Overlanding

Georgia

Georgia gates its best roads in winter and shuts its trails when it rains

Federal agencies hold 1,974,694 acres in Georgia, 5.3 percent of the state, and the Bureau of Land Management holds none of it. The Forest Service has 868,513 acres, the Department of Defense 575,549, the Fish and Wildlife Service 489,401 and the National Park Service 41,231. Almost all of the ground a traveller can use sits in two blocks: the Chattahoochee National Forest across the mountains of the north, and the Okefenokee refuge in the far southeast corner. Between them lie the Piedmont, the Oconee National Forest and ten Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs.

The mountains are small by western standards and steep by any standard. Brasstown Bald tops out at 4,784 feet and the low point is the Atlantic Ocean at sea level, so the whole vertical range of Georgia is under 4,800 feet. What it has instead is density: nearly 867,000 acres of national forest across 26 counties, approximately 850 miles of recreation trails, and a web of numbered Forest Service roads cut into hillsides that the rain has been working on for a long time.

That rain is the thing to plan around. Georgia averages 50.0 inches of precipitation a year, more than 70 inches in the mountainous northeastern corner and around 45 inches in the southeast and the centre of the state, and it falls on red clay and weathered saprolite. The Forest Service answers by closing things. Off-highway vehicle trails shut when the ground is wet, sometimes for days. Beasley Knob and Davenport Mountain are gated from January 1 through March 31 outright. Cohutta Wilderness trailheads and Johns Mountain Overlook go behind winter gates from January into early March, and the west end of Forest Road 64 closes from January through March. Snow is barely the point here: even in the northern mountains the yearly average is only 5 inches.

Georgia by the numbers

Acres of federal land 1: 1.97M; 5.3 percent of Georgia. The Forest Service holds 868,513 acres of it and the BLM holds none at all
Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia 2: 4,784 ft; On the Towns and Union county line. Our own query of the USGS elevation surface at the summit reads 4,773. The low point is the Atlantic Ocean at sea level
Federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach 4: 52; 26 Corps of Engineers, 25 Forest Service and 1 Park Service. Forty-nine of them can be booked ahead
Acres of Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest 6: 867,000; Across 26 counties and four ranger districts, with approximately 850 miles of recreation trails. The CRS puts all Forest Service land in Georgia at 868,513 acres
Acres in the Okefenokee refuge 40: 407,000; The largest national wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi River. Of that, 353,981 acres is designated wilderness, closed to vehicles
Army Corps of Engineers lakes in Georgia 47: 10; Allatoona, Carters, George W. Andrews, Hartwell, J. Strom Thurmond, Seminole, Sidney Lanier, Richard B. Russell, Walter F. George and West Point
Average yearly precipitation, statewide 5: 50.0 in; The 1895 to 2020 average. Over 70 inches in the northeastern mountains and around 45 in the southeast. Yearly snowfall in the northern mountains averages 5 inches
Georgia Scenic Byways 28: 17; Designated by the state transportation department. One of them, the Russell-Brasstown, also carries National Scenic Byway status, awarded June 15, 2000

Who holds the ground, and where it is

Georgia is a private-land state with two large public exceptions. Of 1,974,694 federal acres, the Forest Service holds 868,513, the Department of Defense 575,549, the Fish and Wildlife Service 489,401 and the National Park Service 41,231. There is no BLM ground and no BLM route mileage, so none of the western habits transfer. Dispersed camping here means national forest, and everything else means a reservation at a reservoir.

The Forest Service piece is the Chattahoochee-Oconee, run as one forest out of Gainesville with four ranger districts. Blue Ridge works out of Blairsville and covers the country around Suches, Cooper Creek and the Toccoa. Chattooga River works out of Lakemont and covers the northeast corner, from Anna Ruby Falls above Helen across to the wild and scenic Chattooga on the Carolina line. Conasauga works out of Chatsworth and holds the Cohutta front and the Armuchee ridges west of I-75. Oconee, out of Eatonton, is the odd one: Piedmont hardwood and pine about 60 miles southeast of Atlanta, where the Forest Service puts the highest point on that forest at the 645-foot top of the Burgess Mountain Trail.

The Fish and Wildlife acreage is nearly all one place. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge covers approximately 407,000 acres and is the largest refuge east of the Mississippi River. Of that, 353,981 acres is the Okefenokee Wilderness, designated in 1974, which puts most of it beyond a vehicle for good. The refuge pages also describe the wilderness as nearly 359,000 acres in one sentence and 353,981 in another; the specific figure is the one used here.

The Park Service has the smallest share and the most surprising one. Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area is 15 land units and one river unit strung along a 48-mile river corridor through metropolitan Atlanta, which makes it a park you drive between rather than through. The Park Service counts 11 units in Georgia in all, and the ones with roads or a gate worth planning around are Cumberland Island National Seashore, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park on the Tennessee line, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and its 2,965 acres inside the Atlanta suburbs, Ocmulgee Mounds, Fort Pulaski, Fort Frederica and Andersonville.

Source 1

The reservoirs are the camping

Ten Corps of Engineers lakes sit in Georgia, and they hold 26 of the 52 federal campgrounds our build of the recreation database finds in the state, more than the Forest Service and the Park Service together. That is unusual, and it changes how a trip is planned: in most of Georgia the nearest federal campsite is on a shoreline, not on a mountain.

The scale is worth knowing. Lake Sidney Lanier takes over 12 million visitors a year, has more than 692 miles of shoreline and carries 79 developed recreation areas, 37 of them run by the Corps directly. Allatoona, 30 miles from Atlanta, takes more than 6 million. J. Strom Thurmond, north of Augusta on the South Carolina line, is the largest Corps of Engineers lake east of the Mississippi River at 70,000 acres of water, 80,000 acres of land and 1,200 miles of shoreline, with five Class A campgrounds. Hartwell runs to nearly 56,000 acres of water and 962 miles of shoreline with eight Corps campgrounds and over 20,000 acres of public land around it.

Two of them are quieter than the rest for a reason. Richard B. Russell is 26,650 acres of water inside 26,500 acres of land, and federal regulations prohibit private exclusive use of the public land around it, which is why its shoreline stayed undeveloped. Walter F. George, on the Alabama line, runs 85 miles down the Chattahoochee with 640 miles of shoreline, 13 Corps day use parks and four campgrounds.

