Traveling in Georgia can be a jaw-dropping experience as there are amazing spots that guarantee a perfect trip.
There are many beautiful places to go hiking in Georgia, from scenic mountains and colorful canyons to cascading waterfalls and state parks.
Hiking trails in Georgia provide various scenic views for adventurers looking for a leisurely outdoor exploration day trip. It offers favorable places for both beginners and experienced backpackers.
Depending on what you are searching for, you’ll find short, beginner-friendly trails full of lovely physical attractions for starters.
You can also explore many places like the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains or hike in other long trails in Georgia for a challenging excursion.
If you are looking for the best exciting places to hike and explore in Georgia, you’ve come to the right page.
Here are 13 awesome places to hike in Georgia with the most breathtaking views that will offer a blissful experience to all adventurers:
1. Blood Mountain
The famous Appalachian Trail has its starting point in Georgia. About 79 miles of this trail are in the Northern part of Georgia.
In Blood mountain, you’ll get a real feel of the storied Appalachian Trail. You can follow the 10-mile one-way from Woody Gap to Blood Mountain for a memorable trip.
In the first three miles of the trail, you will experience ‘’Preachers Lookout,’’ which provides a spectacular view and incredible workout.
The trail will take you to the gorgeous summit views at Big Cedar Mountain via rolling mountain climbs on great path turns and wildflower.
Then continue following the Appalachian Trail from Jarrad Gap and climb to the Blood Mountain Summit.
Just before you climb the mountain, there is a cool stream where you can cool your body after a long hike and fill up for the remaining journey.
Rest at the Blood mountain shelter before climbing the adjacent craggy rocks for some great views.
While in the Blood Mountains wilderness, you’ll enjoy the serenity of paths through wildflower and fern-filled mountain gaps.
After trekking in the Blood Mountain for a few hours, you’ll find welcoming Mountain Crossings Hostels where cold drinks and tasty foods await you.
Blood mountain hiking area is accessible during all seasons of the year and is usually less crowded on weekdays. You can hike in this place with your leashed dog and enjoy the trip together.
2. Davidson-Arabia Nature Preserve
Davidson-Arabia Nature Preserve is another beautiful place to hike in Georgia, with many fascinating sceneries to color your adventure.
When hiking in trails of this Nature Preserve, you might feel like you are already on the moon or a new planet.
Davidson- Arabia Nature Preserve is distinguished by its two moon-like granite monadnocks, dense forests, hidden lakes, and small ponds.
There are wooded trails like the 2.5-mile Mountain trail with worldly-rock outcropping where you can climb to the top after hiking.
If you like hiking aimlessly without following a specific trail, this place is for you. You can carve your own paths and discover new routes in the woods.
Fortunately, Davidson- Arabia Nature Preserve is not so big for you to get lost in the wild. When you think you are lost, you can easily navigate to find a trail.
Another impressive thing about this park is that they arrange guided tours to help adventurers learn more about the area.
You can also visit the Flat Rock Archives that details the history of the African-American community and the monastery of the Holy Spirit.
It’s not difficult to explore this area, and you can come with your leashed dog to give you company.
3. Gahuti Trail
If you love hiking along quiet streams under a canopy of impressive hardwood forests, this loop trail is for you.
It has a distance of about 8.7 miles with a 1500 feet elevation, and it’s only a few hours north of Atlanta.
Gahuti trail travels around the edge of Fort Mountain State Park, which is located between Ellijay and Chatsworth.
If you have more time for adventure, you can add an extra two miles by visiting the historic fire tower and the mysterious stone wall built by Amerindians.
While it’s an ever-changing trail, Gahuti remains beautiful and challenging all the time. But it’s essential to keep in mind that the weather changes a lot in this path.
The trail blazes with orange diamonds and orange rectangles, though you won’t find them everywhere along the path.
You can hike in this trail in all seasons, but it offers the best experience in the spring through fall due to weather changes. Being a moderately complex path, it’s favorable for adults and older children.
Nonetheless, this trail is quite difficult for dogs. If you plan to travel with your dog, you must keep it on the leash to ease the exploration difficulties.
This hiking trail also has lovely cottages and various campsites where adventurers can enjoy their meals and spend a night after a long day of hiking.
4. Amicalola Falls State Park and Lodge
Amicalola is a perfect destination for those looking to have more fun, relax, and hike on beautiful trails.
It offers ample accommodations, ten different hiking trails, and 829 acres of grand scenery that make it a perfect outdoor destination in Georgia.
This state park has the tallest waterfall in Georgia, at about 726 feet. So, you can hike to the top of the Amicalola falls while catching splendid views of the Appalachian Mountains.
The falls are accessible to novice and moderate hikers since there is a 600 stair and steep quarter-mile from the parking area.
