54 Best Sights in Central and North Georgia, Georgia

This is claimed to be the highest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi, with waters plunging an eye-popping 729 feet through a cluster of seven cascades. The surrounding 829-acre state park contains a visitor center, lodge, and restaurant and is dotted with scenic campsites and cottages strategically situated near a network of nature trails, picnic sites, and fishing streams. The park also offers activities like ziplining, trout fishing, guided hikes, GPS scavenger hunts, and 3D archery. The southern starting point of the more than 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail begins near Amicalola Falls.

Ride the rails on a four-hour, 26-mile round-trip excursion along the Toccoa River. The trip includes a stop in McCaysville, smack on the Georgia–Tennessee state line. Several restaurants, shops, and galleries are open during the two-hour layover. The diesel engine train offers offers both open and climate-controlled Pullman cars. Premier class is available to those over 18 and includes snacks and a little extra TLC. The ticket office, on the National Register of Historic Places, dates from 1905 and was originally the depot of the L&N Railroad. If you want to do a little of the legwork, you may want to rent a rail-bike. A new offering for the railway, these four-person motor-assisted rail-bikes take you on a leisurely 5.7-mile round-trip adventure.

In summer you may want to consider the air-conditioned coaches.

In the Chattahoochee National Forest, Brasstown Bald reaches 4,784 feet, the highest point in Georgia. Below the bald is Georgia's only cloud forest, an area of lichen-covered trees often kept wet by clouds and fog. From the observation platform at the top of the bald on a clear day you can see Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. A paved but steep foot trail leads from the parking lot (where there are restrooms and a picnic area) to the visitor center, which has exhibits and interpretative programs. You also can ride a bus to the visitor center.

A visit to this 9,000-acre military park could easily take all day—or multiple days. The park spans the borders of Georgia and Tennessee, with major sites at Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Moccasin Bend, Missionary Ridge, Orchard Knob, and Signal Point. Overall, there are more than 1,400 commemorative features throughout the park including monuments, markers, and tablets placed by veterans and by states whose citizens saw combat here. Start at Chickamauga Battlefield, the park's headquarters, which makes up the largest part of the park. It was here on September 19–20, 1863, that the Battle of Chickamauga was fought. The excellent visitor center and museum offers a film and exhibits about the battle. There's also a 7-mile self-guided auto tour through the park, and on weekends during the spring and fall, you can join a free two-hour auto caravan, led by a park ranger. During the summer, rangers offer the tours daily. The rest of the park lies about 30 minutes north of Chickamauga: Lookout Mountain Battlefield and Point Park, a memorial park that overlooks the city of Chattanooga.

This beautiful home with all the trappings of the wealthy planter lifestyle is fascinating because of the intermingling of cultures that took place here. Known as Diamond Hill, this historic site was home to a 1,000-acre plantation—the largest and most prosperous in Cherokee history. In 1804 James Vann, a Cherokee leader of mixed Scottish and Cherokee parentage, built the plantation’s stately redbrick mansion with the help of Moravian missionaries and enslaved workers. When Vann was murdered in 1809, his son Joseph took over the property until he was forcibly evicted in 1835. Diamond Hill and surrounding lands were then given away in a land lottery to white settlers, its Cherokee origins wiped away.

Start your visit in the visitor center where you can view a short film and browse exhibits about the site’s history. Rangers lead tours of the home at the top of each hour (last tour at 4 pm), but outdoor exhibits, such as a re-created Cherokee farmstead and plantation kitchen, are self-guided. The kitchen outbuilding also houses an exhibit focused on the daily lives of the 110 enslaved people who resided at Diamond Hill before Vann’s departure in 1835.

Located 4 miles southeast of Helen in the Sautee Nacoochee Center, this museum showcases a 200-year unbroken tradition of folk pottery in northeast Georgia (especially in nearby Mossy Creek and the Gillsville-Lula area). Part of the 5,000-square-foot facility outlines how pottery is made and how it was used for essential household purposes. Exhibits showcase a 200-piece collection donated to the museum, including the whimsical face jugs that have become an emblem of Southern folk art. Pottery-making demonstrations are frequently offered. Call ahead for dates and times.

