Located within historic downtown Ball Ground this little hidden gem is a true oasis from the hustle…read moreand bustle of city life. Situated on 15 acres of pristine land it features a playground, 2 picnic pavilion and a duck pond. There is also a stage area for public performance. For more information https://cityofballground.com/parks-department/ The duck pond is especially charming being that the ducks are people friendly. Not sure if they allow you to feed them ....The geese here are quite a character. When I was here with my friend she accidentally said out loud that ducks are cuter than geese. Well one of them took to chasing her for a bit for her slip of the tongue....serves her right.... I've also used their restroom facilities a couple of times before when I was in the area. Very clean and very well maintained..... A great addition to this charming little town that I hope will remain small and quaint. 1277th review 3/18/2018 197th for 2018

This place is AWESOME. It's a great park not far from downtown Cartersville. It's very well…read moremaintained and they have huge dog park areas for both small and large dogs. The people of the area can be proud to call this their local park. There are baseball fields, football fields, tennis and pickleball courts, soccer pitches, a club house and pool, several bathrooms and lots of walking paths and tons of parking. I love coming here with my dog!

This park is sort of hidden away...at least from me anyway. I've lived in the area for years and…read morenever knew it was here...go figure.... The park covers about 470 acres and can be divided into 4 sections Tennis playground with pavallion softball field 6 athletic fields for rent There is a walking trail that I didn't realize that was there until one day I saw someone walking there... Looks like Cherokee County's parks are starting to rival some of the bigger towns around like Roswell and even Atlanta...watch out guys...here we come....

Decent large park in the area. Activities include youth sports, playground, concessions…read more They have a large walking area around the perimeter which is great while your kids have practice. Ample parking on rocks in front. The only issues are that the fields get flooded when it rains and there is not ample seating for games. Bring your bag chairs for sure!!!

Garland Mountain Horse and Hiking Trails is a Cherokee County park located west of Waleska…read morefeaturing 14+ miles of trails with several more miles planned. The park has a very large gravel parking lot - suitable for horse trailers - as well as some picnic and toilet facilities. The trails are well laid out of the map at the information board and there are color-coded trail markers on posts at the various trailheads. The weather was not cooperating when I visited so I did not venture too far away from the parking lot. I'll update on a subsequent visit. This looks to be another nice hiking spot near to metro Atlanta. Looking at the map, the property adjoins that of Pine Log Creek Trail operated by adjacent Barrow County.

This little but functional park has a great paved walking trail that goes around the entire park…read more It has a few small hills and is covered with tree shade early in the morning and in the evening. This park is dog friendly but they need to be leashed. There are a couple of baseball fields and a small playground area. I'd love to see a few more trees planted near the parking lot because it is the least shaded area. Worth a visit or two

This hidden gem in the northeastern part of Cherokee county is a 30 acre park with 2 baseball and…read moresoftball diamonds along with half a mile of of paved walking track. Directions: to get here you want to take I-575 N to exit 24 (Airport Dr.) and then go east. You'll see signs for Cherokee county. At Ball Ground highway make a left. Go about a mile and you'll see East Cherokee Dr. Make a right. The park is about 2 and a half miles on the right. Hope you'll visit...it's a bit secluded so it's pretty peaceful....

Brown Park is a beautiful one acre park in Canton with a playground where a lot of kids and…read morefamilies like to gather. According to their Facebook page they also host summer concerts here. I came out here to check out the neighborhood with a friend who is looking to open a restaurant in the area. I think it will be perfect. It's near the courthouse and lots of sidewalks.... 1394th review 6/21/2018 314th for 2018

I'm always a fan of parks in cities and this one is right off of the main street. It is small but…read morefunctional. It has a few sculptures, a place for the kids to play and some benches. There are a few big trees to provide some shade. I would suggest planting a few more around the border. This is on the back side of the police department so you know it's safe! They also had a place to put doggie poo and little bags. It has parking all around the perimeter. A good place to eat a lunch outside.