More experienced hikers can enjoy trekking on the Approach 8.5-mile Trail that starts in the parking lot and ends at the south of the Appalachian Trail.
When hiking along the trails of this state park, you’ll enjoy seeing a beautiful view of oak, pine, and hickory trees.
If you want a challenging excursion, you can set out on the Hike Inn Trail for a 10-mile hike with a moderate difficulty level. You’ll find a countryside inn at the top where you can enjoy delicious meals and spend a weekend.
Most hiking tracks in this state park have flowers during all seasons of the year, which adds to the beauty of the adventure.
The park also offers long-guided trips, zip-lines, 3-D archery and animal meets. There are several luxurious and rustic hotels where you can eat, refresh, and spend a night.
5. Cloudland Canyon State Park
Located on the Cumberland Plateau on Lookout Mountain in Northeastern Georgia, Cloudland Canyon State Park has the best waterfalls. The waterfall trail to follow descends more than 400 feet into a valley.
In this area, you will hike in gravel sections and a 600-step staircase with beautiful views of two different waterfalls, including Cherokee Falls and Hemlock Falls.
If you don’t want to follow the waterfall trail, you can try the scenic 4.8-mile West-Rim Loop trail.
It’s a rocky, moderately difficult path where you can enjoy viewing shady oak and maple forests, thickets of blooming Rhododendron as well as mountain laurel.
There are also solar sceneries of the canyon, surrounding mountains, and abundant wildlife.
Mountain biking is available for bike enthusiasts. You can follow the Cloudland Connector Trail to find the newly developed Five Points Recreation Area.
The park also provides disc golf, a fishing pond, horseback riding trails, and picnicking. After adventuring the whole day, you can go to one of the 16 comfortable cottages to rest and spend a night.
6. Appalachian Trail to Trail Mountain
If you live in Atlanta and want to trek a short way to a strenuous trail in Georgia, you can set out on the Appalachian Trail and hike up Tray mountain for a perfect experience.
Amazing views from the Tray Mountain summit will definitely melt your heart. Take the 5.2-mile out and back hike trip through stunning valley terrain at the Indian Grave Gap before ascending a scenic ridgeline in its mountain.
This trail is rated moderately hard and offers a fulfilling experience. It will make you breathe hard and get in shape.
Your trip will begin at the Indian Grave Gap Road, which is the parking area, traveling on the Appalachian Trail via the Cohutta National forest at the base of Rocky mountain.
Then you’ll head up through a blue-green gnarled mountain laurel. Beautiful views will start to open up to the south as you reach a small campsite.
Your hike reaches Tray Gap at about 1.8 miles, crossing Tray Mountain Road at 1.85 miles. Then you’ll enter the Tray Mountain Wilderness after covering about 2/3 of the distance.
At this point, you’ll have already climbed half of the elevation to the Tray Mountain summit, and the last part of the journey will be considerably steeper.
7. Skidaway Island Big Ferry Trail
The Skidaway Island Big Ferry Trail is among the most popular hiking places located in Georgia. It’s always at the top of the list of any hiker in Georgia due to its beautiful maritime forests, cabins, camping grounds and is near the Savannah.
The hiking trails are moderately easy and are located on sandy terrain under a beautiful canopy and Spanish moss undergrowth.
Terrain is beginner-friendly and they sweep through grassy, marshy waterways, and several historic sites.
After going through the marshy forest, you will enjoy the view of small ponds arranged on the sides of the trial.
After half a mile northwest on the trail, there is a broad walk that leads to a wooden observation tower. From this tower, you will see among the best views in the park, including the salt flats and the marsh bordering the Skidaway Narrows.
Departing the observations tower, you will continue hiking east and deep into the forest. The forests have fan-shaped palmetto plants, pine, gnarled oak, and palm trees.
After reaching an intersection point, hike to the left towards the northern loop. There is another junction with a path between mounded earthworks. These earthworks were long built by soldiers to protect the Savannah.
Towards the end of the northern loop, you will find rusted remains of the prohibition ‘Moonshine’ still.
8. Sweetwater Creek State Park
Sweetwater Creek State Park is located just about 20 miles from downtown Atlanta. It’s an excellent outdoor destination for city dwellers looking for a quick escape.
You can set out on the mostly flat first half of the famous Red Trail. It is most crossed to see the wrecks of the five-story Civil War-era textile mill soaring above the creek’s falls.
The wrecks may look familiar as they appeared in several films such as “The Hunger Games series.”
If you like rugged and strenuous hikes, you can try the 3-mile Yellow Loop Trail that will take you across a cool river.
When hiking on the Yellow Loop Trail, you’ll climb deep into the hardwood forests before descending into groves of mountain laurel and natural rock dam. Here, you’ll have views of the historic mill ruins and falls below.
