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Gary Pirkle Park

4.5 (8 reviews)

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Richard R.

Gary Pirkle is a fine soccer park located off Suwanee Dam Road that drew my attention not for its beautifully maintained 67 acres of land, or its sports fields, or its giant playground under a 90' solar powered shelter pavilion, or its Community Garden & Activity Barn. It attracted me because of my deep love for bridges, covered bridges to be exact. The covered bridge is roughly 43 feet long from post to post and crosses Richland Creek. It is located along the yellow trail directly between the two largest soccer fields in the park, both of which feature synthetic grass turfs. Although the bridge itself uses a simple king post design, the craftsman details make this one of the most attractive covered bridges I've ever seen... and I've seen a lot! For example, the roof is wrapped in copper sheathing, the paint stain is an attractive faint greenish-gray, all the overhead beams are scalloped on the ends and the railing itself has cutaways of trees every foot and a half or so. I've reviewed every historic bridge in Georgia, so I was delighted to discover this newer addition built in 2009 (slightly before the park opened in March of 2010). FINDING THE BRIDGE I was in the area attending a reunion BBQ with my Mission Trip team from my December 2016 trip to Kenya. It was the first time we've all been together since returning home from our experience in a Maasai village 5 hours north of Nairobi. The girl who hosted the BBQ is a marathon runner and runs in Gary Pirkle park often. It is literally seconds from her subdivision, but she had no idea there was a covered bridge within the park. When I turned onto Austin Garner Rd while driving to the parking area, I saw two ladies having a conversation just outside the community garden. I stopped to ask if they knew the best place to park to see the covered bridge but neither was aware it existed. Once I'd parked, I asked a few soccer teens how well they knew the park, to which they replied "very", but none new the location of the bridge. I gotta admit I felt like a total nerd at that moment with my strange desire to come here to see a covered bridge, but once I found it, those feelings were replaced with a calm joy. FINAL THOUGHTS I simply can't explain why I love them, but I do and I can't tell you exactly why this particular one brought me an immediate sense of tranquility (even though I was surrounded by excited youth, yelling coaches and soccer moms), but it did. If you are a covered bridge lover, the bridge here @ Gary Pirkle Park will absolutely delight your senses. 2017/83

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Buford Dam

Buford Dam

4.4
(12 reviews)
1.8 mi

10/10!!!! GORGEOUS morning hike. Nicely maintained trail. AMAZING views. Well worth the drive.read more

What would you pay to get up close and personal with a concrete and earthen structure, well five…read morebucks per vehicle may seem reasonable, this ticket also gets you toilet privileges, bbq grills, and a picnic pavilion and some other intangibles. Dams are structures built to primarily obstruct the flow of water usually built across a stream or river constructed by man or beavers, yes there are many type of dams and in some cases provide a life-sustaining resource to people although some seem to obstruct the life of some - it's been rumored that salmon hate dams as do those that work to promote to protect the swimming right of fish. I guess one would have to weigh the pros and cons to pick a side being millions of each species are affected since humans eat fish the fish usually lose. Dams are an extremely important part of this nation's infrastructure--equal in importance to bridges, roads, airports, and other major elements of the infrastructure. They can serve several functions at once, including water supply for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and community use; flood control; recreation; and clean, renewable energy through hydropower. It's nice to know this dam has a revenue stream beside my five buck so the return on the investment is shortened. I came here at the right time on the right day - the generating stations were operating so the lower river was filled and the water was racing to its next destination so probably not the best time to float on a tube or kayak. I was somewhat surprised or maybe amused to see signage on the bank of this river that's designates the shoreline as a life-preserver zone, thankfully the government is providing this knowledge or we might have some people from the gene-pool wondering in to this massive deadly volume of rapidly flowing water, it seems the wildlife in the area understands the danger without barriers or communications. I wish I could of gotten closer to the structure so I could see the water boil from beneath the discharge of the generators but I was happy to see they do have a walk bridge a little downstream of the dam that allows you to cross over and experience the power of the release up close without a life preserver and only requires a little common sense sometimes a "danger sign" isn't needed for the obvious threat. I'm a fan of dams and understand I'm screwed if the dam burst during my visit even though I am parked in a designated paved parking lot far below the water level on the other side of this massive structure even though there is no signage inform me of this fact...

