The pool · The lake · The honest note
Swimming in Ellijay
The confirmed public swim in Ellijay is the Gilmer County public pool, the summer-season facility on South Main. The bigger water days are the lake runs: Carters Lake and the mountain lakes a short drive out, where the swimming rules are posted at the shore.
The rivers are the wild card: beautiful, cold, and not a swimming pool.
The pool
The summer-season public pool
Gilmer County Public Pool
1561 S Main St
The county's public pool, operated by Parks and Recreation and open in the summer season, the in-town answer for a real swim.
The lake
The mountain water runs
Carters Lake
About 10 miles southwest
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake, the deepest in Georgia, with campgrounds and day-use areas where the swimming rules are posted at the shoreline.
The honest note
The rivers are not a pool
The Cartecay and the Coosawattee are cold, moving mountain water with real current, and the honest local advice is to treat them as tubing, kayaking, and fishing water, not swimming pools. The river parks on South Main are where families wade the shallows under supervision.
For the full outdoor picture, the parks page carries the lake and the mountain options.
An editorial guide, not a listings site. Updated September 13, 2026. Real-estate guidance on this page is provided by Rob Dietrich, REALTOR® with eXp Realty, LLC.