Nicknamed the "Palace of the South," the 18,000-square-foot mansion spans four stories and is crowned by a two-story cupola. Designed by the New York firm T. Thomas and Son in the mid-1800s, the Hay House is a study in fine Italianate architecture prior to the Civil War. The marvelous stained-glass windows and many technological advances, including indoor plumbing and gas lighting, make a tour worthwhile. Tours depart on the hour. For a small upcharge, and when weather permits, you can do the Top of the House tour, which explores the soaring cupola and widow's walk. 

Just outside the Athens city limits, you'll find this tranquil, 313-acre wonderland of aromatic gardens and woodland paths. It has a massive conservatory overlooking the International Garden that functions as a welcome foyer and houses an art gallery, gift shop, and café. There's also a 2½-acre children's garden with interactive elements designed to engage children through all their senses. New in 2021 is a porcelain and decorative arts museum featuring eight galleries of nature-inspired artwork.

The 1,000-foot-deep Tallulah Gorge is one of the most impressive in the country. In the late 1800s this area was one of the most visited destinations in the Southeast, with 17 hotels to house tourists who came to see the roaring falls on the Tallulah River. Then, in 1912, to provide electric power, the "Niagara of the South" was dammed, and the falls and tourism dried up. Today the state of Georgia has designated more than 20 miles of the state park as walking and mountain-biking trails. There's also a 16,000-square-foot interpretive center, a suspension bridge with spectacular views, a 63-acre lake with a beach (open seasonally), a picnic shelter, and 52 tent and RV sites.

Affectionately known as the Big House, this large Tudor-style building was home to members of the Allman Brothers Band and their families during the early 1970s. It was here that they collaborated and wrote some of the band's early songs, which would eventually bring them stardom and launch a new genre of music—Southern rock. In 2010, the home was restored and opened as a museum showcasing the band's guitars, clothing, photographs, posters, gold records, and other memorabilia. It's now home to the largest collection of Allman Brothers Band memorabilia in the world.

A picturesque farm with peacocks, a pond, and a lofty barn, Andalusia inspired much of Flannery O'Connor's work. Now a museum, the 1850s farmhouse has been preserved just as it was (original furnishings and all) in 1964 when O'Connor passed away from complications of lupus at the age of 39. A visit here provides incredible insight into the life of this prolific writer. Guided tours are offered of the home daily on the hour. A small gift shop sells her books and other memorabilia.

Housed in a converted mill in the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area, this museum traces Augusta's important role in developing Georgia's textile industry. The looms are still powered by the building's original turbines; they also provide the power to juice up the museum's Petersburg canal boats. Tours of the canal, usually one hour long, start here and are a fascinating trip through history. Guides are well versed in the passing sights, which include assorted wildlife, a working 19th-century textile mill, and two of Georgia's only remaining 18th-century houses.

The well-maintained pathways of the Riverwalk (between 5th and 10th Streets) curve along the Savannah River and are the perfect place for a leisurely stroll. The upper brick portion connects downtown attractions like St. Paul's Church and the Morris Museum of Art. There are a few shops and restaurants along the way, but not as many as you might expect. On Saturday mornings, look out for the Augusta Market at the 8th Street Plaza. The lower paths offer a close-up view of wildlife and a peek at the graceful homes of North Augusta, South Carolina.

At more than 3,600 feet, Black Rock Mountain is the highest state park in Georgia. Named for the black gneiss rock visible on cliffs in the area, the 1,743-acre park has 11 miles of trails, a 17-acre lake perfect for fishing, 56 campsites, a pioneer group campsite, and 10 cottages. The park offers majestic overlooks and a trail that leads visitors along the Eastern Continental Divide, from which water flows south and east to eventually reach the Atlantic Ocean, and on the other side, north and west to the mighty Mississippi River.

Founded in 1842, this former state mental hospital was once the largest in the world. At its height in the 1960s, the institution held more than 12,000 patients and spanned 2,000 acres. After closing in 2010, the campus lies largely abandoned with its boarded-up buildings crumbling and overgrown with vines. While preservation plans are debated, visitors are welcome to explore the campus and visit Cedar Lane Cemetery where where cast iron markers commemorate the some 25,000 buried there. The Milledgeville Convention and Visitors Bureau offers a guided trolley tour of campus twice monthly. Reservations can be made online at  www.visitmilledgeville.org.

