Located in the middle of Hard Labor Creek State Park in Rutledge, 50 miles east of downtown Atlanta, the observatory is a resource for professional and amateur astronomers, away from the light pollution of Atlanta, Conyers, and Covington. An additional service of HLCO has been to the public, bringing the wonders of the Universe to Georgia residents monthly through our open house program. HLCO is open monthly from March to October. Free parking, includes limited accessible parking.

Download the HLCO Flyer and feel free to distribute it.

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For information and potential bookings outside of free public nights, please email the HLCO director, Professor Fabien Baron.

What you will see

Provided the weather permits observations, you will be able to look through our telescopes:

• The McAlister telescope, a PlaneWave CDK700 0.7m Telescope
• The Miller telescope, a PlaneWave 24″ Corrected Dall-Kirkham Astrograph Telescope
• The front pad telescopes, several smaller-sized telescopes

Note: all open houses are weather dependent and will be cancelled in the event of rain or completely overcast weather.

Directions to the observatory

The trip to the observatory is approximately 50 miles from downtown Atlanta. Google Maps should now guide you toward the exact location of the observatory.
But just in case we have the following directions.

Take I-20 east to exit 105 (formerly exit 49), the exit for Rutledge. Turn left after getting off of the freeway (if coming from Augusta, turn right). Continue on this road until it ends at a T intersection. Turn left, then immediately right (after about 100 feet). Go over the railroad tracks, and through downtown Rutledge; there is a stop sign in a barrel at the intersection, a landmark you can’t mistake. Stay on this road; it will eventually enter Hard Labor Creek State Park, which is marked by a wall on either side of the entrance. After entering the park, you will pass a golf course on the left. Continue on the road, which will eventually bend left, cross a bridge and bend right; there will be a lake on the left as you cross the bridge. The road will go up a hill. Just past the top of the hill (about 50 yards), there is a dirt road going off to the right. This road leads to the observatory, and should be marked by a sign. Follow the dirt road to the observatory.

There are parking spot at the front of the observatory, as well as along the long dirt road to the observatory. However please DO NOT park on the highway for your own safety as well as for park regulation reasons. Please be courteous and turn off your headlights when you get to the observatory, since they could blind other visitors.