10A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, November 24,2021
County envisions luxury campsites at War Hill Park
Map courtesy of Dawson County Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation Director Matt Payne shows the commissioners what luxury camping could look
like at the county's War Hill Park.
Julia Fechter
jf e c hte r@d a wson n ews. com
As residents of an area
that prides itself on recre
ation, the Board of
Commissioners was eager
for Dawson County to cash
in on the multi-billion dol
lar industry of glamping
during their sessions
Thursday night.
The BOC voted in favor
of the Parks and
Recreation Department
putting out a bidding
request for six glamping,
or luxury camping, sites at
War Hill Park, located in
southeastern Dawson
County at the edge of Lake
Lanier.
Glamping entails access
to both outdoor recreation
al resources and comforts
like beds, mini-fridges, air
conditioning and heating,
in contrast to traditional
camping amenities.
Per the request for pro
posal, another company
would offer glamping ser
vices to visitors at War Hill
Park.
Commissioner Chris
Gaines commented that
despite existing options
near the lake and
Amicalola Falls, the coun
ty doesn’t really have a
good offering of camp
grounds.
“It meets a big need,”
Gaines said of the glamp
ing idea. “It gets people
that maybe have no desire
to come up and spend the
night in the woods to come
and spend the night in the
woods.”
The Timberlane
Glamping Company, run
by Nathan and Rebeka
Self, approached the coun
ty with the luxury camping
prospect in September. Per
procedure, though, the
county still has to put out
the bidding request so mul
tiple companies can bid on
the project.
During his presentation,
Parks and Recreation
Director Matt Payne
shared that the glamping
market was at least $2.35
billion in the United States.
Nathan Self said the
market is expected to grow
even bigger, with
Kampgrounds of
America’s research pro
jecting glamping’s growth
into a $25 billion industry
just by 2025.
“This [camping style]
isn’t going anywhere, and
they (KOA) have pointed
at the numbers at what new
campers are preferring,”
said Self, “and those are
very accurate numbers.”
Matt Payne said that the
luxury tents will be split
into two main groups and
be the closest sites to the
park’s bath house.
The company that gets
the bid will be responsible
for constructing tents,
maintaining them and all
related equipment. That
company will also adver
tise tent availability and
book reservations separate
from the county website.
Hotel-motel tax will also
be collected. General
campground maintenance,
like plumbing, will be han
dled by the county. Only
electricity would be going
to the glamping sites.
Gaines asked about the
company’s success at other
locations, one of which is
at Forsyth County’s Shady
Grove Campground off of
Lake Lanier.
Since May 2020, those
glamping sites have been
booked at 100 percent,
underscoring the supply
and demand, Self said.
Self added that compa
nies like he and his wife’s
aim to be zero-footprint
and provide amenities like
the fridges, A/C, and rugs.
A key to Timberlane’s suc
cess has been partnering
with other local small busi
nesses to offer additional
services, like farm-fresh
eggs.
Tents are lockable, so
theft has seldom been a
problem for his company,
Self added.
Greenway plan
After a scheduled public
hearing, the BOC also
adopted a resolution for a
county Greenway and Trail
Master Plan.
The Planning
Department’s Robert
Irving presented the plan in
October. The Development
Authority of Dawson
County contracted with
engineering and design
firm Thomas and Hutton,
who created the schemat
ics.
The plan detailed 19.6
miles of trails, mainly in
the southeastern portion of
the county.
Six points of interest
along the network would
be the North Georgia
Premium Outlets mall,
Dawson Forest, Thompson
Creek Park, Etowah River,
Rock Creek Park and the
future Russell Creek
Reservoir.
Those points of interest
would have six corre
sponding trail segments
featuring sidewalks and
paths that correspond to
various topographies either
closer or farther from road
ways.
The projected price tag
is $60 million, so funding
will have to come from
several different local, state
and federal sources over
time.
The county could help
with advising developers
so pieces can be added
sequentially, Irving said.
Gaines commented that
while the plan was ambi
tious, the county would
have to “start at some
point” and “take the first
step.”
Butterfly garden
During the Nov. 18 work
session, Brooke Anderson
from the Rotary Club of
Dawson County presented
the commissioners with a
plan to enhance River Park
with the addition of a but
terfly garden.
“One of the themes of
Rotary this year is protect
ing the environment, so
we wanted to develop a
project that provided some
environmental education,”
Anderson said.
Over the last several
years, Anderson said the
club has done several proj
ects in conjunction with
Parks and Recreation,
such as a splash pad, pick-
leball and basketball
courts and batting cages.
In full, the Rotary Club
would like to build and
install a new picnic pavil
ion, butterfly and pollina
tor education garden, but
terfly sculpture and envi
ronmental education signs.