This state park also has ranger-led hikes and an on-site social museum. For those who love fishing, there are fishing supplies available in the bait shop.
During warmer months like the summer season, adventurers can hire fishing boats, kayaks, canoes, stand-ups, pedal boats, and paddle boards from the park to explore waterways.
After hiking and exploring in the Sweetwater Creek State Park, you can rest in a picnic shelter or set a camp in one of the five tent campsites.
9. Providence Canyon Outdoor Recreation Area
The Providence Canyon Recreation Area is a colorful hiking area located in Georgia near the Alabama border.
It has various hiking trails, each with more than 10-miles. The most popular trail is the Canyon Loop Trail.
The Canyon Loop Trail is a scenic path that is rated easy to moderately challenging. On this trail, you’ll cover a distance of about 2.5 miles, ringing all nine of the park’s canyons.
These canyons indicate that man has a significant influence on the land as they resulted from poor farming practices.
The canyon soil is pink, orange, red, and purple, making an impressive natural painting. However, hikers are not allowed to carve or climb on canyon walls due to fragile soils.
Experienced hikers and backpackers looking for a strenuous trip can tackle the rugged 7-mile Backcountry Trail. This challenging trail leads into dense forests and provides stunning views of six canyons.
Campsites, cottages, and resting units are available near the park at Florence Marina State Park. You can also book a picnic shelter.
10. The Mount Yonah Trail
It’s easy to navigate Mount Yonah when hiking on the Mount Yona Trial. It begins from Georgia Highway 75 between Cleveland and Helen in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National forests.
This is a short trail of about 2.1 miles, though some parts are steep enough to give you a good workout. It’s an ideal choice for those looking to spend about two to three hours outdoors.
When hiking on this trail, you’ll reach the top of Mount Yonah and enjoy scenic views of the mountains to the north.
The trail winds through patches of beautiful wildflowers, rocks, and many places to stop and rest. You can even camp along the way.
At the base of Yonah Mountain, there is a 200-acre vineyard that makes world-class wines. So, you can also visit this winery to spend more time in Yonah Mountain.
11. Brasstown Bald
Any adventurer would genuinely be pleased to hike Brasstown Bald, which is the highest peak in Georgia.
It’s located in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests north of Helen town and south of the North Carolina border.
You can reach the mountain’s expansive observation tower through the steep, paved 1,2-mile out-and-back trail.
The trail starts at the visitor’s center and winds through a luxurious, rocky forest colored with wildflowers and patched by green moss.
At the summit of the tower, there are scenic views of four states, including Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
When hiking on a calm and clear day, you can even see the Atlanta skyscrapers more than 100 miles to the southwest. The views are also very clear at sunrise and sunset.
12. Hurricane Falls, Tallulah Gorge State Park
Located in Rabun County in the Northern part of Georgia, Hurricane Falls, Tallulah Gorge State Park provides over 15 miles of panoramic hiking trails.
You can take the 2-mile Hurricane Falls Trail Loop, which goes around the 1,000-foot-deep gorge’s rims.
It’s a moderately difficult trail with terrain varying from steep metal steps to pavement leading suspension bridge, which sways with every step you make.
The trail provides nice overlooks for viewing the upper part of the thundering Hurricane Falls.
If you are looking to hike in an easily accessible trail for a gentle experience, you can take the Tallulah Gorge Shoreline Trail with the pavement.
This paved trail is relatively flat and follows the banks of the Tallulah River. It makes a perfect area for running, hiking, and cycling with small children.
After trekking the whole day, you can go to rest and re-energize with delicious meals in one of the incredible restaurants, including Lake Rabun Hotel and Restaurant, Main Street Grill and BBQ, and Overlook BBQ.
13. Black Rock State Park
Black Rock State Park is the highest park in Georgia, encompassing a unique scenery of Georgia’s Blue Ridge mountains.
It has four hiking trails, but James Edmund Trail is the most popular one. James Edmund Trail is a 6.25-mile loop track that wanders through sharp elevations.
You can begin the trail and head into the state park woods. Along the way, you’ll find various creek crossings where you can hydrate and fill up as you won’t find any water in the summit.
At the summit, hikers are rewarded with a perfect campsite to refresh and enjoy their snacks. There is also an excellent view of the smoky mountains.
Along with the awesome view, tent campers will also delight in the walk-in sites that offer extra privacy. There are 12-walk-in campsites and four backcountry campsites.
Before heading back down the mountain to complete your loop, you can spend some time on the Summit visitor center and enjoy free Wi-Fi and a cool breeze.
If you plan to explore the Black Rock State Park, it’s essential to keep in mind that this park is usually colder than most parks in Georgia. So, you’ll need to pack the right gear for cold weather.