Free Summer Fun in Atlanta

Looking for free things to do in Atlanta? Here are four suggestions from someone who recently moved here.

Piedmont Park is downtown, and while I've never been the Central Park in New York City, this one has to be similar, on a much smaller scale. There are playgrounds, sports fields, a volleyball court that's made with actual beach sand, a pond, anything you could want from a park. It has a dog park, which is one of the few places in Atlanta a dog can run around without a leash. The lake, Clara Meer, is stocked with large mouth bass, crappie, bream, and catfish, free for the fishing. There are grills available all over the park, as well - maybe you can grill that fish right up! There's a pool for all ages that has free swimming space as well as lap lanes, as well, but that one has a small fee to enter. There are different kinds of ducks and geese, not to mention some turtles, that live in and on the lake. You can also use the restroom facilities at the park; there are three sets of restrooms in different areas.

Centennial Olympic Park was built for the 1996 Olympic Games. Before it was built, it was a not so nice section of town, and now it's a large park with lots of interesting things to see. Every day, the Fountain of Rings performs a musical show that if completely free to the public. There are sculptures and a water garden, lots of trees and fountains, and one of the biggest and coolest playgrounds I've ever seen. They're already planning a big 4^th of July celebration, and on the 4^th Saturday of every month from April to September they have Family Fun Days, all with many activities and a different theme each month.

If you live in Fulton County, Georgia, then you can get into the High Museum of Art for free every first Saturday of the month. This is a great opportunity to see some art for free! They not only have a nice permanent collection, but there are constantly visiting collections coming in and out of the museum.

Geocaching is a great way to see the city for free, too! This is like a treasure hunt. If you have a GPS unit, then go to the geocaching website, and you can find coordinates to lots of caches in whatever area you're interested in exploring. There are lots of micro caches to find in urban settings, which are very small containers, so good luck!