Known locally as “The Rocks”, this site in the Salem community of northwestern Ben Hill County seems out of place in the Coastal Plain landscape surrounding it. It’s been an area landmark for at least a century but there is no general access. I’m unable to give directions to the site.
For years these geological features were informally identified as Ashburn formations (Wharton, The Natural Environments of Georgia, Atlanta, 1978, et al.) , after the first well-documented site of this type, located off Highway 41 north of Ashburn. Since I’m not a geologist, I don’t know if they’re related to the well-known Altamaha formations (or Altamaha grit). I suspect they may be grouped together at this point. Recent scholarship suggests they may be remnants of coral reefs near the ancient shoreline. Still others believe they’re meteoric in origin.
It’s looks quite small from some perspectives but the largest rock is actually nearly twenty feet high.
Boulders like the ones seen below can also be found in random nearby locations.
This is an important natural heritage site and I hope it remains in pristine condition for years to come.
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 
My boyfriend and I used to go fishing there about 20 years ago. I have picked up so many rocks from out there to go in my aquarium. We also used to go swimming there, too. But the last time we were there fishing, there was a gator in there. This brings back a lot of good memories.
My grand father’s fram was next door to this place we have swam fished camped and played there more times than you could count I have seen the lake about 16 ft low it is a neat place
I went there as a kid with family. We wondered thru and enjoyed it. I always wondered where this place was. Can you still go there?
No. It’s private property. I made these photos quite a few years ago when it was somewhat publicly accessible, but due to vandalism and bad behavior, the owners don’t allow the public on the property anymore, and I can’t blame them.
Do you know who the owners are or how to get in touch with them
Hello, There are the same formations on my land off Lower Rebecca RD in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County
One thing you missed to get a photo of was the native american bowl(or water basin) that was carved into one of those rocks. Beautiful craftsmanship and perfectly round and polished. Tons of projectile points found there over the years.
We would love to see these in person. Is there any way to get access to this site? I wouldn’t blame the owners if they didn’t let people on their property. But I would love to see them.
Brian,
Hope you want mind me following up with Dr. David King’s comments on this rock outcrop which I just received from him. It reads as follows: “These outcrops are surprising considering the whole area where they occur. The hard cemented nature of the formation is unusual. There is an image in the set that shows large blocks that have moved downhill, but I think that is slumping due to weathering. Why this outcrop is where it is – is an interesting question. I would guess that one reason may be a fault. The down side of the fault could be in the lake side and the up side of the fault has the rock on it. This is one of many possible interpretations. As you probably remember from reading about crater (sic), the nature of the outer concentric rings of larger structures is due to concentric faults. Nothing in the photos proves or disproves this notion, but it is consistent with a ring fault. If this outcrop is part of a crater feature, it is very likely too far from the center to have any manifestation of shock. But its position in the whole scheme of possible things is worth (here he used the nothing but I believe he meant to say noting).
Brian,
It’s great to be able to see these additional photos of rock outcrops that are particularly occurring around the outside of the big bend of the Ocmulgee River. When you posted your photos “Altamaha Formation Outcrop, Flat Tub” on July 26, 2015 I forwarded the post to Dr. David T. King, Jr. geology professor at Auburn Univ. who I worked with on a 2011 abstract for LPSI entitled “Ocmulgee Structure – searching for evidence of impact.” In the forward I asked him if the “Flat Tub” rocks and the “Broxton Rocks” could be evidence of local rock that had been thrown toward the outside of a possible large meteorite impact crater and then began to slump inward toward the center of the structure?
His reply was: “The Broxton rocks and Flat Tub outcrops are oddities, to be sure. I suppose they are still there owing to how hard they are compared to the surrounding rock. It is possible that they are related to what you say but then there are other explanations. Making microscopic slides of samples is the only way to look for shock effectively. One of those outcrops (at Flat Tub), the middle one, looks like a breccia, but sometimes surface weathering textures play tricks on the eye. If you get any samples, perhaps send them along and I can have a look. One thing though about when you asked this – if they are part of a rim or any concentric feature, they should have kin outcrops following the arc of the structure. In other words, they are probably not alone.”
Brian, I will forward this “Rock Outcrops, Reubin Lake” post to Dr. King and ask if he agrees that this site represents a third location of “kin outcrops” to Flat Tub and Broxton Rocks because all three of these locations do occur along the arc of the structure. So far no-one has been able to come up with the necessary samples obtained by the owners permission to make the microscopic search for shock effects; but the geomorphology suggests that it may be there for someone to find.
Thank you for this very interesting post.
Paul Wetherington
I’ve seen similar but much smaller rock outcroppings along the northeastern side of the Ogeechee River valley. I believe this was along GA 17 between Midville and Millen. Or, it might have been along GA 21 between Millen and Sylvania, near Horse Creek. Those sorts of rock outcroppings aren’t altogether novel in the coastal plain, but their size certainly is!
Why can’t you give directions? I would love to see this.
It’s private property