Welcome to Melton Park!
Melton Park is a DeKalb County greenspace adjacent to the Clairmont Heights neighborhood. Visitors can enjoy a 0.6 mile loop of soft-surface trails through bottomland forest and along stream banks at the confluence of Glenn Creek, Burnt Fork Creek, and the South Fork of Peachtree Creek.
At the north end of the park, a stepping-stone creek crossing connects Melton Park to the trails of Mason Mill Park and the ruins of the old Decatur Waterworks. Near the trailhead at Desmond Drive and Park Lane, look for the many native plants installed and labeled by the Friends of Ira B. Melton Park. Volunteers and neighbors hold regular workdays to remove invasive species and to restore habitat and ecological diversity.
Time for the Fall Festival!
As the weather cools off (soon!) the Friends start preparing for our annual Fall Festival. Join us on October 20, 2024, for this year's fun event.
Getting there:
The trailhead is located at this street address:
2080 Desmond Drive, Decatur, GA 30033
Enter this in your GPS device or mapping app for directions to the park entrance. The
trailhead is directly across from the T-intersection of Desmond Drive with Park Lane. Limited street-side parking is available on nearby neighborhood streets.
Walking conditions are generally good near the trail entrance, and the paths are clearly marked.
Native Plant Garden:
Visitors can find a wide variety of native plants very close to the trailhead. In 2024, the Friends of Melton Park worked to earn grants for a set of beautiful signs that identify gems of the forest. Be on the lookout for American Beautyberry, Virginia Sweetspire, native ferns, oaks, and maple varieties that will thrive in your own yard. Native plants are the best support for pollinators and our local ecology.
Click here for a full-sized version of the image below. It provides more information about the benefits of native plants!
The purple blazes in
Melton Park form a loop section of the Three Creeks Trail, while wooden posts
with white arrows direct visitors from the main path onto connector spur
trails. Click this link or the map below for a full-size, printable version.
Ranger Jonah McDonald, the DeKalb County Park Naturalist stationed at Mason Mill Park, provides details about a wide variety of park-based nature activities on the Eventbrite site. Programs take place in Mason Mill Park, our own Melton Park, and nearby Medlock Park. Find out more and register for an upcoming
event!
DeKalb Junior Ranger Program:
This program is designed for children ages 5-12 but open to all youth, free of charge. Visit the DeKalb Junior Ranger page for more details.
We encourage you to download and print your own copy of the Activity Journal, a self-guided exploration of natural features visible throughout DeKalb County. How many of the activities you can complete in just in Melton Park? We hope you can also explore the natural gems in the other public parks in the DeKalb County system!
2023 Inspiration Awards: Valerie Boss
The Friends of Ira B Melton Park know that great parks exist through the efforts of leaders who nurture the bond between parks and communities. Park Pride's Annual Inspiration Awards honor these leaders, whose efforts are invaluable to our collective intention to make all parks great parks, and to make them accessible to all Atlanta residents and visitors.
Congratulations to Valerie Boss, a founder and patron of DeKalb’s Ira B. Melton Park, recognized in 2023 with one of Park Pride's annual Inspiration Awards for her service to the community! Several nominators told us that they couldn’t imagine what Melton Park would be like if not for Valerie and her love of this space.
Valerie Boss has been
involved in the park since its beginning back in 2001, when a letter-writing
campaign convinced the County to purchase the property as greenspace. To
Valerie, the potential of this space was obvious, and through her stewardship
and leadership, it has become a favorite park for many. The Friends of Ira B Melton Park, the Board of the Clairmont Heights Civic Association, and the neighborhood of Clairmont Heights thank and commend Valerie for
her love and dedicated service to this park. Your passion is inspiring!
Link to award celebration on YouTube: LINK
Questions? Ideas? Want to volunteer?
We'd love to hear from
you! Feel free to email us at meltonparkfriends (at) gmail (dot)
com to contact the Friends of Ira B. Melton Park group, including to be
added to our mailing list.
Support Ira B. Melton Park:
Park Pride is a
nonprofit organization working with communities all over Atlanta to improve
their parks, providing programs, funding, and leadership to create more and
better greenspaces. To make a financial contribution specifically for Melton,
go to https://parkpride.org/we-can-help/fiscal-sponsor/donate-to-a-local-park/ and select "Ira B. Melton Park" from the "Name of Park"
drop-down menu.
To all neighbors of Clairmont Heights - Thanks for your support!