By: Sean Brownlee
Next stop is a monthly column where I go around Georgia looking for things to do, ranging from hiking trails to local festivals. This month, I went down to the Lua Lake Land Trust and Lucky Eye Q barbeque.
First off is the Lua Lake Land Trust. Founded back in 1994 by Robert M. Davenport, Lua Lake has acted as a place to preserve the Rock Creek Watershed (which is a ridge that separates bodies of water) along Lookout Mountain.
What is special about Lua Lake is that it is only open to the public on the First and Last weekend of each month, so you need to reserve a spot if you wanna go. Lua Lake also does trips with schools too!
Lua Lake is also 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so all money made goes back into preserving the land.
Lua Lake offers a variety of hiking, mountain biking, and trail running trails for people to enjoy. When I went to Lua Lake, I went along the standard loop to Lua Falls.
The hike started off at… An access road. This part was pretty boring, with not much to see since the road is surrounded by trees. This section did go by fast, so it wasn’t that bad, but it would have been nice to start out the hike on a positive.
After hiking a bit on the access road, I made my way up the Middle Trail. This trail was also boring at the start due to many trees covering the trail’s sides, but about halfway through the trail the trees cleared up and I got to a pretty section with an open grove.
Photo credit: Sean Brownlee
After the Middle Trail, I got to the next part of the loop: the Bluff Trail. The trail starts at this amazing view that was really high up, which allowed me to see a ton of the surrounding area.
The view reminded me of the view at Kennesaw Mountain, which you can read about here: https://theshieldrrhs.wordpress.com/2024/03/28/next-stop-kennesaw-mountain-and-olde-rope-mill-park/
The rest of the Bluff Trail continued along the bluff for a little while and led me to the next section of the loop: the High Adventure Trail. This trail was even shorter than the Bluff Trail but makes up for it because of how fun it was to hike.
Photo credit: Sean Brownlee
The High Adventure Trail lives up to its name, as it is an intense section. You have to go down this slope that was so steep, you need a rope to get down safely. While this section might seem intimidating, it was a ton of fun thanks to its challenge.
Photo credit: Clint Brownlee
Once off of the High Adventure Trail, it was just a short walk along the Lua Falls Trail until I got to Lua Falls.
Lua Falls was one of the best waterfalls I have seen. The waterfall was MASSIVE, reaching up to 120ft. One thing I really liked about the waterfall was how the land behind it had this neat curve that blended well with the waterfall. I also liked how the waterfall flowed into a river that continued on for a while.
Photo credit: Sean Brownlee
After the waterfall, I had to hike back out. Since the waterfall sits at the bottom of a hill, I had to walk up a bunch of really steep stairs, which was not fun at all. Thankfully, there weren’t that many stairs, but what was there was still annoying.
After that, I walked along another road back to the entrance. The walk was similar to how the hike started out with not much to see, however part way in there was a cool lake where the water looked green, with a little waterfall right by it too.
Overall, I would highly recommend taking a trip out to Lua Lake. While there were some boring parts, the amazing view at the top of the bluff and the amazing waterfall make up for this completely in my mind.
I also went to Lucky Eye Q barbeque, which was only a short drive from Lua Lake. This restaurant is similar to Lua Lake because of how little it’s open, with Lucky Eye Q being open only on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Despite that, Lucky Eye Q is honestly the best barbeque I have had at a restaurant. The meat, especially the brisket, was cooked perfectly and tasted amazing. They also had some amazing sides, with my favorites being their mac and cheese and their cheesy grits.
My favorite thing they had at Lucky Eye Q was their banana pudding. It both tasted amazing, and they found a way to keep the Nilla Wafers from getting too soft and soggy which I really liked.
Overall, I would highly recommend going to eat at Lucky Eye Q barbeque. Despite it not being open often, it is worth the trip out to eat there because of how amazing the food is.
If you’re interested in going to either Lua Lake or Lucky Eye Q, I have left some links below to both their websites!
Lua Lake: https://www.lulalake.org/visit.html
Lucky Eye Q: https://www.luckyeyeq.com/
Have a good summer River Ridge.
The Shield 