Rockdale County parks and recreations offers great amenities and with the recent construction of the South Rockdale Community Park of East Fairview and soon to be completed Lorraine Trailhead, there's more reason to explore the new trails and get a little closer to nature.

The South Rockdale Park, which officially opened last September, features three Adirondack shelters that are available for rental year round.

Rockdale County's special projects manager, Andrew Hammer said, "The construction of the shelters was built using a Home Depot grant and partial labor was done by Home Depot volunteers. Team Depot, a volunteer group that basically is made up of volunteers from Home Depot, built the platform and bases and then a county personnel came out to finish the remaining portion of it."

The three Adirondack shelters are located at off to the left side of the entrance of the PATH trail and near the covered pavilion that houses the men's and women's restrooms. All three shelters are the same size and can easily fit a family of four. Each shelter includes a picnic table as well as camping fire rings built by the Boy Scouts.

Renters need to bring their own camping equipment, but overnight parking permits will be provided.

Rockdale's director of community affairs and innovative programs, Tonya Parker said, "We try to make an effort to schedule activities all year round, both indoor and outdoor, so there's plenty for students and their families to do during the school year and in between breaks. I really encourage everyone to visit Rockdale's parks and recreation website to see what we have to offer for our residents."

Rentals for the shelters are $12 daily and $20 for the weekend. Rates and fees for non-Rockdale residents are slightly higher.

For more information and a complete list of rates and fees, go to http://www.rockdalecounty.org/main.cfm?id=3390 or call (770) 278-7529 to reserve your Adirondack shelter today.