Places to Visit from Atlanta, GA, USA

Ocean and Beaches
  • Savannah, GA
  • Orlando, FL
  • Pensacola, FL
    Driving Directions: Atlanta-Pensacola
  • Charleston, SC

    Mountains and Forests

  • Ashville, NC
  • Smokey Mountain National Park
  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests
    Fall Report: Fall 1999, Fall 2000, Fall 2001, Fall 2002
    Russell/Brasstown Scenic view
    Spring Hikes
    Highest Point in GA
    Lake Russell Recreational Area
    Anna Ruby Falls

  • National Forests in Alabama
  • Bankhead National Forest
  • Talladega National Forest
  • Conecuh National Forest, and
  • Tuskegee National Forest
  • Desoto State Park
    Desoto State Park is located in Northeast Alabama. Take the Fort Payne/Scottsboro exit (exit 218) off of I-59. Go South on Alabama Hwy 35. Follow Alabama Hwy 35 through downtown Fort Payne. Follow Hwy 35 up onto Lookout Mountain. At top of the mountain turn left onto Dekalb County Road 89. Follow 89 five miles into Desoto State Park.

  • Location Map
  • Nature Trail Map
  • Waterfalls
  • Wildflowers

    http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/misc/leaves/leaves.htm Why do leaves change color 

    Directions:

From Huntsville: Take Governor's Drive (Highway 431) heading east. Go up Monte Sano; when you reach the top elevation on this highway (which is rather brief) turn left onto Monte Sano Blvd. After climbing a bit in elevation, you'll pass through a residential area. Go about 2 miles from Highway 431, then turn right onto Nolen Avenue. You'll enter the park and veer right at a fork in the road; right around the corner is the Park Headquarters on the right.

    Recreation Maps of US States:

    States Travelled

  • West: California, Arizona, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon,
  • North: Minnesota, Michigan,
  • Central: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky
  • East: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pensylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hamsphire, Maine, Delaware
  • South: Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina

    States Not Travelled:

    Alaska, Hawaii, Lousiana, Vermont, Iowa, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska

    Knowledge Base:

    Touch with the Nature:

  • US National Parks
    The Park Service is a Federal agency within the United States Department of Interior (USDI). The main focus of the Park Service is the preservation of places and sites that commemorate persons, events, and activities important in the nation's history.

    List of National Parks

  • US National Forests The "Forest Service" is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) managing the national forests for multiple use, including recreation, timber, wildlife and fish, water and soil, wilderness and range. These forests are "working" forests. The main focus of the Forest Service is the protection and conservation of natural resources on pubic lands.

    The Forestry Commission is a State agency and manages the State's natural resources. The Forestry Commission provide assistance to private landowners in the management of their lands.

    How do Rock change over time?

    Why do leaves change color in Fall?

    Trees are signaled to start changing colors in their leaves when days become shorter and nights become longer. As days get shorter, trees release a kind of hormone, restricting sap-flow to the leaves. As autumn approaches, certain influences both inside and outside the plant cause chlorophyll to be replaced at a slower rate than it is being used. Chlorophyll helps leaves turn sunlight into food all summer, but dwindles as fall progresses. When this happens, other pigments that have been present (along with the green chlorophyll) in the cells all during the leaf's life begin to show through. They give us the colorations of yellow, orange, brown, and other hues in between. The reds, purples, and their combinations come from another group of pigments that are not present in the leaf during the growing season. They develop in late summer in the sap of cells of the leaf. Their formation depends on the breakdown of sugars in the presence of bright light as the level of phosphate in the leaf is reduced. Phosphates and other chemicals and nutrients, moves out of the leaf into the stem of the plant. The brighter the light during this period, the greater the chances are for a more brilliant fall.