Parks provide antidote to stress

The north side of Fulton County that includes the three cities of Johns Creek, Alpharetta, and Milton offer our residents a wide variety of parks and activities, and a convenient and free antidote to stress. Consider getting to know our parks, if you’re not already familiar with them.

Johns Creek:
The City of Johns Creek has four parks available to the residents of the area: Newtown Park, Ocee Park, Shakerag and Autrey Mill Nature Center.

Newtown Park offers three baseball fields, two full-size athletic fields, a smaller athletic field, two playgrounds, six tennis courts, two outdoor basketball courts, a dog park, a pond, several picnic shelters, a community house, and historic Newtown School. See www.newtowrec.com.

Ocee Park features eight baseball/softball fields, two tennis courts, two outdoor basketball courts, a playground, and four picnic shelters. See www.oceepark.com.

Shakerag Park includes a lake, three picnic shelters, and an athletic field with a track.

Autrey Mill Nature Center and Heritage Preserve includes Historic Warsaw Church, a Visitor's Center, Summerour House, a historic farm museum, wildlife displays, and nature trails. See www.autreymill.org.

For further information on any of the parks in Johns Creek, contact Kirk Franz at kirk.franz@johnscreekga.gov or 678-512-3261.

Alpharetta:
The City of Alpharetta boasts a wide variety of parks and outdoor facilities for its residents. According to council member Jim Paine, the key goal for the city’s parks is to gain more capacity.

The Big Creek Greenway, which is 6.2 miles long, features a 12-foot wide path and includes more than 200 acres. This Greenway will be connected to Waters Road in the spring of 2008. The new bridge over Big Creek will be installed in the early part of 2008 and will eliminate the need for residents to cross Kimball Bridge Road to reach the Greenway.

The Crabapple Government Center has a gymnasium and offers classrooms for arts and crafts and photography as well as being home to the recreation offices.
Rock Mill Park should be completed by mid-November of 2007.

Paine described it as a “passive park with an environmental theme.” This park is located on Kimball Bridge Road near North Point Parkway and offers an entrance to the Big Creek Greenway.

The new Cogburn Park is located at Highway 9 and Cogburn Road and features walking trails, a playground, and open-field picnic areas.

Union Hill is located east of Windward Parkway and provides roller hockey (with leagues), a covered rink, and an open rink. The city has recently increased its capacity and safety features. The Senior Activity Center has been through four expansions and offers arts and crafts, senior exercise classes, and dancing, and boasts a comprehensive learning center.

Wills Park, Webb Bridge Park and North Park are all 100 acres plus. Wills Park is the home of the city pool, Alpharetta Community Center, Wills Park Recreation Center, tennis courts, Waggy World dog park, group shelters, Wacky World Playground, ten baseball fields (Wills Park Youth Baseball Association), and the Wills Park Equestrian Center.

Webb Bridge Park has four baseball fields (Alpharetta Athletics Baseball Club), a soccer
complex (Alpharetta Ambush Soccer Club), a tennis court, woodland trails, and the Webb Zone play area. Twenty acres of open space are currently being developed that will include trail expansion and more open green space.

North Park is home to the Adult Activities Center, four adult softball fields, tennis
courts, four youth softball fields (Alpharetta Youth Softball Association), Miracle
League field and family center, and a multi-purpose field.

Paine pointed out that the city is working hard on creating non-vehicular travel, including bicycling, roller-blading, and walking trails.

Details on all the parks and amenities for the city of Alpharetta may be found at http://alpharetta.ga.us/index.php?p=87 or contact Mike Perry at 678.297.6100 or mperry@alpharetta.ga.us.

Milton:
The City of Milton offers a wide variety of outdoor activities at several parks. With the city’s large amount of green space, it’s easy to find a place to get out and enjoy nature. Additionally, the Milton Trail, currently under development, is a network of multi-use trails that connect Milton’s neighborhoods with its parks, schools, libraries, stores, sports facilities and other public spaces. The trail will be accessible from school locations and will include ADA accommodations wherever possible to allow routine accommodation for visitors with physical limitations.

Bell Memorial Park is Milton’s active-use park with baseball fields, pavilions, and a playground. The Hopewell Youth Association maintains an active league at Bell Memorial. Milton also has future park space, including Providence Park, an active- and passive-use park, and Birmingham Park, a 200-acre site. These parks are slated for future public availability.

Parks are an important priority in the City of Milton, and, as such, the City Council has included two capital projects for Parks and Recreation in 2008, including Park Development and the creation of a Recreation and Parks Master Plan.

For more information, see http://www.cityofmiltonga.us/services/outdoors.html and view a map at http://www.cityofmiltonga.us/services/docs/MTP-Map.pdf.