The rule on all of them is federal rather than local. Camping at one or more campsites at any one Corps project for longer than 14 days in any 30 consecutive days is prohibited without the district commander’s written permission.

Source 47

Gates, wet weather and red clay

Two calendars run on the Chattahoochee-Oconee, and neither one is the weather forecast. The first is the annual winter gate. Beasley Knob and Davenport Mountain are closed from January 1 through March 31 for resource protection during the wet and freezing months, in the forest’s own words, when the most impact from use can occur. The Windy Gap, Milma Creek and Tibbs system closes during January, February and March. Four Cohutta Wilderness trailheads, Tearbritches, Chestnut Lead, Betty Gap and Three Forks, are unreachable from January 1 through early March because of the road gates above them, though the trails themselves stay open from other trailheads. Forest Road 64 closes west of Jacks River Fields from January through March, so that campground can only be reached from Blue Ridge in those months. The gravel road up to Johns Mountain Overlook on the Ridge and Valley byway closes January through early March as well.

The second calendar has no dates on it. Every off-highway vehicle trail on the national forest closes during wet conditions when trail use can cause damage to trails and erosion into nearby streams. Houston Valley says it plainly: the 25-mile system is for dry riding, closes after significant rain events to let the trails dry, and can stay shut for several days. The forest keeps a recorded closure line for weekends and nights because that is how fast it changes.

The reason is underfoot. Georgia averages 50.0 inches of rain a year, over 70 inches in the northeastern mountains. The number of days with three inches or more of rain reached its highest level in the 2015 to 2020 period. On the Blue Ridge, that water works on clay, and a forest road that a passenger car managed last week becomes a rutted slick this week. Snow is almost beside the point: the northern mountains average 5 inches a year. Ice is the winter hazard that matters, and it is the reason a state park at 3,640 feet says outright that it may close during icy weather.

The Forest Service also asks visitors to avoid riding or driving on unpaved roads or trails when they are wet or muddy, which is advice in the rules document and a closure order in practice.

Source 20

What Georgia asks of a vehicle

The first question is legal, not mechanical. The Chattahoochee-Oconee manages motor vehicle use under Georgia state law, which means forest roads, including dirt and gravel ones, are open only to registered vehicles and mopeds, and anyone driving one needs a valid driver’s license. Motorized carts, low speed vehicles, multipurpose off-highway vehicles and all-terrain vehicles are prohibited on Forest Service roads outright. Georgia law restricts multipurpose off-highway vehicles to highways that are part of a county road system, and the forest states that Forest Service roads are not county roads. Anything not licensed for public road use has to stay on trails marked for off-highway use, and the penalty the forest publishes is a fine of up to $5,000 and up to six months in prison.

The second question is width. Unless a trail is specifically designated for full-size vehicles, trail use on this forest is restricted to vehicles less than 50 inches wide. Houston Valley, the largest Forest Service off-highway vehicle system in Georgia, allows no pick-ups or four-wheel drive vehicles at all. Oakey Mountain limits machines to less than 48 inches of axle width and Locust Stake bars side by sides over 48 inches. The only system the forest lists as suitable for four-wheel drive vehicles is Beasley Knob, 13.4 miles of interconnecting dirt trails, rock hill climbs and gravel roads east of Blairsville, which the forest recommends for experienced drivers only and where bolted, studded and tire chains are all prohibited.

The third is length. Lake Conasauga caps recreational vehicles at 24 feet and allows only street-legal vehicles inside the campground. Jacks River Fields limits road and campground access to recreational vehicles under 24 feet. Black Rock Mountain State Park tells drivers with recreational vehicles that they should be comfortable on steep, winding roads before they commit to the climb.

Georgia publishes no chain or traction law, so tire choice here is a judgement rather than a legal standard. What the state actually tests is wet grip, sidewall protection on shale and chert, and whether the vehicle can be reversed down a one-lane shelf when a gate turns out to be shut.

Source 9

Sixty-three state properties, and where they fit a trip

Georgia’s State Parks and Historic Sites Division runs 63 state parks and historic sites, described on the same page as more than 60 properties, and in a state this short of public land they matter more than they would out west. Forty-one of them offer more than 2,700 campsites between them, from RV pull-throughs with sewer hookups down to backcountry sites you walk to.

Several sit exactly where a driver wants them. Vogel is at the base of Blood Mountain on US 19 and 129. Fort Mountain sits on GA 52 along the Cohutta-Chattahoochee byway. Black Rock Mountain is the highest park in the state at 3,640 feet. Cloudland Canyon, in the far northwest, covers 3,538 acres with 64 miles of hiking trail, 30 miles of biking, 16 miles of horse trail and 75 tent, trailer and RV sites on top of its walk-in, backcountry and pioneer camping. Tallulah Gorge holds a canyon two miles long and nearly 1,000 feet deep, and limits gorge-floor hiking to 100 permits a day. Providence Canyon, in the southwest, has gullies as deep as 150 feet that were cut by nineteenth-century farming rather than by a river.

Eleven of the parks sit on leased Corps of Engineers ground, which is why the firearm rules differ there, and the division names them: Red Top Mountain, Seminole, George T. Bagby, Don Carter, Florence Marina, Tugaloo, Hart, Bobby Brown, Richard B. Russell, Elijah Clark and Mistletoe. That overlap is the shape of public recreation in Georgia in one sentence: state signage on federal shoreline.

Source 33

The coast and the swamp, where a vehicle stops

Georgia’s two most famous landscapes are both effectively closed to driving, and knowing that ahead of time saves a wasted day. Cumberland Island National Seashore is reached by passenger ferry or private boat, and the Park Service says plainly that the ferry is not a car ferry. Overnight parking for campers is a block from the mainland visitor center in Saint Marys. Carts and wheeled coolers of any kind are barred north of Sea Camp, so gear is carried on a back.

Sapelo Island is the same answer from the state side. The island runs to 16,500 acres and is the fourth largest barrier island in Georgia, with a 9,000-acre wildlife management area on it, and the Department of Natural Resources states that no motorized vehicles are allowed on the island. Hunters drawn for the deer quota hunts arrange their own boats.

The Okefenokee gives a vehicle exactly one route. Swamp Island Drive, reached from the Suwannee Canal Recreation Area entrance east of Folkston, is a 7.4-mile self-guided auto tour laid out as a lollipop with 12 numbered markers for walking trails, historic sites and viewpoints. There is no running water on it and pit toilets at two parking areas. Everything beyond it is water trail and wilderness. The refuge is open from half an hour before sunrise to 7:30 pm from March to October and to 5:30 pm from November to February, and closing times are enforced.

