This is a list of state parks in Georgia. The park system of the US state of Georgia was founded in 1931 with Indian Springs State Park and Vogel State Park. Indian Springs has been operated by the state as a public park since 1825, making it perhaps the oldest state park in the United States. [1] The newest state park is Don Carter State Park. [2]
Since the economic crash of 2008, Georgia has halved the budget for the Division of State Parks and Historic Sites and turned over the management of five of the parks to Coral Hospitality, a Florida-based hotel and resort management company. The five parks are Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge, Unicoi State Park & Lodge, Little Ocmulgee State Park & Lodge, Georgia Veterans State Park, and George T. Bagby State Park. [3]
Park name | County or Counties | Size | Year established | Year disestablished | Location | Image | Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
acres | ha | |||||||
Chehaw State Park | Dougherty | 800 | 320 | 1937 | 1977 | 31°37′3.44″N84°8′17.17″W / 31.6176222°N 84.1381028°W | In 1974, the city of Albany leased 100 acres (40 ha) of unused land in Chehaw Park from the state of Georgia to develop a wild animal park where exotic and indigenous animals would be displayed in their natural habitats. With the inception of the wild animal habitat, the State donated the entire Chehaw Park acreage to the city to further develop. | |
Bobby Brown State Park | Elbert | 665 | 269 | 1950s | 2015 | 33°58′26.93″N82°34′43.6″W / 33.9741472°N 82.578778°W | The park was established on the waters of the newly constructed Clark Hills Lake in the 1950s. It was downgraded to Bobby Brown State Outdoor Recreation Area in 2009. In 2015, a lease agreement was reached with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The park is now operated by the government of Elbert County, Georgia. [8] | |
George Washington Carver State Park | Bartow | 345 | 140 | 1950 | 1975 | 34°8′20.86″N84°40′1.06″W / 34.1391278°N 84.6669611°W | It was established during segregation on land adjacent to Red Top Mountain State Park and billed as Georgia's first state park for African Americans. It was removed from the state park system due to budget cuts, turned over to Bartow County, and renamed Bartow Carver Park. It returned to its original name in 2017. [9] | |
Hart State Park | Hart | 147 | 59 | 1968 | 2020 | 34°22′35.16″N82°54′38.4″W / 34.3764333°N 82.910667°W | In April 2020, management of the park passed from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to the City of Hartwell. [10] In June 2020, a groundbreaking ceremony was officially held for the renamed Hartwell Lakeside Park. [11] | |
Jekyll Island State Park | Glynn | 5,700 | 2,300 | 1947 | 1950 | 31°4′12″N81°25′13″W / 31.07000°N 81.42028°W | It was formerly a state park, but since 1951 it has been managed by the Jekyll Island Authority, a self-supporting state agency. | |
John Tanner State Park | Carroll | 138 | 56 | 1971 | 2013 | 33°36′7.92″N85°10′3.72″W / 33.6022000°N 85.1677000°W | Operated from 1954 to 1971 as Tanner's Beach, it was purchased by the state in 1971, and opened in 1972. It became managed by Carroll County in 2010 and was purchased by Carroll County in 2013. [12] | |
Santo Domingo State Park | Glynn | 1934 | 1946 | 31°19′37.28″N81°29′13.13″W / 31.3270222°N 81.4869806°W | The state of Georgia conveyed the Santo Domingo State Park property to J. Ardell Nation in 1946. Ardell established the Boys Estate, an orphanage for homeless boys modeled upon Boys Town, Nebraska. [13] The former property of the Boys Estate is now run by Morningstar Children and Family Services. [14] | |||
Sprewell Bluff State Park | Upson | 1,372 | 555 | 1993 | 2013 | 31°52′15.85″N84°28′26.15″W / 31.8710694°N 84.4739306°W | It was a state park leased from Georgia Power. In 2013, Upson County, Georgia took over management of the property and it was de-listed. [15] |
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, although a portion of the city extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 498,715 living within the city limits, it is the eighth most populous city in the Southeast and 38th most populous city in the United States according to the 2020 U.S. census. It is the core of the much larger Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to more than 6.1 million people, making it the eighth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Situated among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains at an elevation of just over 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, it features unique topography that includes rolling hills, lush greenery, and the most dense urban tree coverage of any major city in the United States.
