Tidwell Park Is Closed Until 2029. Does the Pass on Your Dash Still Work at the Next Ramp?

Tidwell Park, off Pilgrim Mill Road, closed to the public on August 3, 2026, and Forsyth County puts its reopening at an estimated 2029. If you launched there, you probably paid the $8 ramp fee or kept a $40 Corps annual pass on the dash. That second detail now matters more than which ramp is closest. Forsyth County manages two groups of lake parks, and each group takes a different annual pass.

So the obvious move, driving to the nearest big county ramp, can leave you at a kiosk paying $10 for the day while the pass you already bought sits on the dashboard and doesn't count there.

Why the gate on Pilgrim Mill Road is fenced

The closure is for Forsyth County's new raw water intake on Lake Lanier. As Lakeside News reported in August, the intake will sit about 600 feet offshore from the park. Raw water will run through a 2,000-foot tunnel about 180 feet underground to a new pump station at 4690 Pilgrim Mill Road, then through a 3-mile transmission main along Pilgrim Mill Road to the county's treatment plant. In the same story, Scott Adams, director of the county's Department of Water & Sewer, said the project "will provide a redundancy and resiliency for all County citizens."

According to the county, Tidwell stays closed while the tunnel, shaft and intake are built, because the site is needed for the intake's intermediate shaft. The construction area is fenced, and message boards along Pilgrim Mill Road announce the closure. The full intake project runs in phases through 2031, so the park reopens before the whole project is finished.

Tidwell was a simple launch. The county lists a boat ramp, a courtesy dock and restrooms. There was no vehicle fee, launching cost $8, and the $40 Corps annual pass covered the ramp. Many of the ramps nearby don't follow those rules.

Two passes, two groups of parks

On June 9, 2026, Forsyth County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finalized a cost-sharing agreement. It moved some responsibilities for five Lake Lanier access points from the Corps to the county. The five are Tidwell, Vann's Tavern, Two Mile Creek, Keith's Bridge and Long Hollow. Those five still take the Corps pass. The county's longer-running lake parks use their own pass. Here's the county's fee table in one place:

You also buy the two passes in different places. Any of these park kiosks sells a temporary annual pass. You exchange a temporary Forsyth County pass at the Central Park, Fowler Park or Old Atlanta recreation centers. You exchange a temporary USACE pass at the Corps office, 1050 Buford Dam Road in Buford, (770) 945-9531. The county pass gets a 10% discount for ages 55 and up at Charleston, Mary Alice, Six Mile Creek and Young Deer Creek.

If your Corps pass is on the dash

A Tidwell regular with the $40 pass still has four Forsyth ramps that honor it. All four are on the north end of the county's shoreline.

• Vann's Tavern Park, 9300 Vanns Tavern Road, Gainesville. The ramp is open 24 hours, there's no vehicle fee, and the pass covers the ramp only, as it did at Tidwell.
• Two Mile Creek Park, 9200 Bethel Road, Gainesville. The county lists both the day-use area and the ramp as open 24 hours.
• Keith Bridge Park, 9720 Old Keith Bridge Road, Gainesville. The 2026 day-use season ran May 1 through September 22, so the picnic-and-swim season is over, but the ramp is listed as open 24 hours.
• Long Hollow Park, 8525 Bryant Road, Gainesville. Same arrangement as Keith Bridge: day use ended September 22, and the ramp is listed as open 24 hours.

Keith's Bridge and Long Hollow also matter later this year. Under the Corps' 2026–27 waterfowl rules for Lake Lanier, hunting is allowed in the closed portions of both parks. The seasons run November 21–29, 2026 and December 12, 2026 through January 31, 2027, with youth, military and veteran days November 14–15. The Corps hasn't announced a park-wide closure at either one.

The Corps also says its $40 annual pass is meant for its own day-use parks. That makes Corps-run ramps such as East Bank and Lower Pool West, which charge launch fees, another option for pass holders.

If you'd rather buy the county pass

For boaters closer to Cumming, the Forsyth County pass covers four ramps. All four switch to winter day-use hours on November 1.

Charleston Park, 5850 Charleston Park Road, is open all twelve months. Day use runs 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. March through October and 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. November through February, and the ramps stay open 24 hours.

Mary Alice Park, 1820 Mary Alice Park Road, keeps boat access year-round on the same seasonal day-use hours. The ramp is open 24 hours, subject to capacity. Mark one stretch on the calendar. The county's 2026 deer hunt notice closes Mary Alice to the public November 10–12, with an evening closure on November 9 for the mandatory safety briefing, and the park reopens November 13.

Six Mile Creek Park, 6020 Browns Bridge Road, and Young Deer Creek Park, 7300 Heard Road, both list 24-hour ramps and winter day-use hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The county pass costs $20 more a year than the Corps pass, and the county's day rate is $2 higher than Tidwell's was. That's a small price for the Cumming-side ramps. It's money wasted if you already own the Corps pass and the north-end ramps work for you.

Check the rest of the lake before you hitch up

The ramps outside Forsyth's system are a mixed picture right now. As of the Corps recreation status page updated October 16, 2026, boat ramps at Belton Bridge, Lanier Park, Old Federal Campground, Old Federal Day Use, Robinson, Thompson Bridge and Tidwell were closed. On the same update, ramps at Keith's Bridge, Long Hollow, Two Mile, Sawnee, Bald Ridge Creek, Little Ridge, Lower Pool West and East Bank were open. Lower Pool East was marked seasonally closed.

That page only covers areas the Corps manages, so county-run parks like Charleston and Mary Alice aren't on it. The Corps also notes that some of its parks close fully or partly in winter, and that most Lanier ramps are open year-round but can close in low water.

Low water is a real factor this fall. In mid-October, Discover Lanier showed the lake at 1,063.56 feet, 7.44 feet below the 1,071-foot full pool. Before a cold-weather launch, a quick routine helps:

1. Match your pass to the park using the county's Lake Lanier day-use parks page.
2. Check the Corps status page for any Corps-managed ramp.
3. Check the park's own county page for hunt dates. The county posted Mary Alice's November closure there.

What comes back to Pilgrim Mill Road

For Tidwell's reopening, the county's project page lists boat ramp foundation stabilization and erosion control, a resurfaced parking lot, new benches, guardrails, signage, trash cans, a bulletin board, a traffic counter, shoreline and surface erosion control, and a new osprey platform. Lakeside News reported that a new courtesy dock is also part of the plan. The county posts updates and an e-newsletter signup on its water intake facility page.

Lake access is part of everyday life on Lanier, and how close a home sits to a working ramp is a fair question to ask about any property near the water. Dani Burns has lived on Lake Lanier since 2006. If a closure like Tidwell's has you wondering what your own lake access is worth, ask Dani for your home's value. She'll walk you through it the way one neighbor would for another.