The refuge charges by the vehicle rather than by the head: a pass admits the holder and up to three adults in a single private, non-commercial vehicle, and the person who signed it has to be in it.

Source 43

Passes and routes

Russell-Brasstown Scenic BywayPaved

3,499 ft 41 miles

A loop on GA 75 Alternate, GA 180, GA 348 and GA 17 and 75 north of Helen

A loop through the Chattahoochee National Forest that circles wildlife management areas, the headwaters of the Chattahoochee and a section of the Appalachian Trail. The state transportation department measures it at 41 miles and the Forest Service at 38, and neither publishes a high point, so the figure shown is our own reading of the USGS elevation surface at Hogpen Gap on GA 348. It was awarded National Scenic Byway designation on June 15, 2000. The Forest Service names the stops: Dukes Creek Falls, where a trail leads to the bottom of a gorge and the forest describes cold water tumbling down 250 feet, and the Raven Cliffs trail, two and a half miles around several waterfalls. 28

Vehicle
Any vehicle

Season
Open year round. Ice is the winter hazard at these elevations, not snow
Brasstown Bald Spur (GA Spur 180)Paved

4,784 ft 3 miles

GA 180 to the Brasstown Bald parking lot

Three miles of paved spur off GA 180 to the parking lot below the highest point in Georgia, 4,784 feet. The road does not reach the summit: the last stretch is a 0.6-mile paved foot trail the Forest Service describes as very steep, with a shuttle as the alternative. From the deck the forest claims four states and, on a clear day, the Atlanta skyline. Our query of the USGS elevation surface at the summit point reads 4,773 feet. 18

Vehicle
Any vehicle. Admission is $10 per adult aged 16 and over, or $6 after hours

Season
Open seven days a week, 10 am to 5 pm. All facilities close the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Ridge and Valley Scenic BywayPaved

1,878 ft 47 to 51 miles

A loop on US 27, GA 156, GA 136 and rural county roads, reached from I-75 exits 306 and 320

A loop through the Armuchee Ridges of northwest Georgia, which the Forest Service calls a 47-mile loop and the state transportation department measures at 51 miles. Armuchee is a Cherokee word the forest translates as land of flowers. The route takes in the Keown Falls Scenic Area, the Pocket and the Johns Mountain Wildlife Management Area, and the forest says the views from the overlook reach into Alabama and Tennessee. The elevation shown is our own reading at the USGS point for Johns Mountain. 7

Vehicle
Any vehicle

Season
Open year round
Johns Mountain Overlook spur

A gravel climb off the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway in Walker County

The part of the Ridge and Valley byway that is worth a truck. The Forest Service describes it plainly: a steep gravel road leading to an overlook deck and a small gravel parking area, with a 3.5-mile hiking loop from the top. No group activities are allowed, and there is no camping in the parking lot or on the observation deck. The gate goes up in January and comes down in early March, the same window that closes the Cohutta trailhead roads on the other side of the county. 22

Vehicle
A steep gravel road to a small gravel parking area

Season
The road closes in winter months, January through early March
Cohutta-Chattahoochee Scenic BywayPaved

2,850 ft 54 miles

Prater’s Mill in Whitfield County to a mountaintop overlook in Murray County, by GA 2, US 41 and GA 52

Fifty-four miles from historic Prater’s Mill along GA 2 and US 41 into the Chattahoochee National Forest, skirting Chatsworth and then climbing GA 52 past Fort Mountain State Park to a mountaintop overlook. Spurs off the route reach the Cohutta Fish Hatchery and a Forest Service campsite on Holly Creek. State Parks puts Fort Mountain at 4,058 acres with 60 miles of recreational trails, a 17-acre lake and 70 tent, trailer and RV sites. The elevation shown is our own reading at the USGS point for Fort Mountain. 28

Vehicle
Any vehicle

Season
Open year round
Old CCC Camp Road, Forest Road 18 and Forest Road 68 to Lake Conasauga

3,688 ft About 14 miles of gravel from where the pavement ends

Eton on US 411 to Lake Conasauga, or Gates Chapel Road and Forest Road 90 from Ellijay

The gravel approach to the highest lake in Georgia, a 19-acre spring-fed pool near Grassy Mountain. From Chatsworth the route runs three miles north to Eton, right onto Old CCC Camp Road, and the pavement ends after about five miles; Forest Road 18 carries on four miles to a fork, then Forest Road 68 runs roughly ten more to the entrance. The Ellijay approach uses Gates Chapel Road, which becomes Forest Road 90 after about seven miles. Cell service is limited. Bears are extremely active at the campground and the forest requires all coolers, food, pots, pans, utensils and drinks to be locked inside a vehicle when not in use. The elevation shown is our own reading at the USGS point for Grassy Mountain. 19

Vehicle
Recreational vehicles capped at 24 feet. Only street-legal vehicles may be driven in the campground

Season
The recreation area runs mid-April to October 31
Beasley Knob OHV Trail System

13.4 miles

Two trailheads off US 76 east of Blairsville, Satterfield and Blue Rock

The only Forest Service system in Georgia the forest lists as suitable for four-wheel drive vehicles, and it recommends the place for experienced riders only. Approximately 13.4 miles of interconnecting dirt trails, rock hill climbs and gravel roads in Union County, much of it classed difficult to most difficult, reached from two gravel trailheads off US 76. A day pass is $5 per operator and the annual pass is $50, good here and at Houston Valley, Whissenhunt, Town Creek, Oakey Mountain and Davenport. The winter closure is for resource protection during the wet and freezing months of the year. 11

Vehicle
Four-wheel drive vehicles, ATVs and motorcycles. No bolted, studded or tire chains

Season
Closed January 1 through March 31. Open sunrise to sunset the rest of the year
Houston Valley OHV Trails

25 miles

Capehart Road off Houston Valley Road, north of Dalton

The largest Forest Service off-highway vehicle trail system in Georgia, west of Dalton, running easy to difficult in a wooded setting. It is a dry-riding system by design and the district keeps a recorded closure line for weekends and nights. The trailhead has designated paved parking for 35 tow vehicles, an accessible loading ramp, a vault toilet, no potable water, and three primitive campsites. Bring your own machine: nothing is rented here. 12

