8 Coolest Towns in Georgia for a Summer Vacation
Summer in Georgia is calling, and its small towns are where the fun lives. Float the Chattahoochee through the Bavarian village of Helen. Climb down into the thousand-foot gorge at Tallulah Falls. Pan for real gold in Dahlonega, then drink the wine the same hills grew. Kick off your shoes on three miles of Atlantic sand at Tybee Island. Turns out the coolest towns are the ones with a main street and a story.
Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge has a national forest on one side and a mountain lake on the other. Lake Blue Ridge covers 3,290 acres of clear mountain water. Boat ramps and swim spots draw a crowd all summer. The Chattahoochee National Forest spans 750,000 acres across north Georgia. The Aska Adventure Area east of downtown packs 17 miles of trail for hikers and bikers.
The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway makes a four-hour round trip from the 1905 depot to McCaysville. The state line is painted across Main Street there. You can stand with one foot in Georgia and one in Tennessee. East and West Main downtown are lined with shops. The Swan Drive-In nearby has shown double features since 1955. Mercier Orchards on Highway 5 opens its you-pick rows in late June.
Helen
Helen looks like it was airlifted from the Bavarian Alps. The town remade itself as an alpine village in 1969. An ordinance now requires every downtown building to match, gas station included. Its Oktoberfest is the longest-running in the United States. German bands and beer take the Festhalle stage from September into early November.
The Chattahoochee River cuts right through the middle of town. Tubing outfitters put in downtown for a two-hour float. Anna Ruby Falls drops 153 feet six miles north in Unicoi State Park, at the end of a paved half-mile trail. The surrounding hills are wine country. Habersham Winery is on Main Street, and Yonah Mountain Vineyards is just south. Bodensee Restaurant plates spätzle and schnitzel with a Bavarian draft.
Dahlonega
Dahlonega struck gold twenty years before California did. The country's first major gold rush began here in 1828. You can still pan at Crisson Gold Mine on Wimpy Mill Road. The Dahlonega Gold Museum occupies the 1836 Lumpkin County Courthouse. Coins struck at the local branch mint between 1838 and 1861 are on display.
Georgia's wine country centers on Dahlonega now. More than ten wineries cluster within a 30-minute drive, Wolf Mountain Vineyards and Frogtown Cellars among them. DeSoto Falls Scenic Area loops three miles past two waterfalls, twelve miles north on Highway 129. Appalachian Outfitters rents tubes, kayaks, and canoes for the Chestatee River. The R-Ranch Rodeo brings bull riding and a calf scramble to town each June.
Ellijay
Ellijay is Georgia's apple capital, and the orchards earn it. R & A Orchards and Hillcrest Orchards open you-pick rows through summer and fall. Hillcrest adds hayrides and a petting farm. Mercier Orchards is twelve miles north. Reece's Cider Company in East Ellijay turns the fruit into hard cider, a rarity in this part of the state.
The Cartecay River threads right through downtown, tubing distance from the courthouse. Ellijay River Outfitters books tubing, kayak, and rafting trips when the water cooperates. Springer Mountain marks the southern start of the Appalachian Trail, 25 miles north by Forest Service Road 42. Blue Sky Cabin Rentals manages more than 200 cabins in the mountains, most with hot tubs and fireplaces.
Tallulah Falls
Tallulah Gorge drops a thousand feet straight down. A suspension bridge sways 80 feet above the floor. Six waterfalls stair-step through the canyon, including 96-foot Hurricane Falls. The state park hands out only 100 permits a day for the climb to the bottom. A rim trail gives everyone else the long view.
Tallulah Falls earned the name "Niagara of the South" in the 1880s. The railway arrived, and more than a dozen hotels went up. A 1921 fire took most of them. The 1913 dam upstream had already pulled the water off the falls. Downstream, the 597-acre Lake Tugalo holds bass, walleye, and sunfish. The Tallulah 1882 coffee shop pours inside the restored railway depot.
Madison
Madison still has its antebellum core because Sherman's army passed it by. The popular story credits a town too pretty to burn. The reality is plainer. Sherman marched with a different wing. A Unionist former senator, Joshua Hill, talked the Union commanders out of it. The Historic District holds more than 100 buildings on the National Register, including Greek Revival Heritage Hall from 1811. The 1905 Morgan County Courthouse still hears cases on the square.
The Firefly Festival lights up Town Park in late July. It brings live music, food vendors, and after-dark firefly walks led by naturalists. The three-mile Madison Greenway Trail links downtown to preserved farms, an hour east of Atlanta. The Farmhouse Inn spreads across 100 acres with farm-to-table breakfasts. The James Madison Inn puts boutique rooms right on the square.
Milledgeville
Milledgeville was Georgia's capital for six decades, through the Civil War. Atlanta took the title in 1868. The town dates to 1803. The 1838 Old Governor's Mansion on Clarke Street housed eight governors and is now a National Historic Landmark, with hourly tours through Georgia College & State University. Andalusia Farm, on the north edge, was Flannery O'Connor's home from 1951 until her death in 1964. Her writing desk is still there, and her peacocks' descendants still strut the grounds.
Lake Sinclair spreads over 15,300 acres east of town. Public boat ramps launch from Twin Bridges Recreation Area. The Oconee River slides through downtown, and Oconee Outfitters guides paddles on summer weekends. The Oconee River Greenway lines the bank as a walking path. Buffington's Bar & Grill on Hancock Street has been the downtown standby for years.
Tybee Island
Tybee Island is Savannah's beach, three miles of Atlantic sand 18 miles east of the city. The Tybee Island Light Station has marked the river mouth since 1736. The tower you climb today went up in 1867 on a 1773 base. It is one of the oldest light stations in the country, 178 steps to the gallery. The south-end pier draws a crowd at sunset.
Little Tybee Island, just south, is bigger than Tybee and completely wild. It is a state wildlife area of salt marsh and tidal creek, reachable only by boat from the Lazaretto Creek ramp. Captain Derek's and Dolphin Magic Tours leave the Bull River Marina for dolphin trips. A-J's Dockside does outdoor seafood over the Back River. The Crab Shack on Estill Hammock Road has live alligators in a pen beside the deck.
Summer Looks Good on Georgia
The coolest thing about these towns has nothing to do with the thermometer. Ellijay smells like apples and cider straight through August. Tallulah Falls perches on the rim of a canyon that swallowed a Gilded Age resort. Madison hands you antebellum streets like a museum nobody charges to enter. Milledgeville lets a dead writer's peacocks strut the lawn. Spend a summer day in any of them. The place does the rest.
