This is a list of state parks in Georgia. The park system of the US state of Georgia was founded in 1931 with Indian Springs State Park and Vogel State Park. Indian Springs has been operated by the state as a public park since 1825, making it perhaps the oldest state park in the United States. The newest state park is Don Carter State Park.
Since the Great Recession, Georgia has halved the budget for the Division of State Parks and Historic Sites and turned over the management of five of the parks to Coral Hospitality, a Florida-based hotel and resort management company. The five parks are Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge, Unicoi State Park & Lodge, Little Ocmulgee State Park & Lodge, Georgia Veterans State Park, and George T. Bagby State Park.
State parks Park nameCounty or countiesSizeYear establishedLocationWater body(s)ImageRemarks acres ha A.H. Stephens State Park Taliaferro 1933 Alexander Stevens State Park Lake Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge Dawson 1940 Amicalola Falls Black Rock Mountain State Park Rabun 1952 Black Rock Lake Chattahoochee Bend State Park Coweta 2011 Chattahoochee River Cloudland Canyon State Park Dade 1938 Hemlock Falls Crooked River State Park Camden 1939 Intracoastal Waterway Don Carter State Park Hall 2013 Lake Lanier Elijah Clark State Park Lincoln 1953 Clarks Hill Lake F. D. Roosevelt State Park Harris, Meriwether 1938 Florence Marina State Park Stewart 1985 Walter F. George Lake Fort McAllister State Park Bryan 1980 Ogeechee River & Atlantic Ocean Fort Mountain State Park Murray 1938 Fort Mountain Lake Fort Yargo State Park Barrow 1954 Fort Yargo Lake General Coffee State Park Coffee 1970 George L. Smith State Park Emanuel 1975 Parish Pond George T. Bagby State Park Clay 1970 Walter F. George Lake Georgia Veterans State Park Crisp 1946 Lake Blackshear Jack Hill State Park Tattnall 1956 Altamaha River Hamburg State Park Warren 1968 Hamburg Mill Pond Hard Labor Creek State Park Morgan 1946 Hard Labor Creek High Falls State Park Monroe 1966 Towaliga River Indian Springs State Park Butts 1825 Sandy Creek James H. Floyd State Park Chattooga 1973 Sloppy Floyd Lake Kolomoki Mounds State Park Early 1938 Yahola & Kolomoki Lakes Laura S. Walker State Park Ware 1941 Laura S. Walker Lake Little Ocmulgee State Park & Lodge Telfair 1935 Little Ocmulgee Lake Magnolia Springs State Park Jenkins 1939 Magnolia Springs State Park Lake Mistletoe State Park Columbia 1965 Clarks Hill Lake Moccasin Creek State Park Rabun 1966 Lake Burton Panola Mountain State Park Rockdale 1974 Alexander Lake & South River Providence Canyon State Outdoor Recreation Area Stewart 1971 Red Top Mountain State Park Bartow 1950 Lake Allatoona Reed Bingham State Park Colquitt 1958 Reed Bingham Lake Richard B. Russell State Park Elbert 1987 Russell Lake Seminole State Park Seminole 1956 Lake Seminole Skidaway Island State Park Chatham 1975 Intracoastal Waterway Smithgall Woods State Park White 1994 Dukes Creek Stephen C. Foster State Park Charlton 1954 Suwannee River Sweetwater Creek State Park Douglas 1972 Sweetwater Creek Tallulah Gorge State Park Rabun, Habersham 1993 Tallulah River Tugaloo State Park Franklin 1965 Lake Hartwell Unicoi State Park & Lodge White 1954 Unicoi Lake Victoria Bryant State Park Franklin 1952 North Fork of the Broad River Vogel State Park Union 1927 Lake Trahlyta Watson Mill Bridge State Park Madison 1969 South Fork of the Broad River
Historic sites Park nameCounty or CountiesSizeYear establishedLocationImageRemarks acres ha Chief Vann House State Historic Site Murray 1952 Dahlonega Gold Museum State Historic Site Lumpkin 1966 Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site Bartow 1953 Fort King George State Historic Site McIntosh 1940 Fort Morris State Historic Site Liberty 1968 Hardman Farm State Historic Site White 2014 Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation State Historic Site Glynn 1974 Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site Monroe 1974 Jefferson Davis Memorial State Historic Site Irwin 1997 Lapham-Patterson House State Historic Site Thomas 1971 Little White House State Historic Site Meriwether 1948 New Echota State Historic Site Gordon 1962 Pickett's Mill Battlefield State Historic Site Paulding 1974 Reynolds Mansion on Sapelo Island McIntosh Robert Toombs House State Historic Site Wilkes 1982 Traveler's Rest State Historic Site Stephens 1955 Wormsloe State Historic Site Chatham 1973
Former state parks
Park nameCounty or CountiesSizeYear establishedYear disestablishedLocationImageRemarks acres ha Chehaw State Park Dougherty 1937 1977 In 1974, the city of Albany leased 100 acres (40 ha) of unused land in Chehaw Park from the state of Georgia to develop a wild animal park where exotic and indigenous animals would be displayed in their natural habitats. With the inception of the wild animal habitat, the State donated the entire Chehaw Park acreage to the city to further develop. Bobby Brown State Park Elbert 1950s 2015 The park was established on the waters of the newly constructed Clark Hills Lake in the 1950s. It was downgraded to Bobby Brown State Outdoor Recreation Area in 2009. In 2015, a lease agreement was reached with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The park is now operated by the government of Elbert County, Georgia. George Washington Carver State Park Bartow 1950 1975 It was established during segregation on land adjacent to Red Top Mountain State Park and billed as Georgia's first state park for African Americans. It was removed from the state park system due to budget cuts, turned over to Bartow County, and renamed Bartow Carver Park. It returned to its original name in 2017. Hart State Park Hart 1968 2020 In April 2020, management of the park passed from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to the City of Hartwell. In June 2020, a groundbreaking ceremony was officially held for the renamed Hartwell Lakeside Park. Jekyll Island State Park Glynn 1947 1950 It was formerly a state park, but since 1951 it has been managed by the Jekyll Island Authority, a self-supporting state agency. John Tanner State Park Carroll 1971 2013 Operated from 1954 to 1971 as Tanner's Beach, it was purchased by the state in 1971, and opened in 1972. It became managed by Carroll County in 2010 and was purchased by Carroll County in 2013. Santo Domingo State Park Glynn 1934 1946 The state of Georgia conveyed the Santo Domingo State Park property to J. Ardell Nation in 1946. Ardell established the Boys Estate, an orphanage for homeless boys modeled upon Boys Town, Nebraska. The former property of the Boys Estate is now run by Morningstar Children and Family Services. Sprewell Bluff State Park Upson 1993 2013 It was a state park leased from Georgia Power. In 2013, Upson County, Georgia took over management of the property and it was de-listed. Standing Boy Creek Park Muscogee 2004 2022 Transferred to the City of Columbus for funding purposes
Other Lake Lanier Islands were leased from the US Army Corps of Engineers by the Georgia Department of State Parks for a recreation resort. The islands are now managed by a private company. Stone Mountain Park is owned by the state and managed by the self-sufficient state agency, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association. It is operated as an amusement park under a contract with the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation.
Images
See also List of U.S. national parks
References
External links Georgia state parks Map of Georgia State Parks