Those wanting to spend Memoral Day weekend on Georgia lakes will need to narrow their choices to state parks over some of the federal parks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today that it is temporarily closing 31 of its recreational areas in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi with most of those closings occurring at Lake Lanier.
Two of the closings are at Lake Allatoona as the Victoria Day Use Area and the Payne Campground are on the list. Lake Lanier will have 20 closings. Other closings are Walter F. George and George W. Andrews Lakes, Black Warrior & Tombigbee Lakes in Alabama and Okatibbee Lake in Mississippi.
The Victoria Day Use Area is currently closed while the Payne Campground will close June 2.
Two other areas, the East Bank Park at Lake George W. Andrews and the Bluff Creek Landing at Walter F. George Lake are also currently closed. The others will close June 2.
The closures only affect federal areas and doesn’t affect state park areas. All state parks and marinas and private marinas will remain open.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the decision to close some areas comes “after careful consideration” but was made because of staffing shortfalls. It said the closures also allow full services to be available at adjacent areas in some cases, according to the press release.
Closures will be reassessed over summer, officials said. No reopening date has been set. Workers will continue to work at U.S. Army Corps locations to handle priorities like dam maintenance, dam operations for flood control, and emergency response readiness.
For a complete list of federal park closings, click here.