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Buford Dam
This is the closest point to the damn
This is the closest point to the damn
Buford Dam

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Lake Sidney Lanier

Lake Sidney Lanier

4.3
(26 reviews)
2.0 mi

A hidden staycation opportunity that flies under the radar. Known for their boating and lake…read moreactivities but the other side offers a relaxed environment. Lodge/hotel lodging with spacious rooms with the treat of a Keurig in each room. A truly heated pool with poolside service or indoor or patio eating. Onsite restaurant with outdoor lake views offering buffet breakfast and menu dinners. A coffee nook offering fresh coffee/lattes along with patries. The topper is an onsite spa. Plenty of options on the property with golf, pickle ball, game room and water park.

I'm very surprised Lake Lanier has so few reviews. After all, it was one of the water sport venues…read moreof the 1996 Olympics, one of the most popular summertime destinations in the state. Most any warm season holiday is celebrated at Lake Lanier making it a popular place for vacation rental homes. Here you can go boating, fishing, swimming, hiking, golfing, as well as experience a fabulous fireworks show in the summer or Christmas lights and snow sleds in the winter. There is a spa, a beach, a waterpark, a luxury resort and good times @ Margaritaville. You can rent jet skis, go horseback riding, charter a fishing boat, rent a house boat, go camping or take a hot air balloon ride nearby. It was created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956, and named for Confederate Army poet Sidney Lanier. Its primary purpose was for flood control and water supplies and has a water volume of about 1,049,400 acre-ft. The narrative will tell you its construction destroyed more than 50,000 acres of farmland and displaced more than 250 families, 15 businesses, and relocated 20 cemeteries along with their corpses in the process. But I want to pause here and dive a little deeper under the surface of its waters and introduce you to: [ OSCARVILLE, GEORGIA ] "The truth is rarely pure and never simple." ― Oscar Wilde Lake Lanier is partially located in Forsyth county. It is a county that prided itself on not having black residence so much that Oprah came to film an episode of her Emmy Award-winning talk show here in 1987 (trigger warning): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WErjPmFulQ0 The show makes mention that "no black person had lived in the county for 75 years", which was a direct reference to a predominantly African-American community known as Oscarville. It was home to 1,100 black people prior to a racial conflict in 1912 which was so brutally violent that it caused blacks to flee the county... even those who were landowners. "According to Elliot Jaspin, a historian and journalist quoted by the Digital Library of Georgia and the New Georgia Encyclopedia, only about 24 of the nearly 40 Black landowners in Forsyth County at the time were able to sell their land. The other properties have no record of sale, and some believe the abandoned land was simply taken by White residents." - The Times Oscarville began as a small farming town around 1870, but after so many fled the county in 1912, it was practically a ghost town. Those still claiming ownership of their land either had it seized or were "asked" to to forfeit their land to build the Buford Dam by Newport Dam Development according to an article published on April 6, 2021 by The Signal. Prior to the violence, Oscarville was actually known for its agricultural prowess in fighting off the boll weevil infestation that hindered many farm crops and enriching the soil with chicken feces. A technique that has been duplicated to this day to revive poor farming/gardening soil. "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." ― Aldous Huxley [ MUST WATCH ] Link to Oscarville | The Town Submerged by Lake Lanier (Intrigued Mind): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifMKfBO_R6s [ FINAL THOUGHTS ] Lake Lanier is a beautiful lake and a rich resource for Atlanta. It provides approx. 70% of the drinking water for Metro Atlanta as well as power, recreation and businesses. But there is more than what meets the eye as you look across its glistening surface. An entire town is buried by its waters and has been nearly forgotten, and the hard truth is this is not an isolated story. There are several other towns across the country who suffered the same fate. They include: Kowaliga (Benson), Alabama Seneca Village In New York City Susannah, Alabama and Vanport, Oregon The story of Lake Lanier and Oscarville will be featured in an upcoming TV series called Oscarville - Below the Surface. Here is the link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVux8Y96cok Thanks for reading. 2022 / 59 #BlackHistorySeries

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Lake Sidney Lanier
Lake Sidney Lanier
Game room

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Game room

Gary Pirkle Park - parks - Updated July 2026

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