Northeast Georgia Mountains

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The northeast Georgia mountain region offers an outdoor retreat, with its foothills
and mountains serving as the gateway to the Appalachian Mountains and the birthplace of the Chattahoochee River. The Chattahoochee National Forest provides a vast protected, scenic and recreational playground with nearby cabins and cottages for visitors.

Alpine Helen, once a sleepy sawmill town with only one gas station, is a delightful town with red roofs, cobblestone streets and one of the nation’s best Oktoberfest
celebrations. There is no shortage of activities and sights from tubing on the Chattahoochee River through downtown, hiking to twin waterfalls, and visiting an old general store museum to mountain biking and horseback riding. Must-sees in the area are Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, home of the Cabbage Patch Kids, the Sautee Nacoochee Arts Center, Unicoi State Park and the Smithgall Woods Conservation Area.

Blackstock Vineyards & Winery’s new winemaking facility brings the total number of wineries in northeast Georgia to nine. A visit to every one of the wineries in the northeast Georgia Mountains - Chateau Elan, Wolf Mountain, Persimmon Creek, Three Sisters, Frogtown Cellars, Crane Creek, Habersham and Tiger Mountain—is a different experience, from varying mountain views to meeting the people whose love for good wine turned their dreams of a winery into reality. 

Adventurers of all ages eventually find their way to the Chattooga River, a nationally designed “Wild & Scenic” river in the far northeastern corner of Georgia. Three outfitters provide guided raft trips on two sections of the river where paddlers can experience the wild ride of class II, III, IV and V rapids. Choose a half-day trip or go for the whole day, and picnic on the banks of the river or at the base of a waterfall.

The small mountain town of Dahlonega, site of the first American gold rush, is a must. Explore charming shops on the town square, catch a show at the restored historic theater, or immerse yourself in the region’s Appalachian past during the Mountain Music & Medicine Show at the Buisson Arts Center. Real gold mine tours and a gold museum share the town’s roots as a mining center. Outdoor recreational options include hiking, canoeing and tubing. 

The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia showcases the skills of one of the
South’s premier grassroots art forms and explores the historical importance and
changing role of folk pottery in Southern life.

The Kangaroo Conservation Center in Dawsonville offers the Billabong Encounter, a forest exhibit showcasing animals and plants indigenous to Australia and Southeast Asia; and the Aussie Walkabout, a quarter-mile hike that combines mountain views with glimpses of kangaroos and varied local wildlife.

Take a walking tour of a 1.8 mile Scale Model of the Solar System, from the sun on Gainesville’s downtown square to Pluto on Lake Lanier, and learn first-hand the relative distances of planets from each other. For a copy of the brochure that contains descriptions of the planets and a map, visit www.gainesvillehallcvb.org.  

From Toccoa Falls, 26 feet higher than Niagara Falls, on the campus of Toccoa Falls College, to Amicalola Falls, the highest waterfall in Georgia, majestic waterfalls abound in northeastern Georgia. Almost all are easily reached with a short walk or hike from the area’s state parks, roads or parking lots.