Lilburn, GA Outdoor Activities

Since banding together in 1979, the historians at Atlanta Preservation Center have helped ward off packs of angry bulldozers from more than 175 endangered buildings. Working alongside local government, businesses, and community leaders, the preservation team has saved elaborate structures including the Peters House and Winecoff Hotel. In addition, its headquarters—the 1856 Grant Mansion in Grant Park—is one of just two antebellum houses left in Atlanta and the team is currently working to restore the building to its architecturally accurate origins. When it isn’t keeping delicate treasures from crumbling, the Atlanta Preservation Center leads walking tours of historic districts and tells embarrassing stories from the days when the city’s buildings were just a bunch of baby bricks.

Piedmont Park preserves the luxury of yesteryear. Designed in the late 1800s, the park's facilities have withstood the test of time with recreational halls that reflect the simplicity of its lush landscapes, wetlands, and the onsite Atlanta Botanical Garden. Over the past 20 years, the Piedmont Park Conservancy has restored the park to its historic natural beauty, transforming a dilapidated space into a frequented green space. A slew of activities engage the community with outdoor programs ranging from environmental day camps to team sports such as soccer and softball. Park tours explore the history of the neighborhood and the weekly Green Market whets appetites with fresh produce from local farmers and thieving rabbits.

Competitive angler Rob Jordan pilots year-round adventures on Lake Lanier, a 38,000-acre haven for blueblack herring, shad, bluegill, and trophy-winning magnum spotted bass. He and groups of passengers embark on guided trips aboard his Triton 21 HP bass boat equipped with Lowrance HDS sonar that spots schools of fish in the depths and shipwrecks' bounties of free plywood. The captain explains the craft's technology and helps his charges reel in squirmy swimmers the old-fashioned way as well. He also provides all rods and gear as well as drinks, snacks, and a digital camera to document catches levitating from the pier.

Ron Carroll's fascination with helicopters began in Vietnam, when the aircraft transported him and his fellow infantry through the jungles to the front lines. Two Purple Hearts, nearly 20 years, and a stint in the publishing industry later, Carroll happened upon a copy of Flying magazine and his interest quickly rekindled. He continued with flying lessons, deepening his desire to become a helicopter pilot.

Today, Carroll possesses a Gold Seal CFI certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and helms a team of three pilots with more than 25,000 combined hours of flight experience. With a fleet comprising Robinson R22 and R44 helicopters—as well as a TruFlite H flight simulator that lets aspiring pilots practice operating a helicopter while singing and without leaving the ground—the team has trained throngs of airmen, including governor Sonny Perdue.

Nestled in the high branches of Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center, a network of ropes, ladders, and bridges invites amateur adventurers to scurry across their lengths. Although Treetop Quest’s ropes courses hover as high as 55 feet above the ground, guests stay safe thanks to a belay system that’s impossible to detach at canopy level. During self-guided adventures, they encounter more than 70 obstacles, whooshing along ziplines, scaling rope nets, and carefully crossing suspension and monkey bridges. Before guests ascend through the branches, instructors issue them harnesses and gloves and give them a thorough safety briefing. The courses vary in difficulty and height to accommodate all experience levels and ages, allowing visitors as young as 4 to enjoy a challenge, even if it’s just trying to sweet-talk a squirrel into sharing his stash of Corn Nuts.

Amid the excitement, Treetop Quest educates patrons on the surrounding environment through plaques and info boards at each course level. The courses operate sustainably to respect their arboreal hosts; the structures are treatment-free and don’t puncture the trees in any way.

As drivers execute hairpin turns and speed along the straightaways, the sleek black-and-blue chrome bodies of superkarts screech across the winding, indoor track at Andretti Indoor Karting & Games. The featured attraction at the sprawling complex, the raceway boasts a junior track for drivers 8 and older and an adult track where racers 16 and older can quench their need for speed without fear of a traffic ticket from a cop disguised as a yield sign. The fun center also fosters adrenaline-charged fun with a high ropes course extending up to two stories above the floor and a climbing wall that, at its peak, rises more than 30 feet. The two high-flying attractions look out over the arcade floor, where visitors play classic games such as Ms. Pac-Man or modern favorites such as Big Buck Open Season, which digitally emulates the real-life experience of hunting today's super-intelligent, talking deer.

The constant clack of billiard balls fills the Sky Bar, where guests tipple frosty cocktails while looking down at the race tracks though a plexiglass floor. Beyond the sports-bar atmosphere of the Andretti Grill, a different kind of entertainment reigns at Bonkerz Comedy Club, where performers' standup routines tickle funny bones before they shrink into humorless elbows.