Central and North Georgia: Places to Explore

Athens, an artistic jewel of the American South, is known as a breeding ground for famed rock groups such as the B-52s and R.E.M. Because of this distinction, creative types from all over the country flock... Read more

Although Augusta escaped the ravages of Union troops during the Civil War, nature itself was not so kind. On a crossing of the Savannah River, the town was flooded many times before modern-day city planning... Read more

Blue Ridge is one of the most pleasant small mountain towns in North Georgia. After you've eaten breakfast or lunch and shopped for antiques, gifts, or crafts at Blue Ridge's many small shops, you can... Read more

This site, established in 1890 as the nation's first military park, was the scene of some of the Civil War's bloodiest battles. In Chickamauga alone, 34,624 were killed, missing, and wounded in September... Read more

The town of Clayton, with a downtown filled with shops, is a gateway to North Georgia's mountains. The beautiful lakeshore and the grandeur of Black Rock Mountain State Park and Tallulah Gorge make a day... Read more

Hoards of fortune-seekers stormed the town of Dahlonega (pronounced Dah-LON-eh-gah) in the 1820s after the discovery of gold in the nearby hills. The town's name comes from the Cherokee word for "precious... Read more

Right in the middle of the Antebellum Trail, Eatonton is a historic trove of houses that still retains the rare Southern antebellum architecture that survived Sherman's torches. But this isn't the only... Read more

Billed as "Georgia's apple capital," Ellijay is also popular among antiques aficionados. The town, on the site of what had been a Cherokee village called Elatseyi (meaning "place of green things"), has... Read more

Helen was founded at the turn of the 20th century as a simple lumber outpost. In the 1960s, when logging declined, business leaders came up with a plan to transform the tiny village of 300 into a theme... Read more

The little town of Hiawassee, population 750, and nearby Young Harris, population 600, are near the largest lake in North Georgia, Lake Chatuge, and the tallest mountain in the state, Brasstown Bald. The... Read more

At the state's geographic center, Macon, founded in 1823, has more than 100,000 flowering cherry trees, which it celebrates each March with a knockout festival. With 5,500 individual structures listed... Read more

In 1809 Madison was described as "the most cultured and aristocratic town on the stagecoach route from Charleston to New Orleans," and today, that charm still prevails, in large part because General Sherman's... Read more

Locals believe ghosts haunt what remains of the antebellum homes in Milledgeville. Laid out as the state capital of Georgia in 1803 (a title it held until Atlanta assumed the role in 1868), the town was... Read more

From 1825 to 1838, New Echota was the capital of the Cherokee Nation, whose constitution was patterned after that of the United States. The public buildings and houses in town were generally log structures... Read more