The story below is an excerpt from our September/October 2015 issue. For the full story view our digital edition for FREE today or download our FREE iOS app!
The cabins, complete with hot tubs and grills, are welcoming enough on their own. Throw in the great attractions and activities around Dahlonega, Georgia, and you have a great getaway.
About two decades before the California Gold Rush started in the late 1840s, thousands of fortune seekers descended upon Dahlonega, in northern Georgia, where early settlers had discovered gold nuggets in some of the creeks and streams that meander through the area.
Many of these miners traveled along north Georgia mountain roads looking for riches. Today, on a heavily wooded stretch of one of these old dirt roads, is the charming and secluded Cavender Creek Cabins (cavendercreek.com).
This well-maintained yet rustic destination offers seven one- and two-bedroom cabins with fireplaces, full kitchens and spacious decks complete with hot tubs and grills. Also on the property are a number of nature trails and a fishing pond. It’s the ideal getaway for couples, families, or, as Michelle Ellis discovered, a group of girlfriends.
Ellis lives near the northern Outer Banks in Moyock, North Carolina, where she works for the county’s Department of Travel & Tourism. For the past two years, she and a few girlfriends from work have enjoyed a weeklong stay at Cavender Creek Cabins while taking tourism classes at the University of North Georgia’s Dahlonega campus.
“The first year we went we all stayed at a hotel and it just felt so impersonal,” says Ellis. “Then we discovered the cabins and after that we were hooked.”
Ellis says she and her friends particularly like that the cabins are less than five miles from historic downtown Dahlonega, which has become a regional hub for performing and visual arts. The area hosts monthly art shows and outdoor concerts, during which many local restaurants offer picnic meals that visitors can enjoy at beautiful Hancock Park, located just off Dahlonega’s Historic Square.
