Georgia

Georgia's busiest national park site is a river. The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, 15 units along a 48-mile stretch of the river in metro Atlanta, had 2,901,903 visits in 2025. Atlanta also holds Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthplace, and the coast holds Savannah, Fort Pulaski and Cumberland Island.

Most of the state's Park Service sites are free, and none of the paid ones charges more than $15 a person to enter. We read the figures below on 27 October 2026 on the National Park Service's pages, MARTA's, the Cumberland Island ferry operator's, the Georgia Department of Revenue's and Department of Community Affairs', federal time-zone rules and NOAA's normals.

Which Georgia battlefields and historic sites are free to enter?

Georgia's free Park Service sites are Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, Andersonville, Ocmulgee Mounds, Fort Frederica, Jimmy Carter National Historical Park and the Chickamauga Battlefield. None of Georgia's sites is on the 2026 list of eleven parks that add $100 for each visitor from abroad aged 16 or over. The four that charge ask everyone the same price.

Two adults from abroad who visit Cumberland Island, Fort Pulaski, Kennesaw Mountain and the Chattahoochee pay about $148 in fees and ferry fares, plus the ferry's tax. The $250 non-resident America the Beautiful pass does not pay off here, and it does not cover the ferry. The parks' fee-free days, 27 October and 11 November among them, have applied to US residents only since 2026.

The Park Service's 2025 figures span a 43-day partial government shutdown, which it calls the longest ever. Fort Pulaski and Ocmulgee Mounds recorded no visits at all in October 2025. Andersonville's museum covers American prisoners of war from the Revolutionary War to today, and nearly 13,000 men died on its grounds. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains the surcharge and the passes.

Can you visit Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home in 2026?

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birth Home has been closed for renovation, and on 27 October 2026 the park's own pages disagreed about whether tours had resumed. The park's alert, "Birth Home Temporarily Closed For Repairs", was still active. The reservations page, updated in May 2026, said tours were on hold.

The park's home page, updated in September 2026, advertised Birth Home tour registration at Historic Fire Station No. 6. It promised 15 visitors per tour, one tour an hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ask at the fire station on the day rather than count on a tour of the house. Dr. King, his brother and his sister were all born there; the King Center owns the home and the Park Service maintains it.

The free alternative is a ranger-led Birth Home Presentation in the bookstore next door, several times a day. Tickets are free and handed out in person at the visitor centre on the day, up to 15 per presentation. The park takes no advance, phone or e-mail bookings for them. Rangers also give daily Church Talks in Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

The park's visitor centre at 450 Auburn Avenue is closed for renovation too. Rangers work from Historic Fire Station No. 6, 39 Boulevard NE, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, as are Ebenezer Baptist Church and Freedom Hall. Everything closes on 1 January, Thanksgiving and 25 December. Visitor parking is free at 423 John Wesley Dobbs Avenue NE, a short walk across Irwin Street.

No train reaches the park. MARTA buses 3 and 99 stop nearby, and so does the Atlanta Streetcar, for $1.00. The park counted 647,349 visits in 2025, down from 1,159,438 in 2024; we found no page that explains the fall.

Which MARTA line runs from Atlanta's airport?

The Red and Gold lines run from MARTA's Airport Station, which sits inside the Domestic Terminal between the North and South baggage claims. A one-way fare is $2.50 by Breeze card, ticket or tap to pay, with up to four free transfers in three hours.

After 8:30 p.m., riders bound for Buckhead or North Springs may have to change trains at Lindbergh Center. Passes cost $9.00 for one day, $16.00 for three and $23.75 for seven. Children 46 inches tall and under ride free, two for each paying adult.

International Terminal arrivals reach the station by a free shuttle from outside the domestic baggage claim. The shuttle runs around the clock and takes 15 minutes between terminals. The airport's Plane Train to Concourse F is the other way, when the airline allows check-in at the domestic terminal. Hartsfield-Jackson's own site refused our connections on 27 October 2026, so this page lists none of its routes.

Why can't you drive to the top of Kennesaw Mountain any more?

Kennesaw Mountain's 1.5-mile summit road has been closed to private cars since January 2026, under a park decision announced in December 2025. A free shuttle runs up it seven days a week, and walkers and cyclists can use it too, on a 12% grade. The one-mile unpaved mountain trail is unaffected.