Want to hike in an-out-of-the-way area? Cool. Want to hike in an out-of-the-way area that also used…read moreto be a Cold War nuclear research facility that still contains relic structures of when it operated? If so, Dawson Forest is your place. Dawson Forest is a huge tract of forested land operated by the Georgia Forestry people but owned by the City of Atlanta, bisected by the Etowah River and located just southwest of Dawsonville. It's open to the public for hiking, horse riding and bicycles, although there are some calendar/time restrictions because it's also a hunting area. Get there by taking Dawson Forest Rd from Highway 9 just north of Silver City. At the time of this review, the Yelp map marker is wrong. I submitted a correction but Yelp is not very good with that. Wait, owned by the City of Atlanta? Yep. Apparently they bought the land as a possible site for a second major airport from Lockheed - which used it for the site of the Georgia Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory - but found it was unsuitable. It's been owned by the city since the early 1970's and is maintained as an experimental forest for the use of Georgians. Wait, what!? A nuclear aircraft laboratory!? Yep. The US Air Force commissioned Lockheed to explore the feasibility of powering bombers with nuclear reactors. It didn't pan out, but only after quite a bit of effort. The site contained a nuclear reactor, a hot cell test facility, support buildings and a really bizarre test facility whereby a reactor was elevated by cables between four towers to test ... well, I'm not sure what. But in the process, they managed to kill off all the wildlife in the area. It was quite an operation. You can still find numerous structures on the site including two fenced off areas that contain the hot cell facility and the reactor. I prowled around the hot cell building fence but didn't go to the reactor area. In case you're contemplating mischief, they're pretty serious about the fences. You don't want to go in there. More photos and videos are available on the GNAL Facebook page (everyone has a FB page, even derelict nuclear sites): https://www.facebook.com/Dawson-Forest-GNAL-154640534555862/ Air Force video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXd9JSJbrsU Other than the odd relic nuke structure and the ghosts of millions of murdered critters, you'll find miles of hiking trails (or horse trails, if that's your thing). The trails are accessed either from the main visitor information area (which is just a large board with the usual information set among weirdly out-of-place concrete pads and sidewalks) or from trail heads off the numerous unpaved roads that interlace the site. Most of the roads are quite passable by passenger cars, but some require high clearance and 4WD. At one point as I travelled to the northern half of the forest, I had to cross Shoal Creek. I suppose you could do it in your Honda Civic, but I put my Nissan Pathfinder into 4WD-Low to cross. One note on the roads - you can access (or egress) Dawson Forest from the north but it requires passing through a couple of miles of Georgia Wilderness area and there are signs that pronounce it highly illegal for any citizen to trespass without possessing one of two permits (hunting/fishing license or something else). Neither of which I had and I drove on anyway. I'm a rebel. A second note on roads - there is a trail map available at the visitor info area that along with all the colored trails shows the roads in the Forest, and the names aren't necessarily what shows on Google Maps. Trailmap: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/dawson-forest-dawsonville?select=_MLh00vz2UpkgKfehZ0xag The main entrance road, for example, is shown as Reactor Rd while Google says it's Dawson Forest Rd. I believe Reactor Rd is the historical name. It makes a bigger difference when it comes to Clark Rd. Google says that road is a continuation of Dawson Forest Rd to the river, while the map has Clark as a dirt road going off to the west from Reactor Rd. I didn't do a lot of hiking - this was mainly a recon mission. But from where I did walk, there appears to be a lot of signage indicating the trails - blue, yellow, purple, etc. I think the trails fairly well marked, although as I was on the blue trail near the Etowah River (at the end of Reactor Rd), I noticed the blue tree markings abruptly ended. Not sure what was going on there. Horse trails are easier to follow, because, well ... horses. I can't believe I didn't know about this place before. Over the past three years or so (before I became obsessed with golf), I've made an effort to visit all the Atlanta regional hiking spots and I totally missed Dawson Forest. If you look on Google Maps, you'll see a very large and prominent green square denoting the Forest. Not sure how I missed that. I'm a big fan of wildlife and wilderness areas open to the public, and Dawson Forest is no exception. The history of the place adds interest. 5 stars

This review is for the Edge of the World hiking trail and park. It is in the Dawson forest as well…read more Parking is minimal (cars were parked on the main highway as well). Beautiful scenery and a boardwalk that runs next to the Amicalola Creek river. Flowers grow along the sides of the river, and there are benches along the way to sit and take it all in or enjoy a picnic. Boating/wading in the water/tubing are also options but there are big rocks jutting in the middle of the river near the boardwalk. Trails lead up and into the woods from the boardwalk...definitely my favorite part! It is a blue marked trail that runs a loop just under 3 miles. It's marked all along the way, and goes inland enough that you can enjoy the peace and quietude, along with changing landscape on a well paved dirt path that goes up and down. It's a good workout...I would call it an easy-to-moderate hike due to the hills and dirt path. Suggest downloading the All Trails app or finding a map so you have a reference during the hike, as it it quite windy and connects with the red/pink trail as well. There are signs for park fees but we didn't have to pay/there was nobody manning it and there was no gate (perhaps due to COVID or the holiday weekend?). Also a pretty drive from the city to

Main Street Park offers a great green space to enjoy inside the city of Dawsonville. There are…read moreconcerts, car shows, craft festivals and community events here almost every weekend. It has plenty of parking and wheelchair access to so many places. Great job.

This large park is located behind the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. It was a nice break after a…read morechili dog from the cookout to walk around as the park has over 1.1 miles of paved trails that has benches all along. Lots of goings on here including a playground with a wheelchair-accessible swing, 9-hole disc golf course "Shiners 9" and cornhole boards. Three picnic pavilions with charcoal grills are available to reserved through City Hall. Fitness stations, dog park and more features are coming! Very cool park and well worth a stop when you're in Dawsonville. [Review 20353 overall - 688 in Georgia - 1331 of 2023.]