Always a good time at George L Smith Park. My grandson likes to fish there even if he doesn't catch.read more

Wow! When you step near the waters of this park and see the Cypress trees in near-black water, your…read moreimagination just may sweep you back in time to an earlier era in Earth's history, perhaps, the Pleistocene Era? These waters make you wonder whether some prehistoric creature will launch out of the waters at you if you get too close. Yet, you'll see kayakers padding all about these waters. Located in Twin City, Georgia, is a serene retreat spanning 1,634 acres with a 412-acre mill pond surrounded by cypress and tupelo trees draped in Spanish moss, creating a picturesque and tranquil environment. The park's centerpiece is the historic Parrish Mill, a combination gristmill, sawmill, covered bridge, and dam built in 1880. The mill, restored in 1998, occasionally operates and can grind up to 200 pounds of corn per hour, offering visitors a glimpse into its rich history. Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy a variety of activities, including fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and hiking. The park offers 11 miles of trails for hikers, runners, and cyclists, as well as opportunities to spot wildlife like gopher tortoises, blue herons, and white ibis. For accommodations, the park provides lakeside camping, cozy cottages, picnic shelters, and a conference center.

Beautiful walk for you alone alone or easy enough with the kiddos. Great seeing the plant…read morediversity and learning.

An awesome place where you can easily get lost when you are on the mountain and you will always…read morewant to go just a bit further to see what else there is around that strangely shaped boulder. If you like to meditate or just need a place to clear your head, this is the place. The parking is free and you can enter the park from two separate places. Watch where you walk though because the ecosystem there is fragile in places. Be sure to read the information at the beginnings of the trails as well as at separate places throughout the park. I highly recommend this park for its quiet and because it is much less crowded than other Atlanta parks.

Nice park with playgrounds, ball fields, tennis, a pond, picnic areas, and a walking/running trail…read more Just watch out for the awful gnats!

My husband, Grandson and I were there camping this weekend of October 19th and the camp site host…read morewere awesome! They took care of our every need. Welcomed us and made certain they were there if we needed anything. I do not remember their names but the are there until November. Beautiful husband and wife that truly care about the park and the visitors. Thank you for being such gracious host. Alicia and Ben Powell!

This is a lovely state park that is on a Lake. They have full kitchen cabins that have one…read morerestroom. There is lots of trails and canoeing and fishing, play ground, golf course. Lots to do in a beautiful park. The grounds are clean and safe. The employees are nice and very helpful. They have dog friendly cabins as well. They have wooden chairs outside around a fire pit for each cabin. We love this place

Cay Creek Wetlands Interpretive Center (CCWIC) is located in Midway, off exit 76 on I-95. According…read moreto one of the info boards, the site of CCWIC was bought by the City of Midway to provide its citizens, as well as visitors, a green space to enjoy and to learn about the unique environment in our coastal area. I'm always on the lookout for nature spaces to bring my kids, so when a friend had mentioned this place that she had heard, I, of course, immediately did some research and went to check it out this weekend with my kids. The unique thing about this space is that this is where you can see the wetlands transition to a salt water marsh. - Parking - Private lot. You'll clearly see a wooden sign from Charlie Butler Road and a metal gate that bears its name. It states on the website, open daily from 9 am to dusk, so plan accordingly. You'll drive straight down a short dirt path and will arrive at the parking area. - Admission - FREE, Baby! - History - The area used to be a plantation which, back then, used to be called Salter's Creek, owned by Raymond Cay. Rice and other food crops were grown on a smaller scale then. Pine trees were abundant in the area and eventually, with the booming paper industry, paper companies bought large pieces of pine lands, including Cay Creek. In 1996, the City of Midway bought the property. - Trail Description - There is only one path with no off shoot trails, about 0.7 miles round trip. An elevated boardwalk has been built the entire way. It's very well maintained, with built-in benches and trash cans with their own built-in nooks for your convenience throughout the trail. There is also a 15-ft tower about halfway through the trail that provides a great bird's eye view and great for bird watchers. When you get to the end of the trail, there is also a bigger deck with benches built in on either side and you can see the transition of the two types of water flow. Lots of birds and animals can be found here, but my kids and I probably scared them all away. Haha. - Heads Up - You will find modern and recent info boards in color, throughout the trail that talks about the different flora and fauna and how they have adapted to this environment. There are QR codes at the bottom of the boards that you can scan to read more about it, but I tried scanning the code on the first board and it came up as an error so I didn't bother scanning the others. Given the proximity of this trail to I-95, this would be a great place to stop and have a quick snack and to stretch your legs as there is a picnic table in the parking area. However, there are no bathrooms on site, so you might want to stop at the gas station down the road for that. This is such a great gift by the city of Midway and anyone passing through or live in the area, should take advantage. It was a great place for a small afternoon adventure and get some fresh air and teach my kids about the unique environmental conditions in this area. Get outside!

