Detected where 300,000+ people hung out w/Jimi Hendrex, Allmans and NASCAR

bergie

Bronze Member
Aug 2, 2004
1,815
1,147
I recently had the good fortune to befriend the owner of this old NASCAR track in Georgia from the 1960s, 70s and early 80s...Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison and many other NASCAR legends raced there, and I was psyched for the visit...then I learned what else happened there...the "Woodstock of the South" - the weekend of July 4, 1970, the (2nd) Atlanta Pop Festival occurred on this property well South of Atlanta in pecan orchards -- Jimi Hendrix, BB King, Allman Brothers (opened and closed the show)...many more great bands of the time....see some of the video from that weekend concert I have posted here...so I got out there and it was really hot but appeared that it hasn't been detected much if at all based on all the signals. Every swing was 2 or 3 pop tabs....also found a good amount of clad and one wheat but it was way too hot and I had to pack it in for now - was very cool to "channel" Jimi and others standing on music history hallowed ground...I know there is lots of stuff there and I'm sure rings and chains...I talked to one guy randomly online who was there and he lost his wedding ring but could not pinpoint me to the location. It's a huge site...much of it overgrown, but lots is being cleared at this time...see the old and new photos I have attached. The new photo from the grandstand facing the trees is the same location (though a bit lower) as the old photo of the concert organizers up in the press booth looking toward the stage area. The stage is beyond the track/out window behind the man with beard seated. You can see how much the vegitation has grown...The best part of the day was getting out there in my car and running it around the track, what a blast. Will see if I can attach the video I took. So here's my idea to the owner and he responded positively and we will discuss it more. Get a big hunt going, as many detectorists as we can during the cooler weather. He would charge maybe $10 a person and ask for a waiver and for another $10 people could drive on the track. He has to think about all this for liability and how it would be organized, but he's interested.
(I know it can be a bad idea to give specific site info like this, as people can find it on their own, so I will add that the owner does have it WELL posted for trespass and will enforce it. If you'd like to detect please await the event. Send me a message if you'd like me to contact you about the event. I will also post to the club section for various states in the area.)
Video from Atlanta Pop Festival
 

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Upvote 0

littlebill31

Full Member
Jul 2, 2011
199
10
Southern Delaware
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 350
Wow, now that is neat and right up my alley of places to root around in. I live near an old dirt track that was mainly used for flat track motorcycles in the 50's and 60's, but the owner is pretty strict about letting people nose around. I would love to hunt there though. I like how you added the photos of before and after.
 

hollowpointred

Gold Member
Mar 12, 2005
6,871
56
Detector(s) used
Minelab Explorer SE/Garrett GTI 2500/ Ace 250
good luck down there Phil. looks like it might be a winner.
 

VWandSTUDEBAKER

Sr. Member
Jul 11, 2010
308
31
Gainesville FLorida
Detector(s) used
Whites V3i, Whites BHID, Whites SurfPlus,Whites 5900 Pro Sl, various other detectors, TRX pin pointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Sounds GROOVY to me !!! Im only 4 hours south of there.
 

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curbdiggercarl57

Silver Member
Nov 19, 2007
4,362
1,041
Largo, Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Whites Silver Eagle, DFX, Shadow X-2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have a great bootleg of Hendrix playing there, long history at that site.
Tear it up!
Carl
 

HighTone

Full Member
Jun 30, 2011
205
29
Monroe County Ohio
Detector(s) used
Etrac ~ Tesoro Vaquero ~ Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
What a great place that would be to hunt. Hard to tell what you would find...window pain...orange sunshine :tongue3: possibilitys are endless :laughing9:. Good luck
 

GAOldsman

Jr. Member
Mar 10, 2011
86
3
Perry, GA
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter Pioneer 202
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Awesome post. I live just 10 minutes away and pass by this historic place often as well as Echoconee Creek and Vinson Valley which were all descended upon by attendees of the Byron pop Festival. I have found only one silver dime so far by the RR tracks by the creek. I would love to attend a hunt there, since most still had their clothes on at the track. ;D Also Dodge just rented this track to shoot their new commercial for their Durango.

[youtube=425,350]<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>[/youtube]

Very interested in a hunt so keep us posted or even shoot me a PM if you would.

Thanks for this thread :icon_thumleft: :thumbsup: :icon_thumright: 8)

Scot
 

CMDiamonddawg

Silver Member
Oct 14, 2009
4,498
974
Jersey Cape
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1265X & CZ-7
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
HighTone said:
What a great place that would be to hunt. Hard to tell what you would find...window pain...orange sunshine :tongue3: possibilitys are endless :laughing9:. Good luck
purple haze :icon_sunny: :laughing9: Dwayne Allman , BB King , or Jimi :o :o :o any guitar picks found there would be a fantastic recovery :headbang: I saw the Durango commercial , what a great track that must have been :o kinda makes you wish it never went by the wayside :'( Sweet lanta
 

rdavidson

Greenie
Jun 20, 2011
11
1
Middle Georgia
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
I live 15 min. from Byron so I would pay $10.00 to check it out. I went to the pop festival. Me and a Friend just had to check out some of them left handed cigarettes. I think we had about 5 each. We left and headed home, came to a redlight and he stopped about half a block from it. The next morning my sides very sore from laughing so much at that fool. My father took his movie camera out to the creek next to Vinson Valley and took movies of the hippies swimming naked.

Latter on the law caught the track owner making moonshine underneath the track. I guess that was just normal thing to do since NASCAR and moonshine go hand in hand.

That was the good old days.
 

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