Driving Trails

You don’t even have to leave you car to experience a scenic adventure in Georgia. Explore Georgia from the mountains to the coast along our scenic highways and byways. It’s a great way to soak up the history, nature and charismatic culture that fills the state.

Heritage Highway 441 Trail
On U.S. Highway 441, you’ll experience Georgia’s incredibly diverse terrain, from the mountains to the coastal plains. Discover spectacular views of peaks and valleys as you drive among the southern Appalachian Mountains. As the mountains give way to the rolling hills of the Piedmont Region, you’ll find antebellum mansions to explore in historic cities like Madison and Milledgeville. Then travel south where the land flattens out, providing a perfect setting for you to tour a cotton field or go canoeing on mysterious black water rivers.

Blue and Gray Trail
If there is a Civil War buff in your family, this trail, which includes more than 60 battlefields, national parks, and museums, is a must-see. Start your trip at Chickamauga, site of the second largest battle of the war and the first battlefield to be designated a National Military Park. Then follow a route that mirrors Sherman’s movements during the Atlanta Campaign. Go to the top of Kennesaw Mountain and imagine preparing for battle. Or for something a little lighter, visit the Atlanta home in which Margaret Mitchell wrote the epic Civil War novel Gone With the Wind.

Colonial Coast Birding Trail
You’ll make lots of new, feathered friends on the Colonial Coast Birding Trail. More than 300 species of birds have been spotted at 18 sites winding through 100 miles of diverse habitats. You might spy a great egret stretching its long legs in the marshes near Jekyll Island. See a bald eagle soaring over Melon Bluff Nature Preserve. Enjoy the rare sight of an endangered wood stork feeding its young near Savannah. Or watch sandpipers skitter away from the waves at Cumberland Island National Seashore. Be sure to visit throughout the year to see new species as they migrate into the area.

Antebellum Trail
Get a glimpse of what life was like before the Civil War on the Antebellum Trail. Traversing 100 miles, this trail takes you through seven communities that virtually escaped Sherman’s March to the Sea. Stroll down avenues lined with period white columned mansions in historic Madison. Visit Milledgeville, the former capital city, for a tour of the stately Old Governor’s Mansion. Old Clinton has so many well-preserved homes to see that it has been called “The Town that Time Forgot.” And you just might discover some forgotten Confederate gold that was rumored to be hidden in the Hay House, a National Landmark in Macon.

Peach Blossom Trail
You can’t visit the Peach State without indulging in the sights, scents, and flavors of the Peach Blossom Trail. Stretching through eight counties from south metro Atlanta to the fertile fields of middle Georgia, the trail becomes a wonderland in March as delicate pink and white blossoms burst forth from the trees. If you’d like a feast for more than your eyes, come back between May and August and sample some of Georgia’s favorite fruit at a roadside stand. Or for an extra treat, visit an orchard that lets you pick your own peaches right off the tree.

Southern Highroads Trail
For 360 miles of stunning mountain and lake views, take a drive on the Southern Highroads Trail. You’ll discover welcoming towns like Ellijay, Georgia’s apple capital, and Helen, a re-creation of a Bavarian alpine village tucked into the Appalachians. Incredible waterfalls include the double falls of Anna Ruby and the plunging waters at Tallulah Gorge. And you’ll enjoy spectacular views of four states from Brasstown Bald, Georgia’s tallest mountain. To get even closer to all the scenic beauty, try camping at one of the state parks, renting a mountain cabin, or taking a hike on the Appalachian Trail.

Plantations and Pines Trail
From Bainbridge to Brunswick, this tree-lined trail takes you on a journey through the past and the present. See the stately old homes of historic plantations, from Pebble Hill Plantation in the west to Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation in the east. Get up close and personal with an alligator on a boat tour of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Stop and smell the roses in Thomasville, whose flower-lined streets and gardens have earned it the nickname “The Rose City.” And encounter some wildlife at the new Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island when you reach the coast.

Woodpecker Trail
Travel from the historic river town of Augusta to the natural wonders of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on the Woodpecker Trail. Along this scenic, 204-mile trail you’ll find friendly small towns, local museums, and great places to canoe and camp such as Magnolia Springs State Park with its crystal clear natural springs. You’ll also find hundreds of farms producing bumper crops of pecans, peanuts, and Vidalia Sweet Onions. And you may even spot the trail’s namesake—the numerous red-headed woodpeckers that inhabit the pine forests along the route.

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