Vehicle
Motorbikes and all-terrain vehicles only. No pick-ups or four-wheel drive vehicles. Nothing wider than 50 inches

Season
Closes after significant rain events, sometimes for several days
Windy Gap, Milma Creek and Tibbs Trails

Forest Service Road 218, two miles from Old CCC Camp Road

A free system on the Conasauga district reached by Forest Service Road 218, with the parking lot two miles in on the right and a loading ramp opposite the trailhead. ATV and four-wheeler riding is not allowed on FS Road 218 itself, only on the trails, which is the pattern across this forest: the road is for plated vehicles and the trail is for everything else. 17

Vehicle
Four-wheelers and ATVs on Milma Creek and Tibbs. Dirt bikes only on Windy Gap above the Milma Creek intersection

Season
Closed during January, February and March
Duncan Ridge Road (Forest Service Road 39)

The Blue Ridge Ranger District, crossing Mulky Creek

One of the better known gravel roads on the Blue Ridge district, reopened to vehicle traffic in 2026 after the Forest Service replaced an aging culvert at the Mulky Creek crossing to improve road reliability, protect water quality and let aquatic organisms pass. The new crossing is designed to stand up to heavy rain, which tells you what the old one did in it. Visitors are asked to leave the dispersed campsite next to the project area alone until the soil stabilizes. No agency page states the road’s length, surface grade or a seasonal gate date, so none is given here. 27

Vehicle
Registered, plated vehicles only, as on every forest road here

Season
Subject to project and weather closures. Check with the district before committing
Forest Road 64 to Jacks River Fields

Blue Ridge on the east side, or the Chatsworth side when the gate is open

A seven-site campground on the south fork of the Jacks River, surrounded by yellow poplar, oak, hickory and white pine, at $5 a site paid into a self-service tube or by scanning a code on a phone that may have no signal. The route matters more than the campground: for three months of the year the western half of Forest Road 64 is gated, so the only way in is from Blue Ridge, which turns a short hop into a long detour if you plan it the wrong way round. 21

Vehicle
Road and campground access limited to recreational vehicles less than 24 feet

Season
Forest Road 64 is closed west of the campground from January through March
Swamp Island Drive, Okefenokee

7.4 miles

The Suwannee Canal Recreation Area entrance east of Folkston

The only auto tour in the Okefenokee, and the only way to see the swamp from a driver’s seat. A 7.4-mile self-guided lollipop route with 12 numbered markers for walking trails, historic sites and viewpoints, running past the Chesser Island Homestead and the Chesser Island Boardwalk. There is no running water on the drive and pit toilets at two parking areas. Closing times are strictly enforced, and the refuge tells visitors to allow time to get back to the vehicle. 42

Vehicle
Any vehicle. A pass admits the holder and up to three adults in one private, non-commercial vehicle

Season
Refuge hours are half an hour before sunrise to 7:30 pm March to October, and to 5:30 pm November to February
US 19 and US 129 over Neel GapPaved

3,099 ft

Cleveland and Dahlonega north to Blairsville, past Vogel State Park

The paved approach State Parks names for anyone driving to Vogel from the south, over a gap it describes as near Brasstown Bald. Vogel sits at 2,500 feet at the base of Blood Mountain, which State Parks calls the highest summit on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. The park was established in 1931 and is the second oldest in the state, with 90 tent, trailer and RV sites, 18 walk-in sites and a 22-acre lake. The gap elevation shown is our own reading at the USGS point; no agency publishes one. 34

Vehicle
Any vehicle

Season
Open year round, with ice possible at the gap
GA 60 and GA 180 through SuchesPaved

3,177 ft 13 miles from Dahlonega to Forest Road 654

Dahlonega north over Woody Gap to Suches, then GA 180 east to US 19 and 129

The paved spine of the Blue Ridge district and the way most people reach its campgrounds. The Forest Service measures Deep Hole at 13 miles north of Dahlonega on GA 60, then one mile in on Forest Road 654 to a campground on a big bend of the Toccoa River. From Blairsville the same country is reached by US 19 and 129 south for ten miles, then GA 180 west for about eleven, then GA 60 for four. The gap elevation shown is our own reading at the USGS point. 25

Vehicle
Any vehicle. Forest Road 654 is the gravel spur down to the Toccoa

Season
Open year round, with ice possible at the gaps
Rock Creek Road to Frank Gross and the fish hatchery

Forest Road 69 off GA 60, in the Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area

Five miles of gravel that stays beside Rock Creek the whole way, past the Chattahoochee National Fish Hatchery, to an eight-site campground at $8 a night with sites 2 and 5 on the water. It is one of the few roads in north Georgia where the forest states the season in plain dates rather than as a gate that may or may not be there, and the closed half of the year is the wet half. 24

Vehicle
Any vehicle. The road is gravel and follows the creek

Season
Open April 1 to October 31, closed November 1 through March 31
Cooper Creek Recreation Area road

Cooper Creek and Mulky Creek, on the Blue Ridge district near Suches

Two camping loops and thirteen standard non-electric sites along the bank of Cooper Creek, plus one group site, with a 14-day stay limit and a hard rule that every site must be reserved through Recreation.gov in advance. There are no first come, first served sites here at all, and reservations cannot be made on site, which in a valley with patchy signal means booking before you turn off the pavement. The fee halves to $7.50 a night once the water is shut off for winter. 23

Vehicle
Two vehicles per campsite, gravel parking at each one

Season
Open all year. Peak season April 1 to October 31, no water November 1 to March 31
Forest Road 69 to Dockery Lake

GA 60 north of Dahlonega to an eleven-site campground on a six-acre lake

A small Forest Service campground on a six-acre stocked lake in the Cedar Ridge range, 5.2 miles in on Forest Road 69 off GA 60. Its own page gives two different distances from Dahlonega, 12 miles in the description and 26 miles in the directions, so neither is used here; go by the forest road number and the 5.2 miles once you are on it. Swimming in the lake is prohibited and the stay limit is 14 days. 26

Vehicle
Two vehicles per campsite. Day use parking is allowed for up to 14 days

Season
Peak season April 1 to October 31. Off peak runs November 1 to January 1 with no water
Black Rock Mountain State Park roadPaved

