Drive guide
Ellijay Apple Country Drive
Ellijay's apple country runs the length of GA-52 East, about 10 miles of orchards starting 4.5 miles out of the square. It is a short drive and a long day, best made between September and early November.
Route: Ellijay, R&A Orchards, Aaron Family Orchards, B.J. Reece Orchards, Hillcrest Orchards
Distance
About 10 miles from the Ellijay square to the far orchard, one way; roughly 20 miles round trip
Drive time
About 20 minutes of driving each way; orchard stops stretch the day
Time to allow
Half day, 3 to 4 hours with two or three stops
Best season
September through early November; the Georgia Apple Festival runs the second and third weekends of October
GA-52 East out of Ellijay is the state's apple corridor: R&A Orchards 4.5 miles out, Aaron Family Orchards further along, B.J. Reece at about 8 miles, and Hillcrest Orchards at about 9, the corridor's far anchor. The drive itself is ten easy minutes; the stops are the point. Pick-your-own fields, bakery counters, and farm animals hold attention for hours, and the Georgia Apple Festival fills the second and third weekends of October if you want the whole county at it too.
The route
Route stops at verified locations
Ellijay Apple Country Drive: the route in order. The line runs stop to stop in order, and the numbered pins match the stops below. The map is illustrative, not turn-by-turn: the route follows the numbered drive sequence, and the distances and times come from published route sources.
The stops
6 stops, numbered and verified
Distances and drive times between stops are non-stop estimates from published route sources. Parking, restroom, food, and coffee notes appear only where the stop actually has them.
Ellijay
Start
The apple city's square, with lunch spots and coffee before the corridor. In October, festival traffic shapes the whole morning, so start early.
- Parking
- Street parking around the square
- Food
- Lunch spots on the square
- Coffee
- Coffee near the square
R&A Orchards
4.5 miles east of the Ellijay square on GA-52 East.
The first orchard house on the corridor, an easy first stop with baked goods at the stand.
- Parking
- Lot at the market
Aaron Family Orchards
Further east along the same corridor.
The mid-corridor stop, calmer than the two big houses on peak weekends.
- Parking
- Lot at the market
B.J. Reece Orchards
About 8 miles east of Ellijay on GA-52 East.
The big one: pick-your-own fields, a bakery, and farm animals. Budget at least an hour and a bag.
- Parking
- Paved lot at the market
- Restrooms
- Restrooms at the market
- Food
- Bakery counters and orchard snacks
Hillcrest Orchards
About 9 miles east, near the corridor's far end.
The classic road trip apple house and the natural turn-around: pick-your-own, apples by the bushel, and picnic tables to make lunch of it.
- Parking
- Paved lot at the market
- Restrooms
- Restrooms at the market
- Food
- Bakery counters and orchard picnic tables
Optional: Blue Ridge
16 miles from Ellijay, about 20 minutes, if you keep going north.
GA-52 feeds into the Blue Ridge road system; a half-day apple run becomes a full-day mountain trip with one more highway, no distance shame in turning around at Hillcrest.
A schedule that fits the road
The day, laid out in the drive times
The times come from the same drive times as the stops above. Shift every row earlier to beat fall traffic, or later if the day starts slow.
9:00 am
Ellijay square
Coffee, then east on GA-52. The corridor is 10 miles; the stops are the day.
9:15 am
R&A Orchards
First stop, 4.5 miles out, a warm-up for the big houses.
10:30 am
B.J. Reece Orchards
About 8 miles out. Pick-your-own, bakery, farm animals. This stop eats an hour easily.
12:00 pm
Hillcrest Orchards
At 9 miles, the turn-around. Picnic tables make lunch easy.
2:30 pm
Retrace to Ellijay
Or keep going north 16 miles to Blue Ridge for the afternoon.
4:00 pm
Back in Ellijay
Apples loaded, the day is done.
Family notes
Doing it with kids
- The orchard stops are the entertainment: pick-your-own fields, bakery counters, and farm animals at the two big houses.
- Go early on festival weekends; the corridor backs up and lots fill by late morning.
- September weekdays are the calm sweet spot, same apples, a fraction of the crowd.
Weather and safety
Before you go
- Orchard fields turn to mud after rain. Bring shoes that can handle it and puddles on the farm lanes.
- Festival Saturdays pack GA-52 with slow-moving traffic; the drive becomes the slow part of the day.
- Peak color in the orchards runs mid to late October; green trees still mean full apple bins in September.
Next drive
The rest of the mountain days
Drive guide
The North Georgia Grand Loop
Gainesville to Helen, Blairsville, Blue Ridge, Ellijay, Jasper, and Dahlonega, and back to Gainesville. The full mountain day.
- Distance
- About 180 to 200 miles for the full circuit
- Drive time
- Roughly 4.5 hours of driving; 8 to 9 hours with stops
- Best season
- Mid-October for color; late April to May for green
Gainesville, Helen, Blairsville, Blue Ridge, Ellijay, Jasper, Dahlonega, Gainesville
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Gwinnett to Helen Day Trip
The one-day classic from the I-985 side of the county: up the freeway, over the foothills, and into the alpine village.
- Distance
- 52 miles from Buford, 58 from Suwanee, about 62 from Lawrenceville or the Dacula side, one way
- Drive time
- About 1 hour 10 to 1 hour 20 minutes, one way
- Best season
- October for color; any dry weekend otherwise
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Blue Ridge Weekend Loop
A Blue Ridge base camp circuit: Blairsville, Georgia's highest point at Brasstown Bald, and Vogel State Park, about 100 miles of driving.
- Distance
- About 100 miles round trip from Blue Ridge
- Drive time
- Roughly 2.5 hours of driving; a full day with stops
- Best season
- Mid-October for color; May to June for green
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Dahlonega Gold Country Loop
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- Distance
- About 42 miles for the mountain loop; roughly 15 miles from the Dahlonega square to Suches
- Drive time
- About 2 hours of driving for the loop and return
- Best season
- April to June and October; the high gaps can ice up in winter
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North Georgia Waterfalls Drive
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- Distance
- About 110 miles round trip from Gainesville: 43 each way to the gorge, plus the Lake Rabun and Clayton leg of about 23 miles
- Drive time
- Roughly 2.5 hours of driving total from a Gainesville start
- Best season
- Spring for full flow; October for color over the gorge
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Scenic Train Trips from Northeast Georgia
Three verified day-trip railways reachable from the north metro: the Blue Ridge Railway, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, and the Chattanooga museum line and incline.
- Distance
- Roughly 78 to 140 miles one way, depending on the railway
- Drive time
- About 1 hour 40 minutes to 3 hours one way from northeast Gwinnett
- Best season
- Any dry season; fall color draws the largest crowds
Blue Ridge, Bryson City, Chattanooga
Read the driveDistances and drive times are non-stop estimates from published route sources and vary with traffic, weather, and construction. Park and attraction fees come from the operators' own pages and change. Where a detail could not be verified, this guide left it out rather than guess. Updated September 10, 2026. This is an editorial page of CityGuideGA, not a listings site, and carries no third-party links.