The City of Johns Creek has partnered with Googles Trekker team to capture 360-degree imagery of parks and natural areas, which are now available to users through Google Maps.

The project, which is the first of its kind in Georgia, includes panoramic photos of Newtown, Ocee, and Shakerag Parks, as well as fourteen miles of the Chattahoochee River, one mile of Rogers Bridge Trail, and one mile of the Linear Park Trail in Technology Park.

The Trekker device is a 50-pound, backpack-mounted version of the same camera setup that Google mounts on top of cars to collect StreetView imagery. The spherical camera has fifteen independent cameras that each take a photo every 1.5-seconds. The fifteen photos from each 1.5 second capture are then assembled into one panoramic photo by Google and made available in Google Maps and Google Earth, so users can virtually travel down park trails and the river.

Residents and visitors can view the panoramic photos on the parks pages of the Citys website (JohnsCreekGa.gov) or view panoramic imagery on Google Maps using StreetView.