Go for a FREE DAY in Georgia State Parks

Get out and enjoy your public lands. Check out nearby Indian Springs for a BBQ picnic (Fresh Air is just down the road) and to stock up on that sweet smelling spring water; or High Falls for some sightseeing and hiking.

Or consider the North Georgia mountain parks which I would put up against any in the nation. From Fort Mountain SP with its enigmatic wall of unknown origin and beautiful views at the end of the Applachian Mountains near I-75 you can drive east to Amicalola Falls SP (site of the highest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River and southern end of the approach to the Applachian trails), and on through Dahlonega (check out St Historic site gold museum) and up to Vogel (one of the most beautiful parks in the country) or over to Unicoi just north of Helen. There are lakes, trails, picnic areas and lots of other great activities.

Did you know GA has a state park in the Okefenokee Swamp? Stephen Foster SP is a great option for a winter day. Rent a motor boat and explore the well marked swamp nearby, or go out on a ranger guided tour. It's a long drive and in the middle of nowhere, but this is a truly magical place to visit. Want to see an alligator up close? This is the place.

This is a good way to spend a day and it is nice that it is free, like it once was.

I remember when the parking fee was instituted at the parks. It was supposed to be a nominal fee to help pay upkeep. But over the years it appears to have grown to an "improvement" fund and now it costs $5 a day (of $50 annually) to visit Georgia State Parks--sort of like they are not even public lands. The fee jumped sometime early this year from 3 to 5 and 35 to 50.

I love the parks and go a lot. To me the parks we have are great resources. And a nominal charge to park and help keep them up seems reasonable. But what I have seen is the fee rising so unnecessary "improvements" are done to justify the fees.

Take nearby Sprewell Bluff SP for example. Went there all my life like many from here, got along fine without the gate and riverside and trail improvements. In fact all those "improvements" didn't really change the park much at all--except it now costs $5 to drive down to look at the bluff.

Many states don't charge any fee, they just don't do extensive "improvements". And their State Parks are just as nice.

For after all, isn't the Park experience supposed to be about getting back to nature.

This free day includes State Historic sites. Nearby Warm Springs GA has the Little White House that will be free. Check out the Bulloch House for lunch and then drive on over to FDR State Park for some really pretty views and great walks, not to mention the drive along the ridge and out to Dowdell's Knob where FDR often picnicked. This is also a great place to view late fall colors.

Several Civil War battlefields and museums throughout GA are included, as are a few Cherokee sites in NGA, and Etowah Indian mounds in Cartersville. There are also a string of Forts and historic sites along the Ga coast worth a look.

Go to Georgia State Parks website and they have information on all of them and more.

Bulloch House was closed temporarily, but a coworker was over there around labor day and it was back open.

I believe the people who bought it a few months ago got nabbed by the IRS. At least that is what I heard.

Kathy

Not sure, but someone told me the staffing was gone, just a forest person there now. But the whole process of how the Bluff went from free to $3 and now to $5 is the problem I was addressing. To me perhaps some parks should be designated at limited development to allow the public to enjoy these lands we already own as the public without cost. Sprewell Bluff is a perfect example of one that could have been a State Park but kept free by simply not doing all the unneeded improvements. Not all State Parks have to have lodges, paved parking and "improved" trails.

Of course in saying that I realize that our State Gov't suffers from the problem that they must protect us from ourselves. Perish the thought that someone might slip off a trail and be hurt or killed. Certainly there should be no risk in outdoor activities. Now I am not saying we should let people take crazy risks like but the pendulum of protecting me against myself has slipped too far in that direction.

For example, if you want to swim in a State Park, you will not be able to go in water over 4 or 5 feet deep. Indian Springs used to be a awesome place to swim, now you can go over an wade or stand around if you like. That is because since they don't have a lifeguard someone may drown. And just too bad if you know how to swim and would like to swim a bit--someone might possibly die or come close and then lawsuits galore.

The price we all pay for this illusion of safety, because you can still drown in a foot of water for example, is loss of freedom. Because the government and the public says they have to protect me and others, they cannot allow me to take a reasonable chance.

So the more the government protects us, the more they can argue they can limit our freedom.

Examples include smoking cigarettes, swimming over your head, and probably in the future they will be telling you not to eat this or that because it costs society money. Maybe it is ttime to make people be personally responsible for the results of their choices and then we could be freer to make our own choices.