Underground Base - Dawsonville GA, page 4

Whatafoolbelieves offers some correct information. I think some others need to ease off the weed a bit.
I hunt the property, know most of the guys that work there and can offer this bit of info. Anyone visiting the property should stay out of the fenced areas. It cost time and money to repair the fence when people go in thinking there is some secret base they'll find. They will find nothing more than what they can see from outside the fence. Fact: If people are caught behind the fenced areas and have damaged the fence entering you can be charged with a felony so ask yourself is it worth it. Fact: DNR is watching these areas because people continue to enter in order to find absolutely nothing.

Fact: The 10,000 acre portion of Dawson Forest mentioned here is owned by the City of Atlanta. The Georgia DNR manages the wildlife, recreation and covers primary law enforcement. The Georgia Forestry Commission manages the Forest Resources and maintains the roads, fences, boundary lines etc. There is no cover up, ongoing secrets, or hidden treasures. The reason some of the buildings have the entrances blocked with steel doors and dirt is because people continue to try and gain access thinking they'll find some big secret. They wont! All people do is end up costing the city money repairing the damage. This place cost the public nothing to use other than the small fee for trail use and a hunting permit. People should enjoy the place for what it is and stay out of places they shouldn’t be.

The circle shown in the above photo is the remains of the 1000 yard perimeter fence that the government installed around the nuclear reactor site. Yes, there was a nuclear reactor on the property. The radioactive material was loaded onto train cars and moved to the cooling off area across the river (The bridge crossing you see at the river) and then once it cooled the material was moved into the hot cell building (the building behind the fence at the back of the parking area) where it was used to perform test. Test included how parts IE: seals and hydraulic hoses were affected by the radiation levels that would be seen during an operational aircraft. Due to a number of factors the nuclear powered airplane was never produced for use by the military. Some of the things learned at the GNAL facility (Dawson Forest) have been used in other developments by the government. Remember that this place was in operating during the Cold War. Top Secret activities were occurring and the place was guarded. It was a research facility people, you maintain a high level of security for these places. There was also a perimeter fence around the entire property so as to allow patrols by jeeps etc. A few of the offices and access tunnels were underground as are many of the old and new government facilities. There is nothing unusual about office buildings being underground. We were in a Cold War with the Soviet Union and the federal govt. took steps to insure security of such areas. Fact is, all of the underground office entrances were covered up with dirt so people wouldn’t enter into the places and drown or either fall in the dark and hurt themselves. It was a liability issue for the city so common sense tells you they have to be covered up with dirt , steel and concrete to keep people who think they’ll find something out. Ground water over the years has in fact flooded some of the underground office space but they are nothing more then empty concrete holes.

People with an interest of the history of the place can find out more by simply asking the DNR, GFC and reports on the web than trespassing into the fenced areas and spending the day walking around thinking they’ll find something. Even if people find something interesting they some times don’t know what they’ll looking at. There is no big secret to the place people. It is what it is. There is no dangerous level of radiation on the place so don’t go in thinking you’ll find something more than the EPA and EPD.