After months of not visiting any national parks (at least, not in the USA…in July, we visited four national parks in South Africa, but that’s another story for another website!), we finally managed to snag the third and final national park unit in the Atlanta area.
I’ve crossed over this river a million times driving to/through Atlanta, but this is the first time I’ve ever stopped to intentionally spend time at it. Being winter, there wasn’t any tubing on the river in our forecast. But that didn’t stop us from having fun.
The park itself extends along the river from Lake Lanier down into Atlanta, but we confined our visit to the Island Fort area near Alpharetta, which is where the one and only visitor center is located.
As we drove in, we drove through some beautiful forest, with the beech trees still clinging on to their leaves. As we parked, a red-tailed hawk flew and alighted on a tree right in front of us. Several squirrels were on a neighboring tree, and I thought we were going to get to see some carnage, but the hawk merely sat there for a while without hunting.
We went inside the visitor center and got the Junior Ranger books for Teagan and Sage. Sage had just gotten her very own Junior Ranger passport and vest, so she is now officially on the quest along with her sister. The activities inside the Junior Ranger books helped them learn about the natural world at the park, some safety tips, and some of the history. After they completed the set number of activities, they were able to collect their badges and become official Junior Rangers (though the ranger on duty didn’t have them say the Junior Ranger pledge).
The visitor center also contains some displays. Teagan enjoyed watching the video on water safety. She also had a look at the microscope that they had set up in which you got to see some small animals up close (bees, leeches, etc.). There was also a small historical display as well with some information about the dams, Native Americans, mills, and even Sherman’s burning of areas that may have been printing Confederate money.
After leaving the visitor center, we took a stroll down to the river. Some people were out with their dogs. Others were just enjoying a hike. A couple of people in kayaks were out fishing. We also saw many Canada geese, which we had heard from the parking lot.
The girls enjoyed playing hide and seek, climbing trees, and playing on the rocks by the river. I spotted a red-headed woodpecker up in a tree top at one point. The water was nice and clear, and I’m sure it was cold!
With hunger creeping up in us, we walked back to our car and headed back to Tiffany’s parents’ house. After lunch, we made a quick stop at Six Flags to check out their holiday lights and to have some fun, then made the long trip east on I-20 back to Columbia.
Check out more of our pictures below by clicking on them, and next time you’re stuck in traffic on I-285, perhaps consider getting off and enjoying a nice day along the river!
Beavers in the Park 