City: Atlanta, GA

Category: Parks & Recreation

Telephone: (404) 892-7275

Description: Atlanta’s largest park and home of the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Piedmont Park is the site of numerous fairs, festivals, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concerts, and much more. In this 185-acre setting, you’ll find a paved jogging trail plus other trails for walking, cycling, and skating. Football and baseball games are commonplace, and softball leagues use the park’s athletic fields for spring and summer competitions. Even the massive Peachtree Road Race, held each July Fourth, ends in Piedmont Park near the 10th Street entrance. Piedmont’s current happenings in no way outshine its colorful history. The land on which Piedmont Park stands was originally part of the Gentlemen’s Driving Club (later the Piedmont Driving Club), a group whose members were the force behind Atlanta’s progressive development at the end of the 1800s. The Cotton States and International Exposition took place in Piedmont Park in 1895. The Olmsted Brothers firm was hired to design the landscaping for the exposition; much of the park’s current design dates from this period. The exposition drew close to a million visitors during its three-month duration. John Philip Sousa’s band premiered “King Cotton,” a march Sousa wrote especially for the event. Such luminaries as President Grover Cleveland, Booker T. Washington, and William McKinley attended the event. Piedmont Park became a public park in 1904 when the city bought the land. A citizens’ support group called the Piedmont Park Conservancy was formed in 1989 to support and conserve the park’s natural assets through citizen volunteer efforts. This nonprofit membership sponsors guided walking tours on weekends by appointment, starting at the 12th Street entrance to the park. The group schedules regular work parties to clean and repair features of the park. In 1996, with some of the $6.5 million already donated, the conservancy refurbished the “ladies’ comfort station” as the park’s visitor center. Its showpiece is an 800-square-foot mural on the barrel ceiling, depicting the variety of activities that go on in the park. The park began a $72.5 million expansion project in fall 2008 that included the restoration of the historic bathhouse and pools. The plan added 53 acres of new green space featuring woodland trails, playgrounds, and athletic fields. For more information on the conservancy, write to P.O. Box 7795, Atlanta, GA 30357, or call (404) 875-7275. A favorite spot with strollers, the park provides slightly hilly terrain with lots of shade trees where you can stretch out to rest your weary bones. An approximately 4-mile loop trail through the park will give you a chance to take in all the scenery. Parking around the park is limited, and during some events it’s completely prohibited. Make it easy on yourself and leave your car behind. MARTA’s Midtown station is on 10th Street between Peachtree and West Peachtree. The Arts Center station is on 15th Street behind the Arts Center. There’s regular bus service along Piedmont Avenue on the No. 36 North Decatur bus that travels from the Arts Center station and the Decatur station.