Heritage Park is a wonderful place to walk. The trail takes you into the woods, on a boardwalk through a marshy area, over Nickajack Creek, along the creek past the ruins of a 19th century mill, then connects to the Silver Comet Trail via a short spur trail, and ends at the historic Concord Road covered bridge.

Heritage Park is also the site of one of the Georgia Native Plant Society‘s projects to foster the growth of plants native to our area, many of which are endangered by disruptive development and by the encroachment of invasive introduced species. Native plants evolved for the conditions in our area, and encourage an abundance of bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other local pollinators.

The Georgia Native Plant Society holds monthly workdays in the park. Volunteers plant native specimens rescued from development, and remove privet and other invasive species.

Price Crafts, one of the organizers of the Heritage Park work day told River Edges in an email exchange:

One of the reasons I enjoy our workdays is we learn so much from the park and other volunteers, many of whom are master gardeners, birders, and habitat restorers. For example, did you know the blue-gray gnatcatcher which resembles a small mockingbird, builds a deep nest from lichens held together by spider webs? This little bird is one of many at Heritage Park.

At our next workday we will convert a patch of grass that currently has to be mowed to a low maintenance butterfly garden, consisting of native plants.

The next workday is on September 12 from 10 AM to 12 PM.

For more information email your questions to heritage_park@gnps.org

[Correction:  I corrected the spelling of Price Crafts’ name]