Lake Allatoona &Llake Lanier

Tangled Online

New Member
Dec 20, 2012
7
South Jersey
Boat Info
1999 260 Sundancer
09 F-150 5.4 Supercrew
Engines
7.4 Bravo III
Hey Guys,

Trying to plan a family vacation this year to somewhere new and came across Lake Allatoona as well as Lake Lanier. What would be the better choice for a boating Vac.? Any local input would be great!! This would be our first time to this area. We would be trailering down our 260 DA from South Jersey and would be looking for a vacation home/cottage for a week stay on the lake. It will be my wife and I and our 2 small kids. Looking at the second or third week of Sept.
Ramps that can handle 26” bunk trailer
Restaurants on the lake
Best spots to look into staying

Thanks in advance!!
 
Definitely Lake Lanier as a destination. I prefer Allatoona, and slip my boat there, as a home base but that's not what your after. Lanier has the upper hand when it comes to restaurants and things to do. Allatoona is an on the hook, grill out, then do water sports kind of lake. Some days you hope one of the two restaurants are open. Allatoona is also almost entirely devoid of housing on the lake. It's mostly state park land which makes for great campsites but probably not so great rentals. Lanier does get pretty busy and certain areas can have some hard partying.

For a week I pick Lanier but I did move my boat from there 4 years ago to Allatoona to slow down some.
 
A shorter drive is Lake Anna or Lake Barkley or Smithfield Landing or Urbanna or Williamsburg, or The National Harbor or...... Nothing against Atlanta. There are other, closer choices. A lot depends on what you want to do other than boating.
 
Would have to agree that Lanier would give you more options. I also keep the boat on Allatoona but we also have a house on the lake. Allatoona does not have many amenities and as far as renting a cabin, Red Top Mountain State Park has cabins (but no docks with them). If you are ex military, the Navy has a pretty nice place with cabins and (probably) some temporary dockage. Will say that if you choose Allatoona at the time you mentioned (mid to late September), you will have the lake mostly to yourself. Things tend to taper down after Labor Day.
 
Of the two, Lanier would be my choice except on a holiday...never again. You should also check out Clarks Hill lake on the GA-SC line and Hickory Knob State Park. Beautiful, big lake, very little boat traffic in comparison, nice lodge rooms, pool, cabins, and restaurant. We are going there for a long Memorial Day weekend. The in laws will stay at the park and the wife and I will stay on the boat. Lodge rooms are 50 yards from the dock. Savanah Lakes Marina has transient slips and is very clean. We usually stay a night or two there as well.

Bennett
 
Hey Guys,

Trying to plan a family vacation this year to somewhere new and came across Lake Allatoona as well as Lake Lanier. What would be the better choice for a boating Vac.? Any local input would be great!! This would be our first time to this area. We would be trailering down our 260 DA from South Jersey and would be looking for a vacation home/cottage for a week stay on the lake. It will be my wife and I and our 2 small kids. Looking at the second or third week of Sept.
Ramps that can handle 26” bunk trailer
Restaurants on the lake
Best spots to look into staying

Thanks in advance!!

We boat nearly exclusively on Lanier. There is a large resort/water park/campground on the southern end of the lake that has, among other accommodations, lake houses available for rent. You can find info at lanierislands.com. By the third week of September you'll find the lake and the resort has largely slowed down in terms of crowds (school starts in GA in mid-August). Lake water temperature is still easily swimmable for the kids--adults may hesitate depending on temperature tolerance.

Disclaimer: I have never stayed at the resort and have no connection to it other than but we routinely use their Sunset Cove docks and beach area in the summer.

If you have other questions, I'm happy to try and answer them...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Lanier can be very busy, crowded, and expensive! Look at a route down I85 - and stop in at Tellico & Fort Loudon Lakes - Knoxville plenty to do! Tellico is a gem! Less than a hour to Great Smokey Mountains Nation Park. Easy cruise down river to Chattanooga - even more to see and do!

Atlanta is nuts!
 
Thanks for all the Great input!! I'll dig a little deeper on all your suggestions and try and make a choice. We are Adventurous boaters that like long rides and enjoy exploring different spots (towns, restaurants, ext.) We do most of our boating now on the Chesapeake Bay but wanted to have the kids and wife to experience something a little different. I used to vacation as a kid on Smith Mountain Lake and was sort of looking for that atmosphere for the kids (2 year old twins). Where we could have a house or cottage with a dock right there, take a ride, but have the convenience of running back to the house for lunch if we wanted, then shoot back out for an afternoon ride. We would like to have the option of a few waterfront restaurants/bars as well.
 
