Things to Do Near Lake Arrowhead

The Highlands Golf Course: On-Property Championship Golf

The Highlands Course at Lake Arrowhead is an 18-hole championship layout measuring 6,998 yards from the tips, designed by DJ DeVictor and operated by HMS Golf of Atlanta. The course features multiple sets of tees to accommodate all skill levels, including a par-3 nine-hole option using specific tee configurations. The facility includes an all-turf driving range (unusual for a private mountain community course), a practice bunker, chipping green, and a separate practice putting green — full professional practice facilities that allow serious golfers to work all aspects of their game without leaving the community.

Golf membership at $119 to $159 per month provides unlimited complimentary green fees with cart fee only — essentially unlimited golf at a private 7,000-yard championship course for the price of a mid-tier public course monthly membership. For golfers who play 2 or more rounds per week, the value calculation favors the Lake Arrowhead golf membership substantially over public course alternatives in the region. The PGA Pro Shop, formal and casual dining rooms, and outdoor dining porch at the clubhouse complete the golf facility experience.

16+ Miles of Community Trails

Lake Arrowhead's trail network covers 16+ miles throughout the 8,000-acre community, providing hiking, mountain biking, and walking routes that wind through the forested terrain surrounding the lake and golf course. The trail system is accessible to all community members as part of the base POA dues — no separate trail membership or fee required. The trails connect multiple points within the community and provide the kind of daily-use outdoor activity infrastructure that justifies mountain community living. For residents who walk, run, or mountain bike regularly, having 16 miles of maintained trails immediately accessible without leaving the gated community is a day-to-day quality-of-life amenity that flat suburban communities cannot offer.

Lake Allatoona: Big Lake Recreation 30 Minutes Away

Lake Allatoona, an Army Corps of Engineers reservoir covering approximately 12,000 acres in Cherokee and Bartow counties, is approximately 30 minutes northeast of Lake Arrowhead via GA-140 East and I-575 North. Allatoona provides everything that Lake Arrowhead's private 540-acre lake cannot — unlimited public access, a large-scale striper and bass fishery, boat ramps throughout the lake, multiple state parks with camping and beach facilities (Red Top Mountain State Park is one of Georgia's most popular), and the open-water scale for powerboating, wakeboarding, and watersking at a scope that a 540-acre closed private lake cannot accommodate.

Red Top Mountain State Park on Lake Allatoona is 30 minutes from Lake Arrowhead and provides beach swimming, rental boats, campsites directly on the lake, and the full infrastructure of a major Georgia state park. For Arrowhead residents who want to supplement their private lake experience with big-lake recreation, Allatoona's proximity means they don't have to choose between private lake living and public lake access — they can have both.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, approximately 35 to 40 minutes southeast of Lake Arrowhead, provides hiking on the actual terrain of the 1864 Atlanta Campaign battles. The mountain summit trails offer panoramic views of the Atlanta skyline and surrounding landscape, and the park is one of the most heavily used hiking destinations in the metro Atlanta region year-round. The combination of Civil War history and accessible mountain hiking makes it one of the most visited National Park Service sites in Georgia. For Arrowhead residents who value hiking access within an easy drive of Atlanta, Kennesaw Mountain complements the on-property trail system with historical and larger-scale terrain options.

Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site

Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site near Cartersville is approximately 25 minutes northwest of Lake Arrowhead — one of the most significant and well-preserved Native American archaeological sites in the Southeast. The site includes six earthen mounds, a museum with original artifacts, and guided and self-guided tour programs. The largest mound stands 63 feet high and covers three acres. Etowah was a major Mississippian culture city occupied from about 1000 to 1550 AD, with a population estimated at several thousand at its peak. The Etowah site provides a genuinely unique historical and cultural experience that differentiates the Cherokee County region from typical suburban Atlanta communities and resonates particularly with the county's deep cultural history as Cherokee Nation homeland before the forced relocations of the 1830s.

Waleska and the Reinhardt University Campus

The town of Waleska — effectively Lake Arrowhead's address town — is home to Reinhardt University, a private liberal arts institution with approximately 1,500 students. The university's presence gives Waleska a modest cultural and intellectual dimension that adds programming, visiting speakers, and arts events to what would otherwise be a purely residential mountain community. The Falany Performing Arts Center at Reinhardt hosts a community arts series that draws residents from across the Cherokee County mountain region. For full-time Arrowhead residents, the presence of a college 10 minutes from the gate provides occasional programming options without requiring the drive to Atlanta or Canton.

Waleska's historic downtown — small as it is — has a handful of local establishments including Arrowhead Coffee Bar, which serves as a gathering spot for community members and a useful early-morning stop before lake activities. The town's proximity to Lake Arrowhead means its character has evolved alongside the community — it is a support town for lake living rather than a destination in itself, but it provides the daily infrastructure layer that makes gated community life practical.

North Georgia Wine Country and Apple Orchards

The North Georgia mountain wine region — centered on Dahlonega and the surrounding Blue Ridge foothills — is approximately 45 to 60 minutes from Lake Arrowhead via GA-140 and US-19. The region has developed over 30 wineries in recent years, ranging from established operations like Wolf Mountain Vineyards and Three Sisters Vineyards to newer boutique producers. Fall is the primary winery season when harvest events, grape stomping, and the combination of fall foliage and vineyard scenery draws significant regional tourism. For Arrowhead residents who enjoy wine country day trips, the North Georgia wine region is accessible without the multi-hour drive that Virginia or California wine country requires. Ellijay, approximately 40 minutes north via GA-140 and GA-5, is Georgia's apple capital — the Apple Festival in October is a regional institution drawing visitors from across North Georgia for mountain views, apple cider, and fall celebrations.

The Community Event Calendar

Beyond fixed regional attractions, Lake Arrowhead itself generates a significant portion of its residents' recreational life through the LAPOA community events calendar. Golf tournaments, themed dining events at the Highlands Grill, trail run competitions, lake fishing tournaments among members, holiday events, and the weekly social programming at the clubhouse create an activity density that many buyers do not anticipate. Residents who participate in community programming report that the on-property calendar fills more of their recreational time than the external attractions — Kennesaw Mountain, Etowah Mounds, and the Allatoona day trips supplement the community calendar rather than substitute for it. For buyers evaluating lifestyle fit, spending a weekend at the community as a resort guest before purchasing provides a realistic preview of what the events calendar and community energy actually feel like — something that any number of website visits and listing photos cannot replicate.