Thousands ready themselves for Easter Sunrise Service atop Stone Mountain

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — Stone Mountain Park gates open at 3:00 a.m. Sunday for an 80-year-old Easter tradition in the metro.

Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Christians gather on the summit of Stone Mountain for a sermon at sunrise.

You have two options to the top: the Summit Skyride gondola to the top or a one-mile hike.

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“Hey, it’s worth it, you know,” said one visitor, Joe Garrison.

Garrison was hiking the mountain Saturday evening and said the view at the top is “absolutely beautiful.”

The tradition of holding a religion service at the top on Easter began in 1944 when a youth group from Stone Mountain First United Methodist Church decided to climb to the summit to watch the sun rise.

Park staff said Bryant Wright and Crawford Loritts will be delivering the message at the top of the mountain this year.

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“It’s usually a little cool, so people need to bring a jacket, bring a sweater, but it is a wonderful way to begin Easter Sunday,” said Wright.

This is the third year Wright and Loritts will be preaching at the service.

“There is usually anywhere from about a thousand, two thousand people there. Most of them have hiked up the mountain in the dark,” said Wright.

Those who have climbed it before said most can do it in under an hour.

“It’s pretty easy,” said Cesar Mancilla. “There is one little part where they have little railings to help the hikers go up. That is the only difficult part, I would say.”

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The gondola is a straight shot, but staff said the crowd is usually so large, it can take an hour or more to get through the line. They said some start lining up at the park gates at 4:00 in the morning to be first in line.

The service begins at 7:00 am.

“It’s perfect for Easter celebration because you’re so high up and you’re just that much closer to the heavens,” said Garrison.

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