What a cool little spot off the beaten path. In a short walk on their boardwalk we saw an indigo…read moresnake, an alligator, lots of birds and insects, crabs, and very interesting plants. Worth spending 30+ minutes on

While visiting a friend, we were looking for a little outside time. We saw Shelby Park listed…read moreon-line. So we headed over to check it out. Pulling up I was surprised at the small size. It is basically a large pretty pond with a walkway around the perimeter. Add to that swinging park benches and picnic tables. The bridge looks new and the trees look old. I love mature trees that add character. The large water feature in the center of the pond looks great as I watch the ducks enjoying the spray. We even saw turtles! This adorable, well maintained park is sitting right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. How fun. You could literally walk out of your house and have your morning coffee at the park that is just outside your door. There is a nice parking lot also for people like us who visit from other places. Overall, this charming little park is perfect for a bit of outdoor time without having to commit to long trek through the woods. Coming from a Chicago girl, this was perfect for me.

A great place to unwind! Beautiful lake & trails! Please mark trails & have a map of the area!read more

Sterling Creek Park (SCP) is tucked away in the very back of a neighborhood called Sterling Creek…read morePlantation in Richmond Hill. You'll see signs to the park from Harris Trail Road when you turn in to the neighborhood. Keep going straight through the neighborhood until you get to the entrance to the park. SCP is the most unusual park that I have come across in this area, reason being that it shares space with the Police training grounds and gun range, as well as an active water treatment plant. See what I mean? That being said, I'll take trails and green space anywhere I can get it! - Background Info - There isn't too much info on this park online, but from what I could find, it seems that the city of Richmond Hill purchased this property back in 2012 with the intention of converting it into a park and the plan is to include running trails, nature trails, mountain bike paths, a fishing pond, restrooms, parking and camping. The property is about 187 acres of forests, wetlands, ponds, and grassland habitats. The most recent article I found was dated January of this year (2019) and it looks like they celebrated the opening of Phase 2 with a Relay Race. - Parking - Once you drive past the park entrance, just go straight until you get to a white-ish building. It looks like it's had better days and definitely does not look brand new. This building also has the restrooms (we didn't use them, so I don't know for sure, but the male/female signs are outside the doors) and the big space around it that seems to be the parking. - What we did - The Little One and I set out for a quick adventure, as we had to get back for her sister's event at school. We parked the car by the restrooms and behind it, you will see a large sign (the map of the park) and a trash can in the distance, by the woods, and that is where the beginning of the trail is. Now, keep in mind, don't go in the woods just yet right there, just walk alongside the fence of the water treatment plant, to the right. You will come to a dead end and there will be a well worn path into the woods which will be the only part in the forest). The path in the woods isn't very long and the day we went, it must have rained heavily there because part of the road was super muddy and there were tons of truck tracks. Once you get out of the woods and into the clearing, there is another well worn path/road that runs along the fence again of the water treatment plant. Walk down and keep walking down and don't lost hope, because you will finally get to the wetlands and ponds area. This area has more signs. I think we did parts of the yellow line and parts of the blue line (refer to pic). There is also a Youtube video that gives you a quick aerial view of the park to give you a general idea of what it is like. - My thoughts - The park is secluded, especially it being inside a neighborhood. I don't even think many of the residents of RH know about it. We saw one person along the trail, but at the same time, it was the weekday also. I read the article of the Relay Race that they held by the lake, after we walked the trail, and looking at the photos and videos posted online, I am still confused as to which lake they were running around, because it does not look anything close to the lakes and ponds we saw. I am going back to explore more when we have more time. All in all, the area is a bit confusing and I think they just need more signs at the beginning of the trail almost all the way until you pass the fencing of the water treatment plant. The presence of the water treatment plant gives you this sense that you shouldn't be there. The lake and ponds areas were my favorite part and they are clearly marked in that area, probably because it's the newest phase. I will update this review once I find the lake in the article!

