Georgia’s major attractions — Savannah’s squares, Atlanta’s skyline, Dahlonega’s gold mines — are well documented. These ten are not. From a 34-acre forest of rusting cars to a Cistercian monastery 35 miles from Atlanta to a small-town main street that crosses a state line, Georgia rewards the drive off the itinerary.
Jump to: North Georgia · Middle Georgia · Athens, Conyers & Savannah
North Georgia
Old Car City USA
Bartow County · White · Paid admission (photography pass)
A 34-acre North Georgia forest containing more than 4,000 vehicles — Fords, Chevrolets, Cadillacs, and school buses from the 1930s through the 1970s, all slowly being consumed by kudzu, pine trees, and rust. The property has been accumulating cars since the 1930s and is now operated as a photography destination. Trails wind through the vegetation to rusted hulks in various states of collapse. Located at 3098 US-411 in White, Bartow County, about 60 miles north of Atlanta via I-75 N. A photography pass is required for professional cameras; standard admission covers regular entry.
School Bus Graveyard
Habersham County · Cornelia · Free (roadside)
A field off GA-105 near Alto containing dozens of abandoned school buses — rusted, overgrown, and photographed extensively for the surreal quality of the decay. The buses are on private property but visible from the road. The location has no visitor facilities; it is a roadside stop only. GPS coordinates circulate online; the property is near the Cornelia/Alto area of Habersham County, about 90 miles north of Atlanta. Free and accessible year-round.
McCaysville Historic District
Fannin County · McCaysville · Free
A small town on the Ocoee River where Main Street runs directly across the Georgia-Tennessee state line — the pavement crosses from Georgia into Copperhill, Tennessee without a visible break. A painted line marks the state boundary on the street. The towns grew around copper mining beginning in the 1840s; sulfur dioxide from the smelters stripped the surrounding hills of vegetation for a century before forest recovery began. A short walk covers both states. Located 15 miles north of Blue Ridge via US-76.
Berry College Campus
Floyd County · Rome · Free (campus access)
The world’s largest college campus by acreage — 27,000 acres of North Georgia forest, fields, and Gothic stone buildings in Floyd County, 65 miles northwest of Atlanta. Berry College was founded in 1902 by Martha Berry; the campus architecture is Collegiate Gothic, built largely by students as part of the school’s work-study ethos. The campus served as filming location for Remember the Titans (2000) and Sweet Home Alabama (2002). Open to visitors; walking the grounds and photographing the buildings is free. The college is in Rome, off US-27 Alt.
Middle Georgia
Radium Springs Gardens
Dougherty County · Albany · Free
A natural spring on the Flint River that was once among the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia — a clear blue spring fed by 70,000 gallons per minute from an underground aquifer. The casino and tourist resort built around it was destroyed by floods in 1994 and again in 2000, and the spring itself was buried under sediment by Hurricane Michael in 2018. What remains is the ruined concrete shell of the resort, the spring site, and the riverbank — an eerie landscape of flood damage and natural history. Free; located at 2300 Radium Springs Road in Albany, 175 miles south of Atlanta.
Rose Hill Cemetery
Bibb County · Macon · Free
A 50-acre Victorian cemetery established in 1840 above the Ocmulgee River in Macon — the burial site of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley of the Allman Brothers Band, who died in separate motorcycle accidents in 1971 and 1972, within a mile and a year of each other. Confederate soldiers, Georgia governors, and Macon founding families are buried throughout; the grounds include a Confederate section with more than 600 graves. Free, open daily. Located at 1071 Riverside Drive.
Jimmy Carter’s Smiling Peanut
Sumter County · Plains · Free
A 13-foot concrete peanut with a toothy grin, built as a campaign prop for Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential run and permanently installed at the corner of US-280 and Bond Street in Plains — Carter’s hometown. The Plains area also holds the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, which includes Carter’s boyhood farm and the railroad depot used as a campaign headquarters. The peanut is free, always visible. Plains is 135 miles southwest of Atlanta via US-280.
Athens, Conyers & Savannah
The Tree That Owns Itself
Clarke County · Athens · Free
A white oak at the corner of Dearing Street and Finley Street in Athens that holds legal ownership of the ground within 8 feet of its trunk. The original tree was deeded ownership of itself by Colonel William H. Jackson around 1890 — reportedly in recognition of the pleasure it had given him over his lifetime. That tree fell in 1942; the current tree, grown from one of its acorns, was planted in 1946 by the Athens Junior Ladies Garden Club and carries the same legal status. Free, always visible from the sidewalk. Athens is 70 miles east of Atlanta via US-78.
Monastery of the Holy Spirit
Rockdale County · Conyers · Free
A functioning Cistercian monastery 35 miles east of Atlanta where Trappist monks have lived since 1944. The monastery is open to the public — visitors can walk the grounds, attend the chapel services (open to all), and shop at the monastery store, which sells handmade goods including bread, fudge, fruitcake, and bonsai trees cultivated by the monks. The Gothic stone church was built by the monks themselves beginning in the 1950s. Free to visit; located at 2625 Highway 212 SW in Conyers.
Congregation Mickve Israel
Chatham County · Savannah · Free (exterior / guided tours available)
One of the three oldest Jewish congregations in the United States — founded in 1733, the same year Georgia was established as a colony, by Sephardic Jewish families who arrived in Savannah on the ship William and Sarah. The current Gothic Revival synagogue at 20 East Gordon Street was built in 1878. The congregation’s museum holds Torah scrolls brought from London in 1733, a letter from George Washington, and correspondence from Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Free to visit the exterior; museum tours available on request.
Planning Notes
Old Car City logistics: Located at 3098 US-411 in White, Bartow County — 60 miles north of Atlanta via I-75 N to exit 296 then US-411 N. Run by one family; hours vary seasonally. Call ahead or check current hours before visiting.
South Georgia circuit: Plains, Americus, and Albany cluster in Southwest Georgia. Jimmy Carter’s Peanut, the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, Radium Springs Gardens, and Providence Canyon State Park (Stewart County) can be combined into a two-day loop from Atlanta.
Middle Georgia from the interstate: Macon is directly on I-75, 80 miles south of Atlanta. Rose Hill Cemetery is 5 minutes off the highway — a practical stop on a drive south without adding significant detour.
Athens day trip: The Tree That Owns Itself is a 5-minute stop. Athens itself has Creature Comforts Brewing and the University of Georgia campus — worth building a full day around the visit.