Shore Sweep

Lake Lanier Association’s annual Shore Sweep takes place on a Saturday in late September for the benefit of Lake Lanier and all that enjoy its beauty. Hundreds of volunteers come together for one BIG day of getting their hands dirty — literally. People walk the shorelines and travel the lake by boat, collecting trash in all shapes and size, from plastic water bottles to dock floatation blocks, dysfunctional lawn chairs, coolers, abandoned floats…the list is endless.

With over 1,000 volunteers – lake residents, marina employees, recreational boaters and anyone else willing to lend a hand – collecting trash along the shores of Lake Lanier, Shore Sweep is an enormous success. Drop-off locations at parks, boat ramps, and participating marinas all around the lake make it easy for volunteers to dispose of the trash they collect. We have even seen some crews head out over and over again, bringing in loads of trash for hours. Each year there are those who try to break the record Captain Rick Marton set when he and his crew collected 9 tons of trash.

As a Shore Sweep Volunteer, the first thing you need is…you guessed it — trash bags! Volunteers may pick up trash bags to collect trash from the shoreline at many locations around the lake. Those same locations participate as trash drop-off locations. Lake Lanier Islands even allows volunteers to enter at no charge through the main gate to collect trash around its shoreline and property.

In addition to our day-of-event locations, there are several advance drop-off locations around the lake. Volunteers can bring bagged trash or large items to these locations for 2 weeks prior to the BIG DAY. LLA schedules barges to pick up at all these locations. Bringing items to the advance drop-off locations during the week prior to Shore Sweep gives everyone around the lake a great way to contribute.

One of our awesome volunteers put together these quick instructions about what to expect the day of the Shore Sweep event.

Click here to see the document: Everything you wanted to know about Shore Sweep

Volunteer registration helps us coordinate and make the best use of our workforce on the day of the event.

To register for the Shore Sweep event, please sign up here:

Shore Sweep 2019 Registration

In addition to the day of the event participating locations, we also have eight advance drop off locations around the lake. The advance locations are open two weeks prior to the event and will stay open through Friday evening, 9/25/2020. You can go ahead and bring bagged trash or large items and leave them at one of these locations. We have volunteers with boats scheduled to pick up at all these locations on Saturday morning for removal. Especially if you are not available to help with Shore Sweep on 9/26/2020, bringing items to the advance locations during the week is a great way to contribute to this event even if your schedule won’t allow you to be there on Saturday.

For the advance locations, THEY ONLY ACCEPT TRASH WHILE THE SHORE SWEEP SIGNS ARE IN PLACE. Please DO NOT bring trash to these locations other times of the year. Below is the list of advance locations. If you bring trash to any of these locations, please look for the signs posted and leave the debris close to the signs.

The lake map coordinates are from the Atlantic Mapping Recreation and Fishing Guide for Lake Lanier.

1. Map coordinate J-7, closest buoy marker 1SM, old beach at Shady Grove Park
2. Map coordinate H-7, closest buoy marker 4YD, Beaver Ruin Road shoreline area
3. Map coordinate L-3, closest buoy marker 2SC, Gwinnett Park
4. Map coordinate N-9, closest buoy marker 14, Gaines Ferry Islands
5. Map coordinate L-18, closest buoy marker 33, Keith’s Bridge Island
6. Map coordinate M-24, closest buoy marker 49, Old Dawsonville Highway road bed near DNR regional office and Martin Docks
7. Map coordinate M-28, closest buoy marker 2WC, unnamed island
8. Map coordinate D-21, closest buoy marker 21C, Nix Island

Advance Drop locations:

For the actual day of this year’s event, Saturday 9/26/2020, drop-off sites open at 8:00AM and will stay open until 1:00PM. We need volunteers by land as well as by water. For our by water volunteers, power boats, jet skis, pontoons, kayaks and canoes all have a place at this event.

There are 12 participating locations that you can choose to report to volunteer:

1. Bald Ridge Marina, by the boat ramp, next to the gas dock
2. Aqualand Marina, around to the south eastern corner of the Aqualand property, by the maintenance yard boat ramp
3. Gainesville Marina, at the top of the sales dock
4. Port Royale Marina, at the gas dock
5. Lanier Islands Park, along the front entrance roadway
6. Balus Creek Boat Ramp
7. University Yacht Club, at the gas dock
8. Don Carter Park, by the boat ramp, close to the cabins
9. Gwinnett Park, across from Lanier Park beach at Saddle Dike #2
10. Longwood Park, at the boat dock
11. War Hill Parks
12. Clark’s Bridge Boat ramp

Shore Sweep Event Day participating locations: