These great Georgia hikes travel to our favorite overlooks, catching stunning views of Georgia’s mountains, coast and plains. Hike our top 10 favorite Georgia trails with the best, most breathtaking views.
There’s just something magical about a great summit view. Whether the hike spans miles or minutes, a good climb to a spectacular view makes a great workout – and, hey, at least the return hike is (usually) downhill! Hike these great Georgia hikes to our favorite, most breathtaking views to savor the view from the top and catch some celebration time at the summit. Georgia’s beauty is simply stunning.
Hike these ten trails to explore Georgia from places spread all over the Georgia map, from the southern Appalachian Mountains north of Atlanta to the sandy Georgia coastline near Savannah. Up for the challenge? You’ll rack up some great memories on the trail, and catch some stunning views along the way.
Hike to our top 10 favorite views in Georgia
Wherever your adventures take you, please remember to leave no trace on your hike to help keep Georgia beautiful.
Rabun Bald Summit
Bartram Trail to Rabun Bald
3 miles
Hike this scenic Georgia segment of the Bartram Trail to the Rabun Bald mountain summit, where you’ll score especially beautiful, 360-degree views from Georgia’s second highest-elevation peak. At three miles, the hike isn’t exceptionally long, and the views from the summit’s observation deck are worth the moderate climb. But be warned: this is a view that’s so beautiful, it’s hard to walk away from, so pack a picnic and stay awhile to enjoy the mountain’s splendid views.
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS![Hike Skidaway Island State Park near Savannah, following the Big Ferry Trail to sweeping coastal views]()
Skidaway Island State Park
Skidaway Island Big Ferry Trail
4.4 miles
Skidaway Island’s maritime forest is simply beautiful: gnarled live oak trees drape with Spanish moss that blows in gentle coastal breezes. Hike the Big Ferry Trail at Skidaway Island State Park to catch stunning, wide-open views of the grassy coastal marsh and the island’s intercoastal waterway. Ascend the trail’s multi-story wooden observation deck for sweeping coastal views. Look carefully at the water channels: you’ll likely spot dolphins swimming rhythmically in the Georgia coastal waters.
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS
Black Rock Mountain State Park
Black Rock Mountain Tennessee Rock Trail
2.2 miles
Catch stunning views near the summit of Black Rock Mountain in Georgia’s highest-elevation state park. Hike the Tennessee Rock Trail through a wildflower-filled forest scaling the Tennessee Rock Overlook, catching long-range views of the surrounding mountains and farmland.
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS![Hike to some of North Georgia's best views from the summit overlook at Fort Mountain State Park]()
Fort Mountain State Park
Fort Mountain Overlook Trail
Fort Mountain towers over the surrounding, relatively flat landscape near Chatsworth in North Georgia. Hike the Overlook Trail at Fort Mountain State Park, cresting a ridge to catch beautiful, far-flung views of Georgia’s southern Appalachian mountains, forested wilderness and rolling farmland. You’ll see the best, widest views from a wooden observation deck that hangs near the summit of Fort Mountain’s angular, steeply-pitched mountainside.1.6 miles
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS
Sawnee Mountain Preserve
Indian Seats Trail at Sawnee Mountain
4 miles
Hike this four-mile trail in the Sawnee Mountain Preserve, summiting Sawnee Mountain and catching stunning views of Georgia’s rolling Blue Ridge Mountains far on the horizon. The historic mountain was sacred to local Native Americans and was once mined for gold. You’ll catch beautiful views from a rock outcrop shaped like three seats, see high-elevation views from a wooden viewing platform and visit now-closed entrances to the gold mine.
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS
Yonah Mountain Summit
Yonah Mountain Trail
4.4 miles
Yonah Mountain’s iconic shape rises high from the rolling foothills south of Helen, and its steep-walled summit offers some seriously spectacular, long-range views. Hike the Yonah Mountain Trail through a rocky forest filled with tumbled boulders to summit Yonah Mountain, and grab beautiful views from one of many near-summit overlooks. (Yonah Mountain’s actual summit is, oddly, a tree-lined grassy meadow that’s poor on views but perfect for camping.)
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS![Hike the Sliding Rock Trail at Tallulah Gorge State Park to some of Georgia's best views]()
Lofty gorge views + a towering suspension bridge
Tallulah Gorge State Park
2.5 – 3.4 miles
Explore the rim of the two-mile-long Tallulah Gorge in North Georgia, catching stunning views from lofty heights along this waterfall-filled, rocky canyon. Then plunge deep into the gorge for an up-close view of Hurricane Falls, crossing a towering, swaying suspension bridge.
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS
Appalachian Trail in Georgia
Blood Mountain on the Appalachian Trail
4.3 miles
Hike the Appalachian Trail to Blood Mountain’s summit, the highest elevation on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. This classic AT day hike climbs to the Appalachian Trail on the Byron Reece Trail at Neels Gap. The hike up Blood Mountain’s slopes is beautiful, and the overlook views keep getting better and better as the trail ascends. Scale a tall rock outcrop at the mountain’s summit for the best views of the surrounding North Georgia mountains.
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS
Amicalola Falls State Park
Amicalola Falls Trail Loop
2.1 miles
Hike to the top of Georgia’s tallest waterfall, catching stunning views of the surrounding rolling Appalachian Mountains from the crest of Amicalola Falls. Then descend along the towering waterfall on a series of stairs and landings, crossing a bridge over the waterfall’s midsection for one of our favorite views in all of Georgia.
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS
Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon” of the East
Providence Canyon State Park
Explore beautiful, carved gorges of colorful sandstone in southwestern Georgia, and score views unlike any other in the Peach State. Providence Canyon is known as our state’s “Little Grand Canyon”, and while its size doesn’t compare to the enormous giant in Arizona, its colorful beauty is well worth the hike.4.9 miles
VIEW TRAIL INFO & MAPS
Our favorite hiking gear
What to pack for a view-packed Georgia hiking adventure?
Excited to scale a summit for some stunning views, but wondering what to pack? Our hiking gear list features our favorite, trail-tested hiking gear for day hikes on local trails and in the Georgia backcountry. We print and stitch our Atlanta Trails shirts and hats locally in Atlanta and Asheville, and they’re our favorite for trail adventures all over the South. Please leave no trace and help preserve Georgia’s beauty.
OUR HIKING GEAR LIST
Please Remember
Always leave no trace, pack out everything you pack in, and if you see trash, pick it up and pack it out.
Stay on the marked trail, tell someone where you're going, pack safety and wayfinding essentials, and don't rely on a mobile phone to find your way. Please always practice good trail etiquette. And before you go, always check the trailhead kiosk, official maps, and the park or ranger office for notices of changed routes, trail closures, safety information, and restrictions.
