Mary Alice Park beach, picnic areas open after county repairs
Mary Alice Park's beach and picnic areas will open Friday after repairs, with new kiosks, fresh sand and a gate system that changes how families exit.
Families heading to Lake Lanier will find Mary Alice Park’s beach and picnic areas open for the first summer season under county operation, but the trip now comes with new rules, new equipment and a park layout that has been repaired and refreshed before the season starts.
Forsyth County said the reopening follows work to remove or replace physical hazards, add signs, refresh restroom facilities, install self-pay parking kiosks, add new beach sand and complete other restoration and maintenance tasks. The park at 1820 Mary Alice Park Road, which the county acquired through an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Cumming, is now operated and maintained under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers master lease. The county said Mary Alice Park is one of its most frequently used lake parks, making the reopening a key test of how county management will handle heavy summer traffic.
The beach and picnic areas are opening while the boat launch remains available for public lake access. The park map lists Mary Alice Park as a 110-acre site with a beach, two picnic areas, boat ramps and a courtesy dock. Day-use hours run from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. March through October and from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. November through February, while the boat launch is open 24 hours. County officials have also said beach visitors can arrive as early as 6 a.m., and that entry can close for the rest of the day on weekends and holidays once the park reaches capacity, with no same-day re-entry.
Parking is now tied to the self-pay kiosk system, with daily passes set at $10 and annual passes at $60, or $54 for seniors. The annual pass works across county lake parks, including Charleston Park, Mary Alice Park, Six Mile Creek Park and Young Deer Creek Park, making the new system more than a single-site change. County staff plan to be onsite during limited weekend hours after full access opens to help with questions, maintenance, safety and security.
Forsyth County also has bigger changes lined up for Mary Alice Park in 2026. The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved a VenTek gate system on Feb. 19, 2026, and the new gate will require either a kiosk receipt or an annual-pass access code to exit the park. Additional improvements are scheduled too, including an outdoor shower near the restroom building, a new swim line, refreshed beach sand, parking lot work and picnic-area upgrades. The county has also listed select free-entry days for June 16, Sept. 26 and Nov. 11.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