Kennesaw Mountain's parking fee is still due for shuttle riders: $5 a car a day, at all ten of the park's lots. The five fee machines take credit and debit cards only. Visitors arriving on foot pay $5 a person aged 16 or over.

The fighting here lasted from 19 June to 2 July 1864, and the park has more than 22 miles of trails. The visitor centre at 900 Kennesaw Mountain Drive, off I-75 at exit 269, opens 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The grounds close at 8:30 p.m. in daylight saving time and at 6:30 p.m. from November, after the clocks change.

In summer cyclists may ride the summit road from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. and from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.; the winter evening window is 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. A July 2026 alert that closed the road to walkers for contractor works was still listed on 27 October, so read the park's alerts before you go. The park is about 22 road miles from downtown Atlanta, by our own routing.

The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, the other paid site in metro Atlanta, charges $5 a car a day, cashless. It takes no reservations, and its pass does not guarantee a parking space. June was its busiest month in 2025, with 342,981 visits. Its visitor centre is at Island Ford, 8800 Roberts Drive, Sandy Springs.

Which road is closed on the Chickamauga Battlefield until November?

East Brotherton Road on the Chickamauga Battlefield is closed to all traffic between Alexander's Bridge Road and Jay's Mill Road. The park's alert on 27 October 2026 gave the dates as 23 September to 18 November 2026. The rest of the battlefield, at Fort Oglethorpe, is free to enter.

Chickamauga and Chattanooga was the country's first national military park, authorized in 1890 and dedicated in 1895. It covers more than 9,000 acres in six places, with its headquarters at the Chickamauga Battlefield. The Confederates won at Chickamauga in September 1863, and the Union won at Chattanooga that November.

Point Park on Lookout Mountain, across the line in Tennessee, is the only part of the park that charges. Entry there costs $10 a person aged 16 and over, by card only. The park's 971,647 visits in 2025 count Georgia and Tennessee together, and the Park Service publishes no Georgia-only figure. The battlefield visitor centre is about 110 road miles from Atlanta.

How did Oglethorpe's plan give Savannah its squares?

The squares of Savannah come from the town plan of James Oglethorpe, who founded the town in 1733 with 114 settlers on a bluff over the Savannah River. The plan divided the town into wards, each built around a large open square. Each ward also held four tythings of ten house lots, every lot 60 by 90 feet, and a set of trust lots.

Georgia was the last American colony established by the English crown, and Savannah was its first town, according to the Park Service. The town sits about 10 miles from the Atlantic. Its historic district holds more than 1,100 residential and public buildings. The district was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, with the Oglethorpe Plan as its principal feature.

In a 2018 release the Park Service said it rated the district as threatened, and would lift that rating once the problems were addressed. The same release noted that Franklin and Ellis Squares had been restored. The Park Service counts 24 original squares with 22 still in existence. We could not reach the City of Savannah's own site, so this page gives no visitor-centre hours.

How do you get to Fort Pulaski when no bus goes there?

Fort Pulaski cannot be reached by public transport, the Park Service says. The 14 road miles from Johnson Square along US-80, on our own routing, mean a car, a taxi or a ride share. Ride shares can drop visitors at the visitor centre. A drop at the entrance gate leaves about a mile's walk.

Fort Pulaski's entry fee is $10 a person aged 16 and over, valid for seven days, and the park takes no cash. The last entrance is at 4:30; the park's hours page was empty when we read it, so we give no opening time. The Park Service's summary says the US Army used rifled cannon to force the fort's Confederate garrison to surrender.

On 27 October 2026 the park listed four closures and cautions. A coastal-flooding caution ran from 24 to 29 October, with trails possibly under water. The Gorge Wall interiors have been under preservation work since September 2026, behind barricades. The McQueen's Island Trail has been closed since 3 August 2026 for a Chatham County restoration project, and the north shoreline is closed permanently.

The park's own figures put it 265 miles and four and a half hours from Atlanta. Charleston, South Carolina, is 125 miles and two and a half hours away.

How do you reach Cumberland Island without a car?

Cumberland Island is reached only by a passenger ferry from St. Marys, which carries no cars, or by private boat. The crossing takes about 45 minutes each way, and the operator puts the island seven miles east of St. Marys. The ferry takes no kayaks or pets either.