3,640 ft

US 441 at Mountain City up to the summit visitor centre in Rabun County

The highest state park in Georgia at 3,640 feet, on the Eastern Continental Divide, with roadside overlooks the park credits with 80-mile views. It covers 1,743 acres around a 17-acre lake, and the campsites sit under rhododendron with bear boxes provided. The warning in the park’s own description is the useful part: this is a steep, winding paved climb that ices before anything below it does. 35

Vehicle
State Parks tells drivers with recreational vehicles to be comfortable on steep, winding roads

Season
Open year round, but the park says it may close during icy weather
Oakey Mountain OHV Trails

The Chattooga River district near Lake Burton and Lake Rabun

Intermediate to rocky and steep two-way trails in Rabun County, with a picnic area and a vault toilet on the north side of the system. It is also an e-bike area, and the forest is specific about what that means: e-bikes may only be ridden on open Forest Service roads or on other districts’ OHV trails, and if the road is closed there is no riding. A day permit is $5 per person, cash or cheque on site or a digital pass, and the $50 annual pass covers the other five fee systems. 15

Vehicle
Two-way trails open to machines under 48 inches of axle width

Season
March 15 to December 31. No riding from sunset to sunrise, no exceptions
Whissenhunt OHV Trails

11.2 miles

About six miles north of Dahlonega on the Blue Ridge district

Eleven and a bit miles of one-way traffic trail, which is unusual on this forest and makes it a simpler system to read than Beasley Knob. Riders are required to stay on the signed trails to prevent damage to the surrounding resources, and the same $5 day and $50 annual passes apply, printed ahead of time and displayed in the tow vehicle. 13

Vehicle
Motorcycles and ATVs under 50 inches. Nothing wider

Season
Sunrise to sunset. Closed at night
Davenport Mountain OHV Trails

5.9 miles

About 12 miles west of Blairsville, above Nottely Lake

A 5.9-mile loop around Davenport Mountain with moderate grades and views over Nottely Lake, including an easy section the forest recommends for young or inexperienced riders and harder sections beyond it. The trail crosses a public road in two places, which is the thing to watch: the crossing is legal, riding the road is not. Cross-country riding is prohibited. The same $5 day and $50 annual passes apply. 14

Vehicle
Motorcycles and ATVs. Riding on the main road is not allowed

Season
Closed January 1 through March 31. Sunrise to sunset otherwise
Locust Stake OHV Trail System

7 miles reopened

Locust Stake Road off GA 365, north of Cornelia

A cautionary tale with a trailhead. Severe erosion over time created serious safety concerns and damage to natural resources, and the whole system closed in January 2012. Seven miles reopened in November 2024; Trestle Loop and Moon Walk remain closed to all uses and the lower section is closed until further notice. Fees are paid under the Oakey Mountain listing on Recreation.gov, which is the sort of detail worth knowing before you arrive with a card. 16