Georgia is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by Florida; and to the west by Alabama. Georgia is the 24th-largest state in area and 8th most populous of the 50 United States. Its 2020 population was 10,711,908, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Atlanta, a "beta(+)" global city, is both the state's capital and its largest city. The Atlanta metropolitan area, with a population of more than 6 million people in 2021, is the 8th most populous metropolitan area in the United States and contains about 57% of Georgia's entire population.
Gwinnett County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia. Its county seat is Lawrenceville. The county is named for Button Gwinnett, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence.
Cobb County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia, located in the Atlanta metropolitan area in the north central portion of the state. As of 2020 Census, the population was 766,149. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta.
Ball Ground is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The city was originally Cherokee territory before they were removed from the land and it was given to white settlers. A railroad was built in 1882 and a town was formed around the resulting railroad stop. The town was incorporated on January 1, 1883, and became an industrial-based economy largely centered around its marble industry until around the mid-20th century when the industries began to leave and the city started to decline. From 2000 onwards the city saw rapid growth; as of the 2020 census the city had a population of 2,560, which is over three times the city's population of 730 in 2000.
Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 US Census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818; in 2010, the population was 57,551.
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state, some of the Mexican states, and in Brazil. The term is also used in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium, is provincial park. Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies.
The Little White House was the personal retreat of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, located in the Historic District of Warm Springs, Georgia. He first came to Warm Springs in 1924 for polio treatment, and liked the area so much that, as Governor of New York, he had a home built on nearby Pine Mountain. The house was finished in 1932. Roosevelt kept the house after he became President, using it as a presidential retreat. He died there on April 12, 1945, three months into his fourth term.
Mount Kineo is a prominent geological feature located on a 1,150-acre (470 ha) peninsula that extends from the easterly shore of Moosehead Lake in the northern forest of Maine. With 700-foot (210 m) cliffs rising straight up from the water, it is the central feature of Mount Kineo State Park, a protected area of 800 acres (320 ha) managed by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.
Disney's River Country was the first water park at Walt Disney World. River Country was located along the shores of Bay Lake and near Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, the park was themed as a rustic, old-fashioned swimming hole. It opened on June 20, 1976, and closed indefinitely on November 2, 2001, with The Walt Disney Company later announcing on January 20, 2005, that the park would remain closed permanently. This made the water park the second of only two Disney parks in the company's history to close permanently, with nearby Discovery Island on the lake closing in 1999. A new hotel, Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge, was set to be built at the former site of Disney's River Country starting in 2019 and was planned to open in 2022, but construction was halted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scouting in Georgia has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live. The state is home to many milestones for the Scouting movement. The Girl Scout Birthplace is located in Savannah, and President Jimmy Carter served as a Scoutmaster in Plains, Georgia.
Callaway Resort & Gardens is a 2,500-acre (1,000 ha) resort complex located near Pine Mountain in Harris County, Georgia, 18 miles (29 km) from LaGrange, Georgia. The world's largest azalea garden, this destination draws over 750,000 visitors annually. Callaway Gardens was ranked as Best Georgia Attraction in 2018 by USA Today.
Wakulla Springs is located 14 miles (23 km) south of Tallahassee, Florida and 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Crawfordville in Wakulla County, Florida at the crossroads of State Road 61 and State Road 267. It is protected in the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park.
Hartwell Lakeside Park, formerly known as Hart State Park, is a 147 acres (59 ha) park in Hartwell, in northeast Georgia. The park is named after the American Revolutionary War heroine Nancy Hart, who lived in the Georgia frontier, and it was her devotion to freedom that has helped make her name commonplace in the Georgia upcountry.
Great Wolf Resorts is a chain of indoor water parks. The company owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge brand. In addition to a water park, each resort features restaurants, arcades, spas, and children's activities. Great Wolf Resorts is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Crater Lake Lodge is a hotel built in 1915 to provide overnight accommodations for visitors to Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon, US. The lodge is located on the southwest rim of the Crater Lake caldera overlooking the lake 1,000 feet (300 m) below. The lodge is owned by the National Park Service, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2022, the hotel is a Historic Hotels of America program member, and has been so since 2012.
Ponce de Leon Springs was a mineral spring in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. The spring was a popular tourist destination from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. Around the turn of the century, the land surrounding the spring was developed into an amusement park. By the 1920s, the amusement park was demolished, and the area was developed for industrial and, later, commercial properties.
Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels that have maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity. In 2015, the program included over 260 members in 44 states, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2022, the program includes 273 hotels. This article lists current and former member hotels.