Fueled by cabin fever from the recent COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and the beautiful weather that June often brings to Northeast Georgia, the Great Outdoors beckons Gwinnett County residents like never before. While it’s important to continue to practice social distancing and safe practices, there are several ways you can get outside and soak up some sun during Great Outdoors Month and beyond…

Playtime at the Parks

With dozens of parks brought to you by the award-winning Gwinnett County Parks & Recreation Department and even more great state parks – like Fort Yargo State Park – in neighboring communities, it’s easy for locals to get outside and play. While many parks still have limitations in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, activities like exploring a network of walking trails on foot or by bike, elevating your view in the saddle of a horse and taking your favorite four-legged pooch for a romp in your favorite dog park are all great possibilities. To stay up to date on the latest news, openings and safety restrictions, be sure to visit the Gwinnett County Parks & Rec webpages. Looking to expand your scope beyond our area?  Check out the list of State Parks on the Georgia Department of Natural Resources website and National Parks peppered throughout Georgia on the National Parks Services website.

Adopt-A-Road and Adopt-A-Stream Programs

While it’s not exactly “playtime,” participation in our Adopt-A-Road and Adopt-A-Stream Programs are a great way to get outdoors while having a positive impact on your community. For Adopt-A-Road, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful will provide all the supplies you need – safety vests, trash bags, warning signs and litter grabbers – in a handy supply bag. In exchange for you adopting a one-mile+ stretch of road in our county to keep clean & beautiful for a period of one year with at least four cleanup days, your family, group, organization, neighborhood or business will be featured on two Adopt-A-Road signs as recognition for your service. For Adopt-A-Stream, we’ll provide water monitoring training along with all the supplies needed so you can collect baseline water quality data to help us observe the conditions of our local streams and increase awareness of pollution and water quality issues. This program also comes complete with certifications in chemical, bacterial and macroinvertebrate testing from GC&B and the Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources.

Great American Cleanup

Another way to get outdoors while doing your part for the Gwinnett County community is our year-round Great American Cleanup Program. Submit a project idea in one of the four Great American Cleanup categories and – if chosen – Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful will provide the funding while you provide the muscle to get it done. One project per month will be selected and the GAC categories include: Litter League cleanup initiative; Groom and Bloom beautification project; Dial-A-Dumpster illegal dumping program; and Students Serving Seniors lawn maintenance initiative.

However you choose to get outside and celebrate Great Outdoors Month in Gwinnett, we hope you have fun while doing it – inspiring you to encourage others to do the same!