Dahlonega Gold for Christmas

Frogtown Cellars Winery

Attraction | "A Southern Vineyard"

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While in north Georgia, we decided we should drive out to see at least one vineyard. Surprisingly, there are many in the Dahlonega area. It's as if when all the fine metals were mined from the ground, the locals decided to change their strategy to make money by growing liquid gold. We chose Frogtown to see because we knew this vineyard has resident canines onsite who greet all visitors. You see, some people love cats. Some people love frogs. Us? We love dogs. In fact, we love dogs more than we love wine, and that's saying something!!! So what is Frogtown like? With blue mountains in the distance and a vineyard spreading around it on rolling land...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on December 31, 2025

Frogtown Cellars Winery
700 Ridge Point Drive
Dahlonega, Georgia
(706) 865-0687

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Consolidated Gold Mines

Attraction | "Panning for Gold and Going Underground"

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The Consolidated Gold Mine was once a massive business with such an incredible amount of money invested within it that its story looms as large as the biggest gold nuggets found throughout the history of the Georgia Gold Rush. Amazingly, despite finding the largest gold vein embedded in rock in the entire world, the Consolidated went bankrupt because it was too expensive to mine that vein. When the cost of gold went up, one of the old Consolidated mines that had been full of water was drained by a new owner who discovered the same thing. It wasn't possible to safely remove the gold from the rock, so these investors decided to get coins another way... via tourists. What is vis...Read More

The Consolidated Gold Mine was once a massive business with such an incredible amount of money invested within it that its story looms as large as the biggest gold nuggets found throughout the history of the Georgia Gold Rush. Amazingly, despite finding the largest gold vein embedded in rock in the entire world, the Consolidated went bankrupt because it was too expensive to mine that vein. When the cost of gold went up, one of the old Consolidated mines that had been full of water was drained by a new owner who discovered the same thing. It wasn't possible to safely remove the gold from the rock, so these investors decided to get coins another way... via tourists.

What is visiting this attraction like? This is a great place for families. Even though our son is a teenager, he still enjoyed panning for gold. At the start of the tