Georgia Mountain Activities

Georgia Mountain Activities

The North Georgia Mountains offer many things to do and see.

Popular Georgia Mountain activities include many recreational endeavors such as hiking, kayaking, rafting, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, golfing, fishing and hunting.

Other favorites include:
- antique shopping (both Ellijay and Blue Ridge have many shops that are favorite haunts for antique hunters),
- sightseeing and touring by car or motorcycle (especially in the fall when the leaves change),
- attending festivals and mountain fairs,
- buying apples from the many apple houses,
- riding the excursion train from Blue Ridge.
Blue Ridge offers a popular excursion train in Blue Ridge that runs daily between Blue Ridge and McCaysville on the Georgia-Tennessee line.

Hiking
Hikers will enjoy the many trails in the area. We have hiked many of them.
The Southern Terminus for the Appalachian Trail is at Springer Mountain in Fannin County (county seat Blue Ridge) as is the Benton MacKaye Trail. Springer Mountain is about 30 miles from downtown Ellijay and not far from beautiful Amicalola Falls. The Appalachian Trail then winds through the Georgia mountain counties of Union (county seat Blairsville), Lumpkin, White, Habersham, Towns (county seat Hiawassee), and Rabun, for a total of nearly 80 miles in Georgia before crossing into North Carolina. The Benton MacKaye Trail weaves its way through Fannin and Gilmer counties and through the Cohutta Wilderness Area into Tennessee, presenting the hiker many challenging climbs.

The Cohutta Wilderness Area has many wonderful trails including the Jacks River Trail that requires wading the pristine Jacks River 42 times. We've especially enjoyed the hundreds of colorful butterflies floating above this river in the summer.

Camping
The Georgia Mountains offer many wonderful camping opportunities, from primitive camping to luxurious RV parks. Here are just a few -

Doll Mountain Campground, Carters Lake, Ellijay - 706-276-4413
Harris Branch Beach & Campground, Carters Lake, Ellijay - 706-276-4545
Woodring Branch Campground, Carters Lake, Ellijay - 706-276-6050
Camp Cherrylog, Cherrylog - 706-635-5006
Diamond Lure RV Park & Campground, Ellijay - 706-273-3075
Plum Nelly Campground, Ellijay - 706-698-7596
Sugar Creek Campground, Blue Ridge - 706-632-2560
Toccoa Valley Campground, Blue Ridge - 706-838-4317

travel-trailer-rvcamping.com is a great resource for camping, hiking, and especially RV'ing.

Mountain Biking
Gilmer County (county seat Ellijay), recently named " The Mountain Biking Capital of Georga, " offers many challenging trails and back roads for mountain bikers.

Learn more about Georgia mountain biking here.

Lake Activities Major Lakes in our area include Carters Lake (Gilmer County, Lake Blue Ridge (Fannin County), Lake Nottely (Union County), and Lake Chatuge (Towns County). These lakes offer marinas and are large enough for water ski-ing, boating, fishing, and other water activities.
Carters Lake is an Army Corps of Engineers' Lake, which means that there is a buffer zone and thus, virtually no lake-front homes. Carters is a relatively new lake; the dam was finished in 1977, creating the deepest lake east of the Mississippi. It has 62 mile of shoreline, a marina, boat ramps, beaches, picnic parks, and campgrounds.

Fishing, Kayaking, Rafting The rivers in Gilmer County are the Ellijay, Cartecay, Ellijay, Jacks and Conasauga. Mountaintown Creek would be designated a river if it were longer. The Cartecay merges with the Ellijay to become the Coosawattee River which is the major source of Carters Lake.

Fannin County has the Toccoa River, which flows north to form Lake Blue RIdge and then on into Tennessee where it becomes the Ocoee River, site of the 1996 Olympic's White Water events. Fightingtown Creek would be designated a river if it were longer.

Golfing Golfers will enjoy challenging mountain courses at
Whitepath Golf Course in Gilmer County,
Butternut Creek in Blairsville,
and Brasstown Valley in Towns County.