Near some botanical gardens, this separate tract of land was not particularly happening when I…read morebriefly dropped in, but it is free. A lake with a small bridge is the main attraction, with some areas around it to walk and a picnic enclosure. The highway is nearby and audible to some extent. There are some short trails, but signs caution against swimming in the water (which is true pretty much anywhere in the region given the robust reptile population).

It was a beautiful day last Friday and my youngest and I had been cooped up in the house most of…read morethe week, so for Adventure Friday, we decided to explore Chatham County Wetlands Preserve. This 494-acre wetland preserve and park is another piece of property purchased by Chatham County. They created a 20-acre lake and have planted more than 20,000 trees. This park is tucked away on Highway 17, on Chief of Love Road. Parking - When you turn off on Hwy 17, you just have to continue driving until you get to a fork in the road. I stayed to the left and then we found ourselves in a huge gravel lot where it seemed the most appropriate to park the car. Trail Description - Once I parked the car, we walked to the fork where I could see the barrier and hiking sign (I saw it on the drive in). We started there and kept to the left. It started out as a pretty well marked path, under the trees. Once you get out of the shaded part, it's just grassy. It will bring you around the lake, and it's wide open, so there is no way you would get lost. We opted to take a shortcut and cut through on the bridge. There was a man there fishing. He said some days the fish bite like crazy and other says, nothing, so just a tip to anyone who likes to go fishing. There are picnic tables and a covered picnic area in the middle by the bridge that are great spots for meal and snack breaks. There were beautiful flowers along the way and also a patch of what I think are called Cypress Trees at one end of the lake. They are pretty much dead, but I thought they were pretty to look at the cluster of them. The reflection of the trees on the sunny day was just perfect. My Fitbit clocked the portion we did as about 1 mile. Kid-Friendly - Absolutely! Very flat trail, however not paved. Unless you have a B.O.B or a jogging stroller with bike-like tires, I would just use a baby carrier. Thankful that Chatham County is very nature focused and is committed to providing green space in the area for its residents. There seemed to be another trail by the park sign, so we will have to come back to explore that portion!

If u are like me and want to get back into shape. Be like me and take a short walk around the…read morewetland trails. Throw on some tunes and enjoy the beautiful nature scenery.

My husband wanted to work around the house, so I decided to pack up the kids and their bikes and…read moretake them out of the house so he can focus. I wanted that wall painted! JF Gregory Park (JFGP) seemed like the perfect place to enjoy the day and burn some energy. We met up with friends to play at the playground, went for lunch and then returned to hit the trail, the kids on bikes and me on foot. Named after J.F. Gregory, basically Henry Ford's right hand man for all of his operations in Richmond Hill, the 335-acre community park includes: 3 plus miles of walking and biking trails; a fenced in playground that is recognized by the Playful City USA program; 25,000 square feet covered pavilion (most of the food vendors set up here at The Great Ogeechee Seafood Festival that occurs every year); picnic areas, The Veteran's Monument; Richmond Hill City Center; John W. Stevens Wetlands Education Center. Parking: There is a parking all over the park, but for the trail, we parked in the dirt lot before the trail head, near the Richmond Hill City Center. Trail Description: The trail is over 3 miles and is just one giant loop. When you get to the "Rice Cultivation on the Ogeechee River" historical marker, whether you go straight or left, you will find yourself back at the marker. If you go right of the marker over the bridge, this will lead you near the John W. Stevens Wetlands Education Center. I would say about half of it is paved, the other half a dirt gravel road, but well worn for bikes to get through (I would use mountain bikes or bikes with thicker tires and treads). There is a lookout deck, benches and trash cans along the way, as well as the exercise stations (VitaCourse 2000, similar to the ones seen at Tom Triplett Park in Pooler, see my review). Difficulty Level: Easy for all ages in terms of terrain, moderate in terms of length. What we did: We did the entire loop and also went right at the marker to explore that path which led us to the John W. Stevens Wetland Education Center so we walked around the front and then walked back to the car that way. JFGP is such a great spot in Richmond Hill to enjoy the outdoors. Whether you just want to sun bathe, spend time with kids, have a picnic, walk, run or bike the trail. There is something for everyone to do and most importantly, do it together.