Vehicle
ATVs and motorcycles only. No side by sides over 48 inches of wheelbase

Season
March 15 to December 31, and closed whenever the ground is wet

Rules worth knowing

The Russell-Brasstown byway, turn by turn: The state’s own flyer gives the route: the byway begins north of Robertstown at the junction of GA 75 and GA 75 Alternate, heads north on the Alternate, turns west on GA 180, south on GA 348, and east on the Unicoi Turnpike, GA 17, to close the loop. Knowing the four road numbers matters more than the name, because the signs change and the junctions are easy to miss. 29
Forty-one state parks offer camping: Georgia’s 63 state parks and historic sites include 41 that offer camping, with more than 2,700 campsites between them. In the mountains those parks are often the only developed camping with water within reach of the forest roads, and they book out on autumn weekends before anything else does. 32
Fort Mountain is 4,058 acres and 60 miles of trail: Fort Mountain State Park covers 4,058 acres with 60 miles of recreational trail and a 17-acre lake, on the western edge of the Chattahoochee National Forest above Chatsworth. It is the practical base for the Cohutta country and one of the few places there with hookups. 36
Cloudland Canyon holds 64 miles of trail: Cloudland Canyon State Park covers 3,538 acres on the west side of Lookout Mountain with 64 miles of hiking trail. It is the northwest corner of the state, closer to Chattanooga than to Atlanta, and the geology is different from anywhere else in this guide’s Georgia. 37
Tallulah Gorge is two miles long and a thousand feet deep: The gorge is two miles long and nearly 1,000 feet deep, and the state park manages access to it, including a permit system for the floor. It sits beside US 441 between the forest and the South Carolina line, which makes it an easy stop on a route that is otherwise all forest road. 38
Providence Canyon was made by farming: The state park in the southwest calls its massive gullies, as deep as 150 feet, the result of poor farming practices in the nineteenth century. It is worth the detour on a route through the coastal plain, and it is a reminder that the most dramatic ground in south Georgia is man-made. 39
The Chattahoochee River park is 48 river miles in 16 units: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area counts 48 river miles across 15 land units and one river unit, strung through metropolitan Atlanta. It is a park you meet in pieces rather than drive through, and its units each have their own access and hours. 45
Eleven Park Service units, and none of them a big drive: The Park Service lists 11 units in Georgia. None is a road park in the western sense: they are battlefields, historic sites, a seashore and a river corridor. The driving in this guide is on forest, state park and Corps ground, and the Park Service units are stops rather than destinations. 46
Lanier alone draws twelve million visitors: Over 12 million people a year visit Lake Sidney Lanier, where 79 recreational areas have been developed around 692 miles of shoreline, including 37 parks the Corps runs directly, 16 marinas and 18 city, county and state parks. It is the busiest public water in the southeast and the closest big lake to Atlanta. 48
Allatoona is thirty miles from Atlanta: Allatoona Lake sits only 30 miles from Atlanta and takes more than six million visitors a year. Its proximity is the whole story: it is the first public water anyone from the city reaches, and its campgrounds fill accordingly. 49
Hartwell is 962 miles of shoreline and eight campgrounds: Hartwell Lake comprises nearly 56,000 acres of water with 962 miles of shoreline, surrounded by over 20,000 acres of public land, where the Corps operates eight campgrounds and 15 major day use areas. On the Savannah River between Georgia and South Carolina, it is the biggest camping resource in the northeast of the state. 50
Thurmond is the largest Corps lake east of the Mississippi: J. Strom Thurmond Lake encompasses 1,200 miles of shoreline, 70,000 acres of water and 80,000 acres of land, with five Class A campgrounds run by the Corps. That land figure is the interesting one: 80,000 acres of public ground in a part of Georgia where almost everything else is private. 51
At Russell, private exclusive use of public land is prohibited: The 26,650-acre Richard B. Russell Lake is surrounded by 26,500 acres of land, and the Corps states that federal regulations prohibit private exclusive use of the public land around it. That rule is why the shoreline stays walkable where a private lake’s would not. 52
Walter F. George runs 85 miles down the Chattahoochee: The lake extends 85 miles along the Chattahoochee with 640 miles of shoreline, and the Corps runs 13 day use parks and four campgrounds on it. It is the public water for the southwest of the state, where there is no national forest at all. 53
The Chattahoochee WMA sits on Forest Service land: The 25,150-acre Chattahoochee Wildlife Management Area in White County is on property owned by the Forest Service, and the state states the vehicle rule plainly: all-terrain and utility vehicles are not allowed on Forest Service roads, and may only be used on roads or trails designated specifically for their use. Two agencies, one piece of ground, and the stricter rule governs. 58
No vehicles at all on Sapelo Island: Sapelo is the fourth largest barrier island in Georgia at 16,500 acres, of which the wildlife management area is 9,000. No motorised vehicles are allowed on the island, and hunters drawn for the deer quota hunts must arrange their own transport there by private boat. It is the clearest example on this coast of public land a vehicle simply cannot reach. 59
Dispersed camping: 14 days, then 30 before you set up again: Undeveloped camping is allowed in most places inside the Chattahoochee-Oconee forest boundary. Dispersed camping outside developed campgrounds is limited to a period not to exceed 14 days, and a new campsite may not be re-established on national forest system land for a period of 30 days. That second clause is stricter than the usual federal wording and is worth reading twice: it is 30 days, not 30 days in a rolling window. Developed campgrounds carry the same 14-day cap, a maximum of five people and two motorised vehicles per single site, ten people on a double site, and a bar on entering or remaining in a campground between 10 pm and 6 am unless you already occupy a site there. 8
Forest roads are for plated vehicles only, including the gravel: The Chattahoochee-Oconee manages motor vehicle use under Georgia state law. Forest roads are open only to registered vehicles and mopeds, and the driver needs a valid license, on dirt and gravel roads as much as on pavement. Motorized carts, low speed vehicles, multipurpose off-highway vehicles and all-terrain vehicles are prohibited on Forest Service roads. Georgia law restricts multipurpose off-highway vehicles to highways that are part of a county road system, and the forest states that Forest Service roads are not county roads. Vehicles that are not licensed for public road use must stay on trails marked for off-highway use. The published penalty is a fine of up to $5,000 and up to six months in prison. 9
Registering an off-highway vehicle in Georgia buys county roads, not forest roads: Since December 1, 2023 the Department of Revenue has let owners of multipurpose off-highway vehicles voluntarily register them so they may be driven on county roads. The vehicle gets a certificate of registration and a license plate, the fee is $20 a year, and the owner has to carry Georgia automobile liability insurance and renew annually. The definition is narrow: built after January 1, 2000 for off-road work in agricultural, construction or industrial settings, steering wheel, non-straddle seat, at least 350 pounds of cargo capacity and a top speed between 25 and 65 miles per hour, and specifically not a vehicle made for on-road use. A plate under this scheme does not open a Forest Service road, because those are not county roads. 56
Trails close when it rains, and six systems close for the winter: All off-highway vehicle trails on the national forest close during wet conditions when trail use can cause damage to trails and erosion into nearby streams. There is no schedule for this and no way to read it from home, so the districts ask you to phone: Conasauga keeps a recorded closure line for weekends and nights. On top of that, Beasley Knob and Davenport Mountain close from January 1 through March 31, the Windy Gap, Milma Creek and Tibbs system closes for January, February and March, and Oakey Mountain and Locust Stake run a season of March 15 to December 31. Plan a Georgia trail trip around the season first and the forecast second. 12
The OHV pass is $5 a day or $50 a year, and it is per operator: Six Forest Service systems in Georgia charge: Houston Valley, Whissenhunt, Beasley Knob, Town Creek, Oakey Mountain and Davenport. A day pass is $5 per operator per day and the annual pass is $50 per operator per year, bought at a ranger district office or through Recreation.gov, and the annual pass must be printed ahead of time and displayed in the tow vehicle. Some sites take cash or a cheque in a fee envelope on site, some want the mobile app set up before you lose signal, and at least one asks you to write a confirmation number on an envelope and drop it in the tube. Sort payment out before you leave the highway. 11
Corps of Engineers lakes: 14 days in any 30: Ten Corps projects sit in Georgia and they run more federal campgrounds here than any other agency. The rule is the same at all of them and it is federal regulation, not local policy: camping is permitted only at sites or areas designated by the district commander, and camping at one or more campsites at any one project for longer than 14 days during any 30 consecutive day period is prohibited without the district commander’s written permission. Placing equipment on a site to hold it for later, or occupying a site marked reserved without a reservation, are both prohibited as well. Quiet hours run 10 pm to 6 am unless the district sets different ones. 54
Every vehicle in a state park needs a ParkPass: Parking in a Georgia state park is $10 per vehicle per day, or $70 for an annual ParkPass valid twelve months from purchase, with 50 percent off for those 62 and older and 25 percent off for active military and veterans on passes bought in person. Overnight guests pay the daily fee once for the whole stay, however long it is. Passes are not valid at state historic sites, which are a separate category in this system. The money is earmarked: the division says pass revenue goes to repairing water and septic systems, boardwalks, docks, bridges, paved and unpaved roads, trails and picnic areas. 30
No ATV or UTV enters a Georgia state park at all: All vehicles entering a state park must display a valid ParkPass and meet the license and safety requirements set by the Georgia Department of Public Safety, and ATVs and UTVs are not allowed in state parks except for authorized personnel. Golf carts count as motor vehicles, need a pass and a licensed driver, are held to roads posted at 25 miles per hour or less, and are barred from trails. Alcohol is unlawful in any public-use area. Drone operation is prohibited without prior written approval from the division director. Even possessing metal detecting equipment is prohibited. Firearms have to be unloaded, cased and stored at the eleven parks that sit on leased Corps of Engineers ground. 31
The general forest rules most visitors never read: The Chattahoochee-Oconee publishes a conduct list under 36 CFR Chapter II, and four items on it change how a trip runs. Day use areas, picnic sites and swimming beaches may be used only between 6 am and 10 pm. Camping equipment may not be left unattended for more than 24 hours without a ranger’s permission, and the government takes no responsibility for it. A maximum of two vehicles is allowed per campsite. And the forest asks visitors to avoid riding or driving on unpaved roads or trails when they are wet or muddy, which is the polite version of the closure orders it issues when the ground actually fails. Blocking or interfering with a road or trail, especially a gated one, is prohibited outright. 10
The Okefenokee charges by the vehicle and enforces closing time: The refuge is a federal fee area and an entrance pass is required for every visitor. One pass admits the holder and up to three adults aged 16 or over in a single private, non-commercial vehicle, the person who signed it has to be in that vehicle, and separate fees apply to commercial vehicles. A current signed Federal Duck Stamp or an America the Beautiful interagency pass waives the fee, and camping permit holders and Suwannee Canal hunt permit holders pay no separate entrance fee. Entry is only during posted hours, half an hour before sunrise to 7:30 pm from March to October and to 5:30 pm from November to February, and the refuge says closing times are strictly enforced and to allow time to get back to the vehicle. 41
On Cumberland Island the vehicle stays on the mainland: Every camper on Cumberland Island needs a reservation and a printed permit carried on the island, and overnight parking is a block west of the mainland visitor center in Saint Marys. Carts and wheeled coolers of any kind are prohibited north of Sea Camp, so gear for Stafford Beach and the three wilderness campgrounds is backpacked in. Campfires are permitted only at Sea Camp and Stafford Beach, in designated rings, and food must be hung at all three wilderness sites. Individual sites cap at six people. Propane tanks larger than one gallon are not allowed on the ferry. There is no ferry on Tuesdays or Wednesdays from December 1 to February 28. 44
Burning: no permit for leaf piles, a permit for everything else, and a summer ban up north: Georgia changed its outdoor burning law on July 1, 2021. No permit is required for hand-piled natural vegetation and yard debris, meaning leaves and limbs only, though the safety practices in the statute still apply and permits are only ever good for the day they are issued. Agricultural, silvicultural and land-clearing burns and vegetative storm debris still require you to contact the Georgia Forestry Commission for notification or a permit on 1-877-OK2-BURN. Separately, the Environmental Protection Division runs a summer burn ban across 54 northern Georgia counties from May 1 to September 30, which covers most of the mountain country. Local burning ordinances apply on top of all of it. The Forest Service does not issue burn permits in Georgia and will point you to the Forestry Commission. 55
Wildlife management areas sit on top of the national forest, with their own rules: Georgia has 104 wildlife management areas, and many of the best-known ones in the mountains are Forest Service land managed for wildlife by the Department of Natural Resources. Chattahoochee WMA, for example, is 25,150 acres in White County on property owned by the Forest Service, and its own page repeats the federal line: ATVs and UTVs are not allowed on Forest Service roads and may only be used on roads or trails designated specifically for their use. The Forest Service puts the count at more than 90 areas and nearly one million acres of hunting land for the price of one WMA stamp; the 104 figure is the wildlife division’s own. Check hunting dates before you plan a quiet week on a forest road in autumn. 57
Bear country storage is a written requirement, not advice: At Lake Conasauga the forest states that it is required to store all coolers, food, pots, pans, utensils and drinks inside your locked vehicle when not in use, and to keep pets leashed and under physical restraint at all times. A cooler strapped to a roof rack or sitting in an open bed is none of those things. The same campground caps sites at one family or five adults, two vehicles, a 14-day stay and 24 feet of recreational vehicle, requires the site to be occupied the first night, bans alcohol across the entire recreation area, and allows only street-legal vehicles to be driven inside it. 19

