Locate It: Winder

The charming community of Winder, Georgia is home to Fort Yargo State Park, one of the most popular state parks destinations in the state. Daytime or overnight guests at Fort Yargo can take part in activities like swimming, biking, fishing, paddling, geocaching, boating, RVing, and camping on the 1,816-acre complex.

Located between Atlanta and Athens, Fort Yargo features the 1792 log fort built by settlers for protection against Creek and Cherokee Indians from which its name derives. Today, visitors come to Fort Yargo for its wide variety of outdoor recreation and scenery. A 260-acre lake offers a large swimming beach, fishing, and boat ramps. The park’s wooded disc golf course is exceptionally challenging. And mountain bikers and hikers can test their endurance on 20.5 miles of trails. One of the trails, the Winder Connector, is an easy 1.2 miles into downtown Winder, where visitors can enjoy antique, craft and furniture shops and a variety of restaurants and coffee shops.

Overnight guests at Fort Yargo can choose from fully equipped cottages, adventure cabins, or cozy campsites. Some of Fort Yargo’s most popular accommodations types are the lakeside “glamping” yurts, which are permanent canvas and wooden “tents.” Each yurt has furniture and electricity inside and a fire ring, picnic table, and grill outside.

The Chimneys, a beautifully designed 18-hole, par 72 golf course in Winder has five sets of tees to challenge golfers of all skill levels. The picturesque course layout features intricate, hand-laid rockwork that surrounds many of the tees, greens and fairways using the naturally occurring rock from the site.

The City of Winder has several city parks, including the downtown Jug Tavern Park, site of festivals, outdoor movies, and concerts on the park stage. Winder’s role as the Barrow County seat means it also enjoys the services of Barrow County Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services department. This county department manages recreation and athletic facilities throughout Barrow County, such as the 66-acre Victor Lord Park that includes a multi-use recreation center with a gymnasium, stage, and other rooms, nature trails, and a tennis complex. Barrow also has an outdoor regulation pickleball court in Winder.

The Brad Akins branch of the YMCA of Georgia’s Piedmont is in Winder, offering aquatics programs, youth sports including soccer, cheer and tumbling, martial arts, youth basketball, and tennis, and adult sports such as men’s flag football.

View a simplified version of the Barrow County Visitors Guide on any device, or you can view the mobile version here.