After the tragic drownings of her eight-year-old son and a five-year old foster son at Tallulah Gorge, L. Stephanie Ray brought this wrongful death action against the Georgia Department of Natural Resources “the Department” and Georgia Power Company.1 The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of both defendants on the basis of the Recreational Property Act, OCGA § 51-3-20 et seq. “the Act”. Because the trial court correctly found that the immunity provisions of the Act apply in these circumstances, we affirm. Summary judgment is appropriate where no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. To obtain summary judgment, a defendant need not produce any evidence, but must only point to an absence of evidence supporting at least one essential element of the plaintiff’s claim. On appeal from a grant of summary judgment, we conduct a de novo review of the evidence, and construe the evidence in favor of the nonmoving party. Citations, punctuation, and footnotes omitted. Collins v. City of Summerville , 284 Ga. App. 54 643 SE2d 305 2007. So viewed, the evidence shows that Tallulah Gorge State Park is part of the Georgia State Park System and is managed by the Department. Georgia Power Company leased the property to the Department and owns and operates Tallulah Falls Dam.
Ray, an adult friend, her son, and three foster children travelled to the park to walk and view the scenery. They arrived late in the day, and the Interpretive Center had just closed. A park ranger reopened the center to get a map for them, and informed them that they could access the trails and that the park was open until dusk. The ranger gave Ray’s adult friend information about the trails and stairwells, told them to enjoy themselves, and left. Ray and her companions walked down a trail and stairway to a landing, from which they saw other people walking on the rocks below with their children. Ray’s adult companion went down several additional stairs and out onto the rocks, and Ray’s son and another of the children followed him. The two children returned to the landing and asked Ray if they could put their feet in the water, and she told them they could not. When she left them to walk out onto the rocks herself, they were on the landing, and she did not see how they got into the water. She heard a splash, and her fifteen-year-old foster child screamed, “They fell in.” Tragically, both boys were swept away and drowned, despite Ray’s desperate efforts to rescue them.
