Ben Burton Park — Attraction in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

Monday, I experienced a situation that opened my eyes to a harsh reality. While sitting in my car and peacefully reading a book, I was approached by the police. They claimed I matched the description of someone they were looking for - a Black female who enjoys going to the park to read. Interestingly, there were four other trucks nearby with white males in them, but the officers chose to focus on me. This unjust treatment left me with countless questions and a deep sense of unfairness. Although I have never been involved in any wrongdoing in my life, I was faced with unwarranted scrutiny. It is moments like these that remind me of the importance of standing against injustice and advocating for equality. We must continue to speak out against discrimination and work towards a future where everyone is treated fairly, regardless of their background. I love going here to relax when ever life is stressing me out now I’m...

I took my children to Ben Burton Park, today for the first time. We were all very impressed by the landscape populated by a large creek, rocks, a bluff, a bridge, nature trails, and picnic tables all adjacent to the Middle Oconee River. My Kids loved exploring this area and I was quite impressed by it - not expecting what we found here. My only negative thought is that when hiking along one of the trails, one passes by several manhole sewer access points which when you walk by them smells putridly of sewage. I am not sure if these always smell this bad; The area had just experienced a torrential rain a couple of days prior to our visit, so that may have effected the sewage. However, it was bad enough to take my rating down from from a potential 5-star to a 4. We really enjoyed everything else that this little area had to offer and my children stated several times that they want...

It’s always been an ok place to walk the dog, play frisbee or sip the toes in the cool water but a number of issues are evident now. 1, after big rains there is visible sewage coming out of the manholes along the woods trail which can be easily smelled. 2, water collects due to poor drainage and turns into gooey mud pits that are all but unavoidable, and 3, if you care there are many families with dogs off leash, finally the back end of the trail is littered with tires and trash from the neighborhood that Butts up against the park. Otherwise the water sounds and feels nice and there’s room to not feel crowded by others. Would be nice if the city would use its clean up budget to do just that and return the picnic...