Billy Rosenbalm and his family try to visit Georgia's Cloudland Canyon State Park once a month. They've lived in Dade County for 14 years and live only a mile away from the park's entrance. They enjoy watching the seasons change at one of Georgia's most popular state parks.
Rosenbalm figured he would get some exercise on Sunday by hiking the park's waterfall trail.
"I just wanted to get out, enjoy the park and get a breather from everything," Rosenbalm said.
He took his daughter and her friend, and after paying the entrance fee they saw the main parking lot was packed. A park employee directed them to the overflow parking area.
Once they were on the trail, Rosenbalm knew there was a problem.
"I have never seen so many people on that trail," he said. "There was no way to keep yourself safe in that place."
Over the weekend, hundreds of people from all over the state flocked to Cloudland Canyon despite federal, state and local mandates requiring people to practice social distancing and to stay at home as much as possible.
The Georgia Department of Public Health also reported its first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Dade County Monday night, putting the county and its residents on high alert.
Dade County Commission Chairman Ted Rumley said Tuesday morning that his phone has been ringing off the hook from people worried about the park's popularity who want it shut down.
"The majority of people feel threatened by it," Rumley said. "There has to be some line we can draw. We're working on that now. We're going to take care of our people."
Rep. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, said he was notified of the large crowds at the park on Friday from people who had family members working there as well as neighbors who live in the area.
By Tuesday, Moore said he received more calls about Cloudland Canyon State Park than any other issue since he became a state representative.
On Friday, he said, he reached out to Gov. Brian Kemp's office and the Department of Natural Resources - the body that oversees state parks - to let them know the public concerns.
By Monday at 4 p.m., the department had issued new guidelines for visitors that include a 150-car limit in the park at one time and limitations for hiker access to the canyon and waterfall trails.
Rangers will be stationed at high-traffic areas to make sure people are keeping a safe distance away from each other.
An alert on the park's website states some trails will be limited to 10 people at a time, including the waterfall trail.
The popular Rainbow Lake trail on Signal Mountain ran into similar issues. The trail had so many visitors on Saturday, March 28, that the town decided to close it the next day.
A petition in support of shutting down the Walnut Street Bridge to prevent the spread of COVID-19 had more than 940 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
After crowds showed up over the weekend, Dade County residents are urging elected officials to completely close down the park, and they say the new measures aren't strict enough.
"It's not a safe environment," Rosenbalm said. "I don't think [the restrictions] are enough. If you have 150 cars, and you think about it, you could pack five people in a car."
"I understand where the state is coming from," Moore said. "We all have different interests, different problems and circumstances. I think the regulations are reasonable."
Closing down the state parks would have to come from the top, but Moore said local officials have an option that would close the park to anyone outside the county.
After Kemp signed a state of emergency, lawmakers gave him the authority to give local government leaders control over their counties and cities. Fannin and Camden counties have made the drastic decision to completely close down their borders and not let anyone who lives outside the county to come in.
Dade County could do the same, Moore said.
"It's either that or have 150 people from Dade County show up and shut it down for a day," he said. "I think if that happened, people down in Atlanta would get the hint."
Rumley said the county commission and its attorney are making calls to figure out what it can and can't do in terms of closing the park. He said the county should have more solid answers later Tuesday afternoon.
Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.