Tucked into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Northwest Georgia is a glistening, clear-water reservoir surrounded by miles of hiking and biking trails, beautiful lakeside campgrounds, and scenery so stunning that it’s earned the title of Georgia’s “Miracle in the Mountains” from locals. Carters Lake is a mountain impoundment on the Coosawattee River situated just under two hours north of Atlanta. Ringed by the rolling, forested hills of southern Appalachia, the lake is an outdoor paradise, where anglers can fish for spotted bass, striped bass, and walleye, or where pleasure cruisers can rent a pontoon boat and enjoy a leisurely weekend exploring the 3,200-acre lake with a more than 60-mile shoreline. Carters Lake is also located near a Georgia national forest brimming with waterfalls, valleys, and trails, making it a great home base for a fun-filled North Georgia vacation.
Carters Lake is named for the Carter family that owned land in the area in the 1800s, well before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the river for flood control and power generation in 1977. At 450 feet deep, it’s Georgia’s deepest lake and was the inspiration behind the dark, cult thriller “Deliverance,” a 1972 film about a group of friends who set out on an ill-fated paddling trip on the Coosawattee River one last time before it was flooded behind the lake’s earthen dam, the largest of its kind east of the Mississippi.
Carters Lake is the ideal summer escape
Because it’s situated in the mountains, Carters Lake is an excellent destination for visitors looking to escape the sometimes-oppressive Georgia heat found farther south and closer to the coast. Shrouded by bluffs and trees, shade is an ample commodity at the lake and the cool waters are ideal for swimming. Visitors can also rent a pontoon boat, kayak, or jet ski, or bring their own. Tubing or water skiing amid the gorgeous mountain scenery is a great way to blow off steam in the summer. A number of Corps of Engineers campgrounds are available around the lake, and reservations can be made up to six months in advance by visiting the recreation.gov website.
For a more upscale visit to the lake, the Carters Lake Marina rents out several air-conditioned and heated luxury cabins that sleep up to six people. These cabins come with full kitchens, a bathroom, a loft, and are situated lakeside. Guests at the luxury cabins can dock their boat at the marina free of charge during their stay. The marina also rents some more rustic lakeside cabins that are a bit older, yet still provide important comforts, like air conditioning and covered porches. Unlike another beautiful Georgia lake that boasts a town with an eclectic main street full of artsy displays and shops, Carters Lake is wonderfully rural. The closest sizable town is Ellijay, Georgia, with a population of less than 2,000 people.
The lake is perfectly located for a North Georgia adventure
While the lake offers plenty to do, from some excellent year-round fishing to hiking and biking on five different trails managed by the Corps of Engineers, the lake’s location in the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills makes it an excellent jumping-off point for a complete North Georgia vacation. The nearby Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest is just to the north, and boasts 430 miles of hiking and biking trails, 1,300 miles of fishable trout waters, and seemingly endless scenic drives to waterfalls and stunning mountain vistas. For something a bit more far-flung, Tallulah Falls State Park, that features “the Niagara of the South,” is a two-hour drive away and located among the stunning landscape of southern Appalachia…