Best towns for cabin living in NE Georgia? (Atlanta, Dahlonega: rentals, to buy)

[Reno58]

In searching for potential areas to buy a small log cabin for semi-retirement (work from home) I find many available in the Ellijay, GA area, as well as nearby towns like Blue Ridge, and areas north into TN and northeast into NC. I've been to some areas in TN (Sevierville, Pigeon Forge) that are so tourist heavy most of the cabins are rentals and those areas look much more like vacation spots rather than towns for full-time and quiet cabin living. Is this also the case for Ellijay and nearby towns? Does anyone here know the general area well enough to recommend some towns that may be less touristy and more suitable for full time living in a small log cabin, or have comments on Ellijay, specifically, for this sort of thing? No kids so don't care about schools or shopping, but some decent restaurants within 20-30 miles would be a plus.



I've lived on the west coast since 1985 (CA and NV), but spent my first 26 years in NC so am familar with the humidity, bugs, southern food and accents, and all of that. But I never investigated the smaller towns in the mountain areas of GA, NC, VA and TN and am trying to narrow down my search region a bit.

[Reno58]

Bad form to reply to my own post I suppose, but I found a good discussion for a forum section linked from another GA city besides Ellijay (for Blue Ridge). So some good information there for my question which I posted in the Ellijay section I think (haven't quite figured out how these forum sections are organized).

[AnsleyPark]

Hey, Reno. I lived part time in Blue Ridge for about ten years. Really loved it there. Very nice folks, very nice downtown. Plenty of good restaurants and a lot of outdoors activities. Blue Ridge Lake is beautiful, too. I cannot say enough good things about the area. We certainly enjoyed our time there.

[Reno58]

AnsleyPark ... thanks for the reply. I plan to make a visit later this year and work up a list of 5-7 target cities, then hit them all on a road trip. I want to stay away from the pure "touristy" places with high seasonal population variations (if there are any!), and try to find a quieter town in the area. Having a nice lake nearby is also a plus.

[DJDeadParrot]

Originally Posted by Reno58

AnsleyPark ... thanks for the reply. I plan to make a visit later this year and work up a list of 5-7 target cities, then hit them all on a road trip. I want to stay away from the pure "touristy" places with high seasonal population variations (if there are any!), and try to find a quieter town in the area. Having a nice lake nearby is also a plus.

The one tourist-oriented town I'd steer you away from would be Helen. If you don't know about Helen; basically, its a Bavarian-theme mountain town that draws a lot of day-trippers and weekenders up from Atlanta. Its a bit further east than you're looking, anyway. But its worth mentioning when discussing places that roll out the tourist welcome mat with little in the way of traffic control.

[Georgia Bees]

3 places I'd suggest looking at are Young Harris, Hiawassee, and Blairsville
1)Young Harris is a gorgeous area just at the base of Georgia's highest mountain, Brasstown Bald.The town has the college there but it is not as touristy as some of the other nearby towns.
2) Hiawassee, though a bit more touristy than Young Harris, it still has a great hometown feel to it. Lake Chatuge,which incompasses the whole town, is just lovely.
3) Blairsville, is another one that falls into this category as Hiawassee, it has a great hometown feel to it but is nowhere near touristy as Helen, Dahlonega, or Blue Ridge.
Have fun doing this.Really take your time.Each of the mountain towns in Georgia have their own vibes and are very different from one another, even though they may just be a couple of miles apart .

[Reno58]

Thanks for the additional information DJDP and GB. It looks like a good 2 week "loop" through the mountain regions of NC, GA, TN and VA is in order, along with a little more investigation of the tax situation in each state.