The ferry dock and visitor centre are at 113 St. Marys Street W, St. Marys, from I-95 exit 3. The park warns that GPS units given its name send drivers to Crooked River State Park instead. Visitor parking, one block west of the visitor centre, is free.

Cumberland Island ferry bookings open six months ahead to the month, so every November date opens on 1 May, and trips regularly sell out. After a scam warning, the Park Service says valid tickets are sold only on the operator's site, cumberlandislandferry.com. The return must be bought with the outward trip, and a refund needs ten days' notice and costs 20% of each ticket.

The 10:15 a.m. boat leaves from Sea Camp only. An adult fare is $44 plus tax, $42 for those 62 and over and $34 for ages 6 to 15, with under-6s free. The park's $15 entrance fee per person aged 16 and over is paid at check-in, cashless, so two adults pay $118 plus the ferry's tax. Check-in opens an hour before departure; the park says unclaimed seats are released 30 minutes before, the operator 15.

The ferry calls first at Dungeness dock, for the Dungeness Ruins, then at Sea Camp. The boat sells only ice, firewood, chips and drinks, and only while docked at Sea Camp. The park tells visitors to bring water, food, insect repellent, sunscreen and ID. The Lands and Legacies van tour covers 30 miles of the north end in 5 to 6 hours, from $65.

The mainland museum in St. Marys has been closed since June 2026 for roof leaks, and road work continues on the island's Main Road. The operator calls Cumberland Georgia's largest and southernmost barrier island, with 18 miles of undeveloped beaches.

How far are Tallulah Gorge and Amicalola Falls from Atlanta?

Tallulah Gorge State Park is about 98 road miles from downtown Atlanta and Amicalola Falls State Park about 74, by our own routing. Both are Georgia state parks, and the state parks' site refused our connections on 27 October 2026. This page therefore gives no fees, permits, hours or trail lengths for either.

The Appalachian Trail, a footpath of more than 2,190 miles, runs from Georgia to Maine, the Park Service says. The Forest Service's pages on its Georgia end also refused our connections.

The distances are our own routing, within about 3% of the Park Service's mileage to Fort Pulaski, though our times ran longer than the park's. Cherokee and Gatlinburg are the North Carolina and Tennessee gateways to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

All of Georgia is on Eastern Time. Federal rule 49 CFR 71.5 runs the Eastern–Central boundary down the Alabama–Georgia state line, so driving west into Alabama puts the clock back an hour. Chattanooga, across the Tennessee line, is on Eastern Time too. Clocks went back an hour on 1 November 2026 at 2 a.m.

How many days above 90°F does Savannah get?

Savannah averages 80.5 days a year at or above 90°F, against 47.1 in Atlanta and 85.4 in Macon, by NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals. Atlanta, at 1,010 feet, has the lowest daytime highs of the three cities in every month of the table below. Clayton, at 1,965 feet in the mountains near Tallulah Gorge, reaches 90°F on only 12.4 days a year.

The table gives NOAA's average highs and lows. Clayton records 71.73 inches of precipitation a year, against 50.43 in Atlanta and 48.12 in Savannah, where June is the wettest month. Atlanta averages 35.7 nights a year at or below freezing, and Savannah 21.4.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November, according to the National Hurricane Center. An average season brings 14 named storms and 7 hurricanes. Fort Pulaski's own advice is that summers can be very hot and humid.

What does a night in an Atlanta or Savannah hotel add in tax?

A hotel night in the city of Atlanta or the city of Savannah carries an 8% local hotel-motel tax and Georgia's $5.00 per night state hotel-motel fee. The state fee is charged every night until a stay becomes an extended stay of 31 or more consecutive days. A Department of Revenue bulletin says sales tax is levied on room charges, but we read no page showing how the charges combine on a bill, so this page gives no total.

Every rate in the sales-tax column includes Georgia's 4% state rate, by the Department of Revenue's chart for October to December 2026. The hotel-motel rates come from the Department of Community Affairs' report, since the City of Atlanta's own pages refused our connections.

We could not confirm whether Glynn County's rates apply on Jekyll Island, which a state authority runs. The Cumberland Island ferry quotes its fares "plus tax" without naming the rate. Our guide to sales tax in the USA explains why prices are shown before tax.