Broxton Rocks is the single largest exposure of sandstone, about 4 miles in extent, found in the Altamaha Grit, a subterranean band of sandstone that lies under some of the

Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

. ''The Rocks'', as it is referred to locally, consists of a series of cracks, pools, damp cliff walls, a waterfall, and rugged outcrops up to high, all carved into a shallow gorge over many centuries by Rocky Creek. The Broxton Rocks waterfall is Georgia's southernmost. A substantial part of the Broxton Rocks is a protected preserve (Broxton Rocks Preserve) of , of which are managed by

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

. The preserve lies on a direct line from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, 185 miles by road to the north-west, to

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, Florida, 145 miles by road to the south-east. Broxton Rocks is located at 31°43'56.25"N, 82°51'11.75"W (31.7323°N, 82.8533°W). The elevation is . Broxton Rocks is located in north-east Coffee County, Georgia.

Geology

Part of the

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

, Broxton Rocks' sandstone layers were created by the slow erosion of the Altamaha Formation, dating from the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma (million y ...

era. Fractures have opened up throughout the feature, some wide enough to allow a person to walk through, some narrow but deep. Where the waters of Rocky Creek, a first-order intermittent stream, drop to a lower level, a waterfall has formed a pool in the sandstone before it flows out and through the lower reaches of the feature before draining into the

Ocmulgee River The Ocmulgee River () is a western tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi (410 km) long, in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the westernmost major tributary of the Altamaha.endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

. Included among these are the green-fly orchid, grit portulaca, silky creeping morning glory, Georgia plume, filmy fern and shoestring fern. Some species found here were thought to be extinct; several found here grow almost exclusively in other climates such as the tropics or Appalachian Mountains. In spring, flower species like flame azaleas and fameflower bring a blaze of color to the ravine. The preserve lies in an area of

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

ecosystem which once stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern reaches of Texas.

seeks to restore the longleaf pine to the lands it manages in the preserve through

ecological restoration Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interrupt ...

Animals

The preserve is home to over 100 species of birds. The near-threatened*

Bachman's sparrow Bachman's sparrow (''Peucaea aestivalis''), also known as the pinewoods sparrow or oakwoods sparrow, is a small American sparrow that is endemic to the southeastern United States. This species was named in honor of Reverend John Bachman. Adults ...

and the

pileated woodpecker The pileated woodpecker (''Dryocopus pileatus'') is a large, mostly black woodpecker native to North America. An insectivore, it inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the ...

, whose drum-like peck can be heard over long distances, all nest here. Other animals include the

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

, the woodrat, the

flying squirrel Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight in the same way as birds or bats, but they ar ...

, the vulnerable*

gopher tortoise The gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide ...

, and the threatened*

indigo snake ''Drymarchon'' is a genus of large nonvenomous colubrid snakes, commonly known as indigo snakes or cribos, found in the Southeastern United States, Central America, and South America. Reaching or more in length, they are among the world's larges ...

. * Denotes species'

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

Human history

Archaeological research shows that there was a Spanish-era (1568–1684) dwelling believed to belong to aboriginal peoples. Broxton Rocks appears to have had several name changes in its history. Three decades ago it was more commonly known locally as simply ''The Rocks''. Ward's ''History of Coffee County'', published in 1930, pp 271, says of Broxton Rocks, "'The Picnic Rocks' - Its ruggedness begins with the great grey boulders of the picnic rocks, known in former times as "falling waters," for there was quite a water fall at this spot which was near the home of Major McNeill, one of the pioneer naval stores operators from Robeson County, North Carolina, who gave the place its name." He continues in the next paragraph, "From there on to the Ocmulgee River, there were two great cliffs lining each side of a wooded stretch through which this stream flowed, great grey boulders with crevasses in them, and others poised perilously on top of each other just as though there had been a great upheaval there in the days gone by." Ward appears to indicate that the local appellation for the feature was "The Picnic Rocks", but that a past name was "falling waters". Current research doesn't indicate if that was or was not a translation from an indigenous tongue, e.g. Creek or Seminole.

References

External links

Green-fly orchid image
Summit To The Sea. Retrieved 2010-7-12.
flickr photo set for the Broxton Rocks Preserve
The Nature Conservancy. Cressler, Alan. Retrieved 2010-7-12.

Dr Ready's home page, Middle Georgia College website. Retrieved 2010-7-12.
Broxton Rocks Preserve by Sherri Smith Brown
Brown's Guides. Retrieved 2010-7-12.
Longleaf Pine Ecosystem
The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2010-7-12.
Broxton Rocks
The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2010-7-13.
Broxton Rocks wetlands mitigation tract testing
report, Society for Georgia Archaeology. Retrieved 2010-07-12. Landforms of Coffee County, Georgia Protected areas of Coffee County, Georgia Nature reserves in Georgia (U.S. state) Nature Conservancy preserves Landforms of Georgia (U.S. state) Rock formations of the United States

Geology

Animals

Human history

References

Further reading

External links