North Georgia Recommendations

Weather can always be a factor, so it'd depend. Winter road closures could make it a gamble. With everything clustered close to Cleveland, you’ll get more out of staying local.

But, if the weather's good:

If I had to pick one best recommendation for your whole trip — go to Tallulah Gorge State Park and do the rim walk and overlook views.

Also, Unicoi State Park (and Unicoi Lake area) is a beautiful state park with a mix of outdoor activities.

I'd skip Helen. Too touristy for me.

Trip Advisor Suggestions

I mean you’d have fun there. But wouldn’t be a priority compared to all the other beautiful places in the area!

We did Helen once. It’s touristy and very kitschy. Entirely too many people. Glad we spent a few hours there but never again.

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If I had to pick one best recommendation for your whole trip — go to Tallulah Gorge State Park and do the rim walk and overlook views.

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we did this on Sunday highly recommend

I've been to Helen 3 times and the only time I had a lot of fun was during Oktoberfest. Because beer. It's fun to see once, get out and walk around. If you or your partner like to shop there are several local artist and apparel stores. Do not order the German Cold Cut sandwich from anywhere; $15-$20 for fancy bologna and ham.

As mentioned, Anna Ruby Falls, Tallulah Gorge, Toccoa are all worth visiting. Dahlonega is peak at Christmas time, but I like the town a lot.

If the weather is forcing you indoors, the Mall of Georgia is only an hour from Cleveland. As far as mega malls go, it's easy to park and is one of the nicer ones.

It’s definitely worth taking the drive up 400, vs slogging it up I-85. Dahlonega is a Hallmark movie town and is worth taking an hour to walk around the square. There’s a few good wineries as well, Kaya is a solid spot.

Do you like hiking? Looks like clear weather on Thursday and Friday. Mt Yonah is very close to Cleveland and has incredible cliffside views of the whole GA Blue Ridge. Plenty of shorter hikes off the AT and waterfalls as well. If you’d rather take it easy, you can drive almost to the top of Brasstown Bald. There’s a shuttle to the summit.

The drive over the mountains on the Richard B. Russell Parkway is beautiful with tons of views. Sunrise Grocery is close to the parkway and has killer boiled peanuts.

Well, back home in South Texas. Enjoyed the get away, the cabin we rented was very secluded with a great views of the Chattahoochee National Forest. Saw a couple turkeys, called one up to about 50' of the pack porch, brush still so dense that we only caught a glimpse of him in the under brush. Thursday we did the full loop of Tallulah Gorge, the wife's first sizable hike since Achilles reattachment surgery a year ago, the distance wasn't long but the 300+ plus steps down one side then 300+ back up the other put it to the test. Beautiful falls long the route, saw maybe 15 other people. Had lunch at the Rusty Bike Cafe in Clayton, good burgers with bacon in the patty. Walked next door to the bakery, Mountain Grill is the name of the place. Met and spoke to the 85 year old cook that has been in the area her whole life, bought the last two cinnamon rolls made fresh that morning, great spot to stop in. Friday we pretty much stayed in during the day and checked out, hot tub'ed and relaxed. Friday night we had reservations in Helen at Caledonia which is located in the Valhalla Resort. It is an older resort, nice dining room, but still wasn't sure what to expect. They had a limited menu to cater to couples for Valentines, we both chose the Rib eye over the Sea Bass, folks in table next to us said the Sea Bass was also very good. We were both pleasantly surprised, it was one of the better steaks I have had in a while, very tender with lots of flavor. Apps and soups were also good, red velvet cake for dessert was very very good. Also a great Old Fashion. The chief came around and greeted everyone, we spoke to him for a bit. It was his 4th day there, he just relocated from a restaurant in Akron OH, If he turns out meal regularly like we had the place will be very successful, can not recommend enough if you are in the area. Saturday we had breakfast and ride through Helen, the ride was enough. We then drove up to Anna Ruby Falls, took the walk up to the falls, was much more crowded, almost too crowded honestly. Cut over and drove up the Russell Brasstown Byway, stopped at few over looks, there was still ice in places with shade. Came back south on Hwy 19, great stretch road, guys were making runs both directions running the hell out of their crotch rockets, may have to Turo a vette and come back for a visit. Grabbed a sandwich close to the cabin on the way back. Sunday we woke to rain, nothing heavy, just nice and steady, was happy it held off as long as it did. Headed to Atlanta to fly out that evening, stopped and ate at Malone's which right near the airport. First time there, great food and drinks, will be sure to hit again when in town. Flight back to Austin was booked 100% and somewhat of a shite show, Southwest still working out the kinks of assigned seating, after an extra 30 mins of loading we were off. All in all a great trip, the damage from the ice storm was still very visible, the DG near the cabin was without power for several days so they had to throw out all the cold items. Wife is wanting to go back in a couple months when everything in blooming, thanks to everyone for the tips.

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