Freedom Park — Attraction in Atlanta

I love the trails at/around Freedoms Park. You can walk/cycle endlessly from here along any number of PATHs including the Beltline. Freedom Park is kind of like a connector park because it is attached to several other parks (Candler, Inman, O4W, Piedmont) via PATH trails. Plenty of grassy areas and plenty of trees and shade, too. Great place to go for a walk and picnic, great way to get to the other parks and attractions in the area as well.

A little history about Freedom Park: It occupies the leftover right of way from Freedom Parkway. Freedom Pkwy was originally planned to connect Stone Mountain Freeway to Downtown with a 6+ lane freeway (think GA 400, but Eastside). This can be seen on a slew of original planning documents you can find in Georgia State University's archives.

The state bought up all the property necessary for the project, changed it all to road right of way. The project met lots of resistance, and funding was hard to come by when the project was supposed to move forward. Finally, the project started to move forward, they had machinery start dozing land in the O4W area. A bunch of affluent residents from the area put up a stink about it (some even chained themselves to trees, according to AJC articles from the time) and the road building stopped.

The land sat, unused for almost twenty years...

Then in the late 80s, Atlanta placed a successful bid to become the setting for the 1996 Olympics. At the same time, President Carter was looking for suitable places for his Presidential Library. The state needed shiny new infrastructure to make the city look good to the world during the Olympics. These factors all added up to one final push to develop the unused right of way the state purchased all those years back.

Completed in 1990 or so, Freedom Park, Freedom Parkway, and Jimmy Carter's Presidential Library were all born. The road was less than half the width of the originally planned roadway, and about one-third the length. But the rest of the right of way was dedicate to be green space.

This is why Freedom Park is a long, skinny park that straddles Freedom Parkway. If you look closely on a map, you can see the path the freeway was going to take up through to Candler Park. That would've sucked. Freedom park...

AAAAAhh... Yes, Freedom Park is one those bucolic parks that is able to take you out of the city without leaving it. It is large enough to not be crowded, there are plenty of paved walking/running trails; and most importantly there are plenty of trees! There are benches to stop for a break, and plenty of grass space, with clean grass, so that you can lay a blanket down and have a nice lunch or dinner, or even breakfast on nice days. You can take a nap with your friends but always be aware of your surroundings. There are plenty of shade spots so you can catch a nice break from the heat. Of course on some days the heat of Georgia can make the shade hot! frfr😅 This is a great place to go to for yourself to get some peace, or couples that want to chill out together, or families. There is no cost. The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library is located here. Don't get it mixed up with the Jimmy Carter Library & Museum which is not very far away at 441 Parkway Dr NE , which is a cool place to check out too. There is no need to drive your car to Freedom Park; there are MARTA bus stops at different points of the park. There is not much parking space available, which is good, so just avoid the hassle and ride the bus. If you must drive or just want to; consider MARTA Park and Ride. There are places to eat or buy food on Ponce de Leon and probably nearby on other streets but I didn't check to see. You could get some nice food from one of the restaurants and eat it in the park. That would be very nice.🙂🙂😎 Take some time to ensure you find a nice green space to decompress at one of the many parks in this city. This one should definitely...

No bathrooms no water no accommodating businesses around because Lil Five is crawling with ppl that businesses ding accommodate so we all suffer unless you want to spend at least $8 as a patron to go real quick. The park isn't actually close to said businesses so being in a tight will render problems. Trails for bikes and pedestrian but the bikes ride on the peds side so good luck with safety. Must be very careful here lots of bike traffic and joggers with head phones. Playground is tucked off safely which is a plus Great inclines for leg workouts grassy areas for sky watching and picnics dog activity everywhere though so at your own risk. Parking is horrible this basically serves the houses that surround it and no one else and is a thoroughfare for people going to beltline or Stone mountain Trail. Quite noisy not quiet but you can tune it out as you walk away from Moreland... however you get strange stares from residents if they don't welcome your presence in more secluded areas of Freedom Park. Ive felt both welcomed and out of place as I have been chalking in the area more curiosity of what I'm doing than people wanting me to leave but none the less it's much less congenial than other Atlanta parks where ppl are more open to all and be pleasant with strangers.

I am volunteering to celebrate the 2025, 27th birthday of Freedom Park with my chalk art and this time in the park has been the longest time to have a real review of the park space Lovely houses good canopy for exercise and plenty of trail for biking and...