How high is Georgia?

From Saint Marys at 10 feet to Brasstown Bald at 4,784. Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.

Towns

Suches A settlement at 2,796 feet where GA 60 and GA 180 cross, ringed by national forest, with Deep Hole and the Toccoa River a few miles off. 2,796 ft
Hiawassee Towns County seat on US 76 beside Lake Chatuge. The GA Spur 180 turn to the Brasstown Bald parking lot is southwest of town. 1,969 ft
Clayton Rabun County seat where US 76 crosses US 441, in the county that holds the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River, Rabun Bald and the Oakey Mountain trails. 1,933 ft
Blairsville Union County seat where US 76 meets US 19 and 129. Blue Ridge Ranger District office, Beasley Knob two miles east, Brasstown Bald to the southeast. 1,891 ft
Blue Ridge Fannin County seat on GA 515. The only approach to Jacks River Fields from January through March, and the town beside Lake Blue Ridge. 1,765 ft
Cleveland White County seat on US 129. The Chattahoochee Wildlife Management Area check station is about eight miles north by US 129 and GA 75 Alternate. 1,569 ft
Dahlonega Where GA 60 and US 19 start climbing into the Blue Ridge. The road to Woody Gap, Dockery Lake and the Whissenhunt trails leaves from here. 1,454 ft
Helen On GA 75 in the upper Chattahoochee valley, at the eastern end of the Russell-Brasstown byway below Unicoi Gap and Anna Ruby Falls. 1,443 ft
Ellijay Gilmer County seat where GA 52 meets GA 515. The Gates Chapel Road approach onto Forest Road 90 and Forest Road 68 starts here. 1,283 ft
Gainesville Supervisor’s office for the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, on Lake Lanier, and the last full-size service town before the mountains. 1,242 ft
LaFayette Walker County seat on US 27 in the Armuchee country, near the Ridge and Valley byway, Johns Mountain and Keown Falls. 823 ft
Dalton On I-75 in the Great Valley. Houston Valley, the largest Forest Service off-highway vehicle system in Georgia, lies just west of town. 761 ft
Chatsworth Murray County seat on US 411 under the Cohutta front. Conasauga Ranger District office, and the bottom of the gravel road to Lake Conasauga. 746 ft
Eatonton Putnam County seat between Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair, and the Oconee Ranger District office about 60 miles southeast of Atlanta. 568 ft
Folkston Charlton County town on US 1, the last services before the Suwannee Canal entrance to the Okefenokee and Swamp Island Drive. 79 ft
Saint Marys End of GA 40 off I-95 and the mainland dock for the Cumberland Island ferry. Vehicles stay parked on this side of the sound. 10 ft

