there?

Very little around the shore: 30 feet between the lowest and highest points of a lap. The island's high point is 43 feet above the lake.

Where do you park for Indian Island?

On the island, just across the covered bridge: 21 spaces, 2 of them accessible, and 3 more just past the covered bridge, on the mainland side. Overflow: the four Grist Mill lots, close to 100 spaces by my estimate.

Is the Indian Island trail marked?

No. King's Trail has no blazes, unlike the white Cherokee Trail, the green Nature Garden Trail and the orange connectors. It is an island, so keep walking and you come back to the lot.

Are there restrooms on Indian Island?

Not on the island. There is usually a portable toilet just across the covered bridge, and permanent restrooms by the Grist Mill, up the hill on the mainland side.

Is the trail hard?

Mostly easy, but parts of the shore path are narrow and right on the water, with a lot of roots. Watch your step there, especially if you run it.

Can I bring my dog?

Yes, on a leash of 6 feet or less. The park allows dogs everywhere except the Songbird Habitat trails, the attractions and posted areas, and the loop is short enough for a dog that can't do a long hike.

Can I ride a bike on King's Trail?

No. Bikes stay on the park's paved roads, and the loop road around the mountain has bike lanes.

Before You Go

A Word on the Rules

Bikes stay on the paved roads. That is the park's rule, and for good reason. Roots turn a wheel in an instant, tires rut a trail this soft, and the loop road already has bike lanes and one-way car traffic.

Dogs are welcome on a leash of 6 feet or less. They are not allowed on the Songbird Habitat trails, at the attractions or in posted areas.

How This Page Was Made

The Record

The words, the parking count and the lists are mine. The numbers are not typed: the laps, their lengths and their times are counted at every build over each morning the watch recorded on Cherokee Trail, Stone Mountain, so they move as the log grows. The map and the profile are one of those laps, cut from its recording; the elevation comes from the USGS grid, not the watch. The photographs are placed on the island by their own GPS, by the watch's track at the moment they were taken, or by hand where I said where I stood, as the methods page describes.

Sources

  • Hiking Trails, Stone Mountain Park (the park's name for the trail, King's Trail at Indian Island)
  • Rules, Stone Mountain Park (dogs and bicycles)
  • Covered Bridge, Stone Mountain Park (built in 1891 in Athens by Washington W. King, moved to the park in 1965, named for him in 2019)
  • Washington W. King Covered Bridge, Stone Mountain Memorial Association, Education Center (King's Trail named in his honor; this page gives 1961 for the move, the park's own page 1965)
  • Indian Island, way 30044699, OpenStreetMap contributors (the shoreline, under the Open Database License)
  • 3D Elevation Program, U.S. Geological Survey (the elevation grid under the map and the profile)
All Stories Cherokee Trail, Stone Mountain Indian Island at Sunrise Know a Trail We Should Walk?