Columbia County reports about 2 million park visits; names four parks among Georgia’s top 100

A staff member said Columbia County’s parks system welcomed about 2,000,000 visits last year and that the county has four parks ranked among the state’s top 100.

“Recently, we were CAPRA certified for parks and recreation, and during that process, it was talked about how much usage our citizens have at our parks,” the staff member said. The staff member described a software system, developed in partnership with the Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau, that collects visitor counts and stores them in a central database.

The staff member named the four parks included in the statewide list as Patriots Park, Evanstown Center Park, Lakeside Park and Wildwood Park and said the ranking helps the county compare local usage with other parks in Georgia. “We have 4 of the top 100 parks in the state of Georgia,” the staff member said.

Officials said the data are being used to plan events and athletic schedules, to identify where park amenities or programming could be expanded, and to evaluate locations for future parks and facilities. “With this information, we're able to plan for different events better. We're able to look at timing of athletic events,” the staff member said.

The staff member also praised maintenance operations, saying crews “do a fantastic job maintaining the parks with all the usage we get.” The presentation framed the parks as a community resource and described continued investment and planning based on the usage metrics.

The presentation did not include budget figures, timelines for new facilities, or named decision-makers; staff said these data will inform future planning rather than announcing a specific capital project or vote at this meeting.