There are also some nice lakes in NC and SC:

Lake Norman - Near Charlotte NC (my home). A lot like Lanier, large, can be crowded, lots of restaurants.
Lake Hartwell - Another large lake, been years since I have been on it, so can't speak to crowds, restaurants etc.
Lake Jocassee - Smaller than Lanier, Hartwell, Norman. Very beautiful, deep, isolated lake in the mountains of upstate SC. Very few if any houses or restaurants. A state park borders the lake.
Lake Keowee - Not the size of Lanier, Hartwell, Norman, but big. Substantial development over the last 20yrs, but still plenty of remote areas. It's in the same chain of lakes on the Seneca River as Jocassee and Hartwell. As a kid we towed our Correct Craft there a lot.
Lake Murray - Another big lake on the scale of Lanier, Hartwell and Norman. Near Columbia SC, only been on it a couple of times, it is developed, houses, marinas, restaurants etc.
Lake Marion / Moultrie - Never been on these lakes, but the neat thing here is there is a canal and lock system that allows you to go all the way to Charleston SC via the Cooper River.

Only thing to pay attention to if your planning a trip to any of these lakes, they are all hydro-electric and can experience significant level fluctuations, especially during the summer months if there are drought conditions.

So, not dissing Lake Lanier at all, it's a huge lake and a nice destination - my sister and her husband lived on a sailboat at Holiday Marina when they first go married and I kept a boat in dry storage there years ago when we lived in Atlanta. However, if you are traveling down through VA and the Carolinas, there are lots of lakes I would consider in addition to Lanier.
 
Be careful picking other lakes in GA. Lanier and Allatoona are fine but most of the other lakes require your head to be removed while on the lake. Not sure about other states.
 
Lanier just for the number of places and the things to do on it.
The TN river is always great and lots to explore.
Have some older links and trips posted somewhere of both of them.
Here is the link
http://ssg-i.com/boattrips/boattrips.htm

Thanks for all the great Info.!! You have done some really neat travels! Thanks for sharing!!
 
Of the two, Lanier would be my choice except on a holiday...never again. You should also check out Clarks Hill lake on the GA-SC line and Hickory Knob State Park. Beautiful, big lake, very little boat traffic in comparison, nice lodge rooms, pool, cabins, and restaurant. We are going there for a long Memorial Day weekend. The in laws will stay at the park and the wife and I will stay on the boat. Lodge rooms are 50 yards from the dock. Savanah Lakes Marina has transient slips and is very clean. We usually stay a night or two there as well.

Bennett

I second the Clarks Hill Lake suggestion. We live on Clarks Hill about 4 or 5 miles south of Hickory Knob State Park & golf course. There is also Plum Branch marina and restaurant just across from our creek that has live bands on Sat. nights, not to mention the food is good. Bennett, I have my boat on the hard at the moment to do some needed maintenance, but w should be back on the water for Memorial Day. I will come up to Hickory Knob and see if I can find you. I will call you on the marine radio if you have one. Most on the lake don't here. I always monitor ch. 16
 
I second the Clarks Hill Lake suggestion. We live on Clarks Hill about 4 or 5 miles south of Hickory Knob State Park & golf course. There is also Plum Branch marina and restaurant just across from our creek that has live bands on Sat. nights, not to mention the food is good. Bennett, I have my boat on the hard at the moment to do some needed maintenance, but w should be back on the water for Memorial Day. I will come up to Hickory Knob and see if I can find you. I will call you on the marine radio if you have one. Most on the lake don't here. I always monitor ch. 16

Sounds good. I will leave my radio on as well on 16. We really like to anchor and goof off in the cove on the SC side right across from Elijah Clark boat ramp. There are more good coves on the SC side between there and Hickory Knob.

Bennett

We will look for you.
 
Sounds good. I will leave my radio on as well on 16. We really like to anchor and goof off in the cove on the SC side right across from Elijah Clark boat ramp. There are more good coves on the SC side between there and Hickory Knob.

Bennett

We will look for you.

I believe we spent a weekend up in that cove a couple weeks ago. Real nice private anchorage, and reasonably deep water well back in the cove.
 

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