Passes, high roads and summits

Brasstown Bald Brasstown Bald Spur (GA Spur 180): GA 180 to the Brasstown Bald parking lot 4,784 ft
Rabun Bald Rabun County, near the Carolina line. Our own measurement at the USGS point, not an agency figure 4,697 ft
Blood Mountain Union County, above Neel Gap. State Parks calls it the highest summit on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. Our own measurement at the USGS point 4,454 ft
Tray Mountain Towns County. Anna Ruby Falls drops 153 feet off its flank. Our own measurement at the USGS point 4,422 ft
Springer Mountain Fannin County, southern end of the Appalachian Trail. Our own measurement at the USGS point 3,780 ft
Grassy Mountain Old CCC Camp Road, Forest Road 18 and Forest Road 68 to Lake Conasauga: Eton on US 411 to Lake Conasauga, or Gates Chapel Road and Forest Road 90 from Ellijay 3,688 ft
Black Rock Mountain Black Rock Mountain State Park road: US 441 at Mountain City up to the summit visitor centre in Rabun County 3,640 ft
Hogpen Gap Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway: A loop on GA 75 Alternate, GA 180, GA 348 and GA 17 and 75 north of Helen 3,499 ft
Woody Gap GA 60 and GA 180 through Suches: Dahlonega north over Woody Gap to Suches, then GA 180 east to US 19 and 129 3,177 ft
Neel Gap US 19 and US 129 over Neel Gap: Cleveland and Dahlonega north to Blairsville, past Vogel State Park 3,099 ft
Unicoi Gap Towns County, where GA 75 crosses the Blue Ridge north of Helen. Our own measurement at the USGS point 2,956 ft
Fort Mountain Cohutta-Chattahoochee Scenic Byway: Prater’s Mill in Whitfield County to a mountaintop overlook in Murray County, by GA 2, US 41 and GA 52 2,850 ft
Johns Mountain Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway: A loop on US 27, GA 156, GA 136 and rural county roads, reached from I-75 exits 306 and 320 1,878 ft

Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates), retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.

Sources for this page

Congressional Research Service. Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Tables 1 and 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Elevations and Distances in the United States, online edition, Highest and Lowest Elevations table. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Geographic Names Information System and 3D Elevation Program point query. Elevation of the 3DEP surface at the GNIS coordinates of the named place, rounded to the nearest foot. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Recreation.gov. Recreation Information Database (RIDB) full export. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. State Climate Summaries 2022: Georgia. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest home page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. About the Area, with the Scenic Drives and trail mileage entries. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Frequently Asked Questions, covering developed and dispersed camping limits, OHV width restrictions and passes. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV), which cites O.C.G.A. 40-2-20, 40-2-8, 40-1-1 and 40-6-362. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Forest Supervisor’s Orders, Rules, Regulations, and Guidelines. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Beasley Knob OHV Trail System. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Houston Valley OHV Trails. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Whissenhunt OHV Trails. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Davenport Mountain OHV Trails. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Oakey Mountain OHV Trails. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Locust Stake OHV Trail System. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Windy Gap, Milma Creek, and Tibbs OHV Trails. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Brasstown Bald Visitor Information Center. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Lake Conasauga. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Cohutta Wilderness Trailheads, with the annual winter gate closures. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Jacks River Fields Campground. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. John’s Mountain Overlook. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Cooper Creek Recreation Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Frank Gross Recreation Area, in the Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Deep Hole Recreation Area, with its GA 60 and GA 180 directions. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Dockery Lake Recreation Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Duncan Ridge Road reopens following culvert replacement project. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Transportation. Scenic Byways: Best Driving Roads in Georgia, listing all 17 designated corridors. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Transportation. Russell-Brasstown National Scenic Byway flyer, with the GA 75 Alternate, GA 180, GA 348 and GA 17 route. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. ParkPass. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. Park Rules and Regulations. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. Camping in Georgia State Parks. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. About Our Division. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. Vogel State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. Black Rock Mountain State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. Fort Mountain State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. Cloudland Canyon State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. Tallulah Gorge State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and Historic Sites. Providence Canyon State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, About Us. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Visit Us, with refuge hours and entrance pass terms. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Auto Tour (Swamp Island Drive). Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Cumberland Island National Seashore. Directions, which states that the ferry is not a car ferry. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Cumberland Island National Seashore. Camping, with the mainland overnight parking and gear transport rules. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Park Statistics: 48 river miles, 15 land units, 1 river unit. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service. Georgia state page, listing the 11 National Park System units in the state. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Corps Lakes Gateway: Georgia, listing the ten Corps projects in the state. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Corps Lakes Gateway: Lake Sidney Lanier. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Corps Lakes Gateway: Allatoona Lake. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Corps Lakes Gateway: Hartwell Lake. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Corps Lakes Gateway: J. Strom Thurmond Lake. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Corps Lakes Gateway: Richard B. Russell Lake. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Corps Lakes Gateway: Walter F. George Lake. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Office of the Federal Register. 36 CFR 327.7, Camping, and 36 CFR 327.12, Restrictions, for Corps of Engineers water resource projects. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Forestry Commission. Burn Permits and Notifications, covering GA Code 12-6-90 and the Environmental Protection Division summer burn ban. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Revenue. Registering a Multipurpose Off-Highway Vehicle. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Hunting, which states the count of Georgia wildlife management areas. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Chattahoochee Wildlife Management Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Sapelo Island Wildlife Management Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.

Reviewed September 19, 2026. Conditions, closures and rules change; check with the managing agency before you travel.

Who manages Georgia

The agency on the sign decides where you can drive and where you can sleep. Choose one to see how much of the state it holds and what that means for a trip.

Georgia
5.3% 1,974,694 acres

Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Table 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Federal land here means the five agencies shown; state, tribal and private land make up the rest of each bar.

The public land map of Georgia

Agency boundaries, the BLM and Forest Service roads and trails open to vehicles, wilderness, and BLM campgrounds. Select any point for who manages it.

Map layers

Find a place

Layers

Federal land Who manages the ground, by agency

State and local land State forests, parks and wildlife areas, county and city land, nationwide

BLM roads and trails Routes managed for public motorized use

Forest roads and trails Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map

Wilderness BLM Wilderness and study areas, closed to vehicles

Camping and trailheads BLM campgrounds, OHV areas and trailheads

Base map

Map Topo Satellite

Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

State land
County and city land
Regional agency or district
Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

Open the full map