This historic home, now a museum, was built by Cherokee leader Major Ridge and is a part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. The 1828 white clapboard plantation home is built around a two-story log cabin. Visitors can peek behind the plaster walls to see the original wooden foundation. Major Ridge and his family lived here and operated a successful trading post and ferry until 1837 when they were forced out to Oklahoma. Although several other families lived in the home and modified it over the years, it came to be known as "Chieftains" in honor of Ridge. The museum features indoor and outdoor displays detailing the history of the house, the Ridge family, and artifacts from archaeological digs on the property.

The streets of Athens are lined with many gorgeous old homes, some of which are open to the public. Most prominent among them is the Federal-style Church-Waddel-Brumby House. Built in 1820, it is the town's oldest surviving residence. The museum is home to the Historic Athens Welcome Center, where you can pick up information and arrange for tours.

At this 3,538-acre park you can see firsthand the unusual geology of this remote part of northwestern Georgia. Hike down the canyon, which drops 1,100 feet from the rim, and you're literally walking through millions of years of geologic time. If you make it all the way to the bottom—the trail totals 4 miles—you'll be rewarded with sights of two waterfalls. There are great tent and RV camping sites here, as well as cottages and yurts.

Take a guided tour of a real mine, which ceased operations in 1904. With 5 miles of underground tunnels, Consolidated is said to be the largest gold mine east of the Mississippi. Enter the mine (which has been reconstructed for safety), pass through a breathtaking stone passage, and then begin a descent of 120 feet into the mine's geological wonders. Knowledgeable guides expound on historical mining techniques and give demonstrations of tools, such as the "widowmaker," a drill that kicks up mining dust and caused lung disease in many miners. After the tour, guests are invited to pan for gold, prospector style, from a long wooden sluice. Gemstone mining is also available for an additional fee.

Located in the center of the town square, this museum has coins, tools, and several large nuggets on display. Built in 1836, this former courthouse is one of the oldest public buildings in the state. If you look closely at the bricks that form the building's foundation, you'll notice a sprinkling of gold dust in their formation. Along with two floors of exhibits, the museum features a high-definition film titled America's First Gold Rush. Arrive an hour before closing to be sure and catch the film.

African American entrepreneur Charles H. Douglass built this theater in 1921. A host of great American musicians have performed here, among them Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and locals Little Richard and Otis Redding. It's currently a venue for movies, plays, and other performances. You can take a guided tour of the building for a small fee on Mondays or as available during the week. Call ahead for an appointment.

This 4,058-acre state park has a 17-acre lake with sandy beach, 14 miles of hiking trails, and 27 miles of mountain-biking trails. The gem of the park is a mysterious wall of rock, 855 feet long, thought to have been built by Native Americans around AD 500. Walk-in tent and premium tent/RV sites ($20–$37) as well as two- and three-bedroom cottages ($200–$230) are available. The park also offers a unique primitive site for camping with horses.

Set on the slope of Black Rock Mountain, this outdoor museum re-creates life in Appalachia before the days of electricity and running water. The museum features a collection of authentic and reconstructed log cabins, a gristmill, a blacksmith's shop, and an operating weaving workshop, along with tools and displays about life in daily life and mountain culture. The Foxfire organization was born in 1966 when students at the Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School wrote articles for a magazine based on generations-old family stories. Their excitement in chronicling life in the Appalachians has led to more than a dozen Foxfire books, which have sold nearly 9 million copies.

On the campus of the University of Georgia, the museum serves a dual purpose as an academic institution and the official public art museum of the State of Georgia. The permanent collection contains a wealth of 19th- and 20th-century paintings—some from noted American artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Winslow Homer. It also houses the Samuel H. Kress Study Collection of Italian Renaissance art. Special exhibitions display cherished works of art from around the world.

Designed to resemble a turn-of-the-century ballpark, sports enthusiasts will appreciate this shrine to Georgia sports and its Hall of Fame honoring more than 400 inductees. Exhibits, though dated, include a variety of artifacts and interactive, touch-screen kiosks and honor sports—including baseball, golf, track and field, and football—at all levels, from prep and college teams to professional.