Regional Outdoor Recreational Opportunities

UGA researchers found that the rural counties surrounding Columbus have the strong potential to tap into a vibrant regional tourism economy by leveraging their significant natural and cultural resources. For example, in Stewart County, 383,174 people visited Providence Canyon and 107,323 visited Florence Marina in 2021. Outdoor recreation is popular in Georgia. In each of the last fi ve years, visitation numbers at Georgia State Parks have increased, up 36.72% from 2017 to 2021. In 2021, visitors to F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Florence Marina State Park, and Providence Canyon State Park — all parks in the Columbus/Fort Moore area — accounted for 9.4% of the total number of visitors to Georgia State Parks. In each of these parks, visitation numbers in 2021 were above 2019 numbers, before the pandemic struck. At F.D. Roosevelt State Park and Providence Canyon State Park, visitation has nearly doubled since 2017. Although F.D. Roosevelt State Park is not in this report’s six-county study area, the number of visitors to that nearby park is significant and could support additional tourism in the study area — especially given the presence of two state parks and four wildlife management areas (WMAs) in the five Georgia counties studied. Russell County, Alabama, also boasts a hunting and recreational area similar to Georgia’s WMAs that draws visitors. Many people understand the role of state parks