Big Acorn Trail

Carters Lake is a 3,200 acre reservoir located in Northwestern Georgia that is owned and managed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The lake is fed by the Coosawattee River and it is the deepest reservoir in the State at 450 feet. The dam that holds back the river, Carters Dam, was built in 1977 and it is the tallest earthen dam east of the Mississippi.

This hike on the Big Acorn Nature Trail starts behind the visitors center and is the shortest hike at Carters Lake totaling 0.6 miles round trip. It winds gently uphill through a hardwood forest and around a cove in the lake, then climbs to the Carters Lake Overlook and parking area. You can either backtrack to the visitors center on the Trail or follow the road – which has significantly less elevation change.