Anderson detailed the
club’s plans of duplicating
the current pavilion at
River Park and adding pic
nic tables under and
around it.
The garden would likely
be about 30 feet by 30
feet, filled with flora and
fauna to attract pollina
tors, boulders, mulch and
educational signs. The
club also wants to place a
large butterfly sculpture to
mark the park.
The project’s anticipat
ed cost is $20,000. If it
moves forward, the Rotary
Club plans to complete the
project by the end of
February, just in time for
spring.
Because the park area
can flood, Anderson
added that the pavilion
will likely be metal and
that the club also plans to
return annually to repair
features and replace
plants.
“You had me at ‘butter
fly,’” Commissioner
Sharon Fausett said of the
project idea. “Anything
environmental like that, I
love it.”
Commissioner Tim
Satterfield thanked
Anderson for his group’s
previous civic efforts and
praised their drive to
serve.
“Your group, they’re
good stewards of this
county,” Satterfield said.
“When y’all put your mind
to something, you do it.”
The 54th Annual Mountain Moonshine Festival and Car Show was a huge success in lots of ways.
Record crowds, beautiful weather, and the opportunity to honor our very own grandest Grand
Marshal, Gordon Pirkle made this year’s event more astounding than all others. Gordon is well
deserving of this honor as he has been the most instrumental in starting and building this event into
what it is today. He is also one of the founders of RARE for Kids and continues to serve as Vice-
President of the 501c3 organization that assists children in Dawson County. The Mountain
Moonshine Festival and Car Show is the main fundraiser for this effort.
—..---I, -r* -|r-, w- vr*
RARE for Kids operates with nine volunteer Board members, a Director, and a handful of
volunteers. Festival planning is year-round and also requires the cooperation of the City of
Dawsonville, Sherriff’s Dept., Dawson Co. Board of Education, Dawson Co. Fire and EMS
departments, and many local businesses and residents. The festival also provides an opportunity for
local Scouts and other non-profit organizations to raise funds to support their efforts as well. In
addition, all local businesses see a boost in sales for the weekend. Many, many Dawson Countians
benefit from the Festival and many visitors have already made plans to attend the 2022 event - for
all, the Mountain Moonshine Festival is a win-win!
RARE would like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to the following RARE team members:
SPONSORS:
Banks Septic, RCL Components, Jacky Jones Ford CDJR,
Bamboo Car Wash, Dawson Home Furnishings, Dawsonville
Pool Room, Disharoon Automotive, Evans Garage & Wrecker,
Grogan Waste Services, Jasper Grading & Pipeline, Larry Evans
Trucking, Mathis Grading, Inc., Modern Woodsman, Sunbelt
Rentals, United Community Bank
IN-KIND SPONSORS:
400 Waste, Atlanta Motorsports Park, Bearden Funeral Home,
Dawson Co. News, Dawson Co. Chamber, Event Services of
GA, Grogan Disposal Co./Randy diester, Home Depot, Larry
Evans Trucking, Martin Contracting & Grassing, Mill Creek
Environmental, Palmer's Wickhouse Reclamation, Peach State
Fire Service, Dwight Tatum
TROPHY SPONSORS:
Dawson Home Furnishings, Evans Wrecker Service, Mills Fuel
Service, Stephs Trophies, True Natural Gas
PARKING LOT CONTRIBUTIONS:
Sam Bailey property, Ben Trail Property, Church of God of
Propljgcy, Dawson County Government, Dawson County
School System, Dawson County Library, Grace Presbyterian
Church, Outside the Lines, Cliff McClure property
DOOR PRIZE DONATIONS:
A Touch of Hope, Ace, Hardware, Associated Credit Union,
Atlanta Motorsports Park, Auto Craze Car & Pet Wash, Birds
Unlimited, Bowen Art Center, Community Pool & Spa,
Dawson Eye Group, Dawson Home Furnishings, Dawsonville
Gun & Pavyn, Duncan Exterminating, Napa Auto Dawsonville,
Nikki Holbrook, Longhorns, Angel Matheson, Kevin & Angela
Parks/Maximum One, Gail Payne, Stacey Picklesimer, Kelly
Reeves, Roosters Cumming, Amanda Sheffield, Slacks Auto, Tru
Value, Joyce Waters
A special THANK YOU to the City employees/Public Works
Dept, that worked overtime and went over and above their call
of duty to help RARE for Kids.
THANK YOU to anyone that dropped a few dollars in the
donation buckets, volunteered your time, sang or performed on
stage,. . . from the largest to the smallest effort that was made
to help the children of Dawson County.
To become a part of the RARE team, please contact
RARE at 706-216-5273 or www.kareforkids.org. The
rewarding feeling of giving and working together to
make a difference in a child’s life is something RARE
wants to share with you!
