5 GA Road Trips: Oktoberfest, ‘Little Grand Canyon,’ Creepy Doll Heads

GEORGIA — One great thing about road tripping in Georgia is that warm weather normally continues into October, with temperatures running from about 55 degrees to 75 degrees.

The weather is typically optimal for outdoor activities, such as apple picking or leaf peeping — fall foliage typically peaks in late October or early November — or taking part in seasonal celebrations such as Oktoberfest celebrations.

For the latter, Helen’s Bavarian Village is the place to be.

There’s something for everyone in Helen, a town of about 550 located about 90 miles northeast of Atlanta. With steeply pitched roofs, quaint cross-gables and colorful half-timbering set against the Blue Ridge Mountains, this Bavarian village transports visitors to the cobblestone streets of Germany’s famed Bamberg or Lindau. The aroma of authentic German fare wafts in the breeze.

With Oktoberfest starting with a parade on Sept. 7, late summer and early fall are an excellent time to visit. The celebrations of traditional dancing, food and beer are held every Thursday to Sunday through September, and daily from Sept. 26-Oct. 27. It’s the longest-running Oktoberfest of its kind in the United States. To make the most of it, dress in traditional attire, such as lederhosen and dirndls.

Helen is also a quintessential Christmas town that hosts an annual holiday market with gifts, decorations and candied treats the last weekend in November and first in December, and also the Helen Christmas Parade in early December, which features Santa arriving on a Bavarian sleigh.

There are plenty of other activities, from zip lining to tubing to hiking. There are multiple waterfalls near Helen, Anna Ruby Falls is one of the best. A rare double waterfall, it is considered the most v visitor friendly and is accessible by a paved trail.

Visit ‘America’s Front Porch’

Buena Vista, located about 140 miles south of Atlanta, is known as “America’s Front Porch.” The Marion County community of about 1,550 may look like a sleepy, southern one-red-light town, but there’s much more to it than that with an eclectic collection of interesting shops, old-fashioned stores and restaurants. Most are located in historic buildings around the town square and the antebellum courthouse built in 1850.

Be sure to visit Pasaquan, an internationally acclaimed 7-acre art site about six miles east of Buena Vista that is currently under the stewardship of Columbia State University.

Pasaquan is the vision of the late Eddie Owens Martin, the son of Marion County sharecroppers, who began creating the site in 1957 and worked on it for 30 years. The National Register of Historic Places-listed site, which includes six major structures, mandala murals and more than 900 feet of elaborately painted masonry walls, fuses pre-Columbian Mexico, African and Native American cultural and religious symbols and motifs.

If you’re planning an overnight stay — perhaps in a historic bed-and-breakfast inn, consider catching a show at The Moon, formerly The Moon Family Theatre, which had hosted marquee musicians like George Jones, Conway Twitty, Chubby Checker, Martina McBride, Merle Haggard, Shania Twain, and many more.

A variety of art, crafts, food and entertainment are highlighted every year on the first Saturday in November (Nov. 2 this year), when the community puts on the Rural America Festival.

‘Georgia On My Mind’

Ray Charles Plaza, with a life-size sculpture of the pioneering soul musician seated at a baby grand piano on a rotating pedestal, is reason enough to visit Albany, but not the only one. Albany, a small city of about 67,200 people, is located about 190 miles south of Atlanta.

The sculpture of Charles, who was born in Albany on Sept. 23, 1930, plays some of his most beloved melodies at timed intervals. It’s also a water feature, with water flowing over the pedestal and spilling into a reflecting pool at its based. Benches to view and hear it are shaped like piano keys.

At the Albany Civil Rights Movement Museum, visitors can learn more about the Albany Movement, a campaign in 1961 and 1962 to end all forms of racial segregation in Albany. The campaign, which attracted Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy and other prominent civil rights activists, started with the desegregation of public transportation and include the formation of a biracial committee to discuss further desegregation, and the release of those jailed in segregation protests.

On the second Saturday of every month, the Albany Civil Rights Institute Freedom Singers narrate Albany Movement stories with dynamic testimony and emotionally charged performances.

Other attractions to check out include the Flint RiverQuarium, which highlights the ecology of the Flint River and has turtles and alligators; Thronateeska Heritage Center Museums and Planetarium; and Chehaw Park and Zoo.

Visit The ‘Little Grand Canyon’

Located about 140 miles south of Atlanta near Lumpkin, Providence Canyon State Park is a geological wonder known as Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon.”

As beautiful as it is, the canyon is testament to the power of humans’ influence on the land. Its massive gullies as deep as 150 feet were caused by poor farming practices in the 1800s, but the layers of pink, orange, red and purple sediment left by erosion make for beautiful sightseeing and photography.

The rare Plumleaf Azalea grows only in this region and blooms during July and August when most azaleas have lost their color.

Trail difficulty varies. The rim trail gives visitors views of all the canyons. Hikers who want to explore the deepest canyons will typically find a thin layer of water along the trail, an indication of the water table below. The park recommends that guests who hike the most difficult canyons join the Canyon Climbers Club. Backpackers can stay overnight along the backcountry trail which highlights portions of the canyon and winds through mixed forest.

Camping, cottages and efficiency units are available nearby at Florence Marina State Park on 45,000 acre Lake Walter F. George.

Where Doll’s Heads Go

This isn’t on everyone’s bucket list and some people may consider it downright creepy The Doll’s Head Trail is a 2.5-mile loop within Constitution Lakes Park in southeast Atlanta. It started as a bit of a dark joke but has evolved into an asset that has inspired local preservations efforts, according to the Rails to Trails Conservancy.

Joel Slaton, the founder, began exploring Constitution Lakes Park and began finding doll parts — mostly heads, but also arms and legs — n a spot mostly unused except by birdwatchers and a few locals. The dismembered doll parts, discarded toys and other items, including the old brickwork that remained from a quarry that hadn’t been active for a century, was formally knighted in 2012. Others have built their own vignettes in the park.

5 More Georgia Road Trips

• Shudder And Scream In Savannah
• Take ‘America’s Favorite Drive’
• Fall For Georgia
• Find Georgia’s Hole-In-The-Wall Barbecue Treasures
• Big Foot For Skeptics, Believers And ‘Knowers’

Traveling elsewhere? Check out these classic Patch Road Trips.