Cherokee County's Two New Parks Share One Contract and Almost Nothing Else

Cherokee County opens two new parks this month, ten days apart and at opposite ends of the county. Yellow Creek Road Conservation Area & Trails in Ball Ground holds its ribbon-cutting tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13, and Woodworth Park in Acworth follows on Friday, October 23. Both parks went to one contractor under a single shared contract and draw on the same funding sources. The two sites were designed for close to opposite purposes, though. At Yellow Creek, nearly all 538 acres are set aside to stay as they are, while Woodworth's opening is the first phase of a much bigger park.

One bid, two different jobs

In September 2025 the Board of Commissioners approved a $6.5 million contract with Vertical Earth LLC, plus a $330,000 contingency the county controls, to build both parks. The county bid them together to save money. Five bids came in, and one didn't meet the RFP's requirements. Funding comes from SPLOST 2018, county tree funds and impact fees. The county hasn't published a cost for each park.

That's about all the two parks have in common.

Yellow Creek keeps most of its land as it is

The county bought the Yellow Creek land in 2010, then took twelve years to fold it into a plan. Of the 538 acres, crews disturbed 8 for parking, restrooms and a horse paddock, and half of those 8 acres are supposed to be replanted by opening day. That puts construction on about 1.5 percent of the property. The rest, more than 530 acres in rural northeast Cherokee, is set aside as conservation land.

In the county's groundbreaking announcement, Recreation and Parks Director Jay Worley described the main design choice:

"We will have two sets of trails to keep horse riders and mountain bikers separate for safety purposes. Hikers will be able to use either trail system."

The full system is planned at 15 to 20 miles of trail. It's being built with help from SORBA, the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association, along with the county's Natural Resources Division staff and volunteers. The same announcement quoted Chairman Harry Johnston comparing the new trails to Blankets Creek, the county's well-known mountain bike trails on Sixes Road. He said having "another equal or even bigger and better" system "is going to make Cherokee County the place for off-road biking." It's also the first new park in District 1 since Commissioner Will Cagle took office.

A few things are still unclear. CRPA's park page, last updated October 5, gives the 15 to 20 miles as the planned total for the whole system. It doesn't say how many miles will be ridable this week, and it doesn't list trail names, difficulty ratings, hours or fees. The ceremony listing doesn't say whether the trails open to the public right after the ribbon is cut. Anyone loading a bike or a horse trailer should check CRPA's page before driving up.

The water and camping pieces are future work. The county's 2025 contract announcement says the park will eventually include primitive campsites for equestrians and a canoe and kayak launch. Phase one covers the trailheads, separate parking lots for mountain bikers and riders, the entrance, a restroom building and a maintenance building. Further out, the county plans to connect Yellow Creek by way of the Etowah River Water Trail to Long Swamp Creek Recreation Area, 23 acres at the point where Long Swamp Creek meets the Etowah. Long Swamp is one of three parcels in the northeast parks plan. All three sit within a 5-mile radius of the Highway 369 and Highway 372 intersection. The third is Cochran Park, 102 acres on Highway 372.

The county set e-bike rules the week before opening

The week before Yellow Creek's ribbon-cutting, the Board of Commissioners adopted a new ordinance covering e-bikes, scooters and similar devices in unincorporated Cherokee. The county posted it on October 7. The Cherokee Tribune-Ledger News reported that the ordinance includes a matrix of what's allowed on each type of county trail. For dirt trails like Yellow Creek's, it sorts out like this:

• Mountain bike trails: human-powered bikes, adaptive cycles, and Class I and Class II e-bikes are allowed. Scooters of any kind are not.
• Foot and hiking trails: foot traffic only. No bikes, e-bikes or scooters.
• Signage: the ordinance requires signs, so posted signs at each trailhead are the final word.

The Yellow Creek pages don't list exceptions specific to that park. That goes for e-bikes and for dogs, which CRPA's general rules allow in county parks on a six-foot leash.

Woodworth is the first piece of a much bigger park

At the other end of the county, Woodworth went the opposite way. It's the smaller site, near the intersection of Highway 92 and Old Alabama Road/Hunt Road, and the work happening now is only the start. Phase one includes an entrance, parking, a playground, restrooms, an event lawn and walking trails.

The county's 2025 announcement lists what's planned next:

1. A 50,000-square-foot recreation center and senior center, the county's third.
2. Multipurpose athletic fields for baseball, softball, lacrosse and soccer.
3. A splash pad and more parking.
4. More nature trails, including a proposed canopy walk through the trees.

CRPA leadership expects those later phases to start before 2030, but the timing depends on how much the 2024 SPLOST brings in, and the county will issue a new RFP closer to that point. At the same September 2025 meeting, the Board bought a 1.19-acre parcel on Hunt Road for $390,000 for the future recreation and senior center.

On CRPA's park page, District 4 Commissioner Corey Ragsdale points to location as the main selling point, saying that "accessibility is one of the most important factors in choosing this park location." The plan calls for sidewalks and multi-use paths to connect the park to nearby developments, so people can walk or bike in. He also said it has been seven years since planning began. The connecting paths are also listed as future work.

The ribbon-cutting is Friday, October 23, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. CRPA's park page says "Friday, October 13," but the official event listing has the October 23 date. The park page still described phase one as under construction as of October 5, and neither page gives hours or confirms that the public can use the park the same day.

Veterans Park still hosts the county's October events

Neither new park has any events on the calendar yet beyond its ribbon-cutting. The rest of CRPA's October schedule happens at established parks, mostly Cherokee Veterans Park at 7345 Cumming Highway in Canton.

Veterans Park got its own new feature in September. The county dedicated an inclusive playground there on Saturday, September 12, right before the sensory-friendly quiet hour at Touch A Truck. It sits next to the existing playground so children of different abilities can play together. It includes ground-level play on surfacing made from recycled tires, a wheelchair-accessible merry-go-round set flush with the ground, musical instruments, a Quiet Grove and an accessible Together Glider. The construction agreement was $299,996, paid with a $187,000 state grant for tire-derived products and $113,000 in SPLOST.

The rest of the month on CRPA's calendar:

The Great Pumpkin Fest was originally set for October 10. On October 8 the county moved it to Halloween because of the weather threat from Hurricane Isaias. CRPA's main upcoming-events page still showed October 10 and a 3 p.m. finish when it was last checked. The updated event page has the correct date and hours, plus vendors, a DJ and bouncy houses.

If you own a home near Yellow Creek Road or Highway 92 and want to know how a new park nearby might affect your home's value, Hollingsworth & Company tracks those changes block by block across Cherokee County. Get your instant home valuation, and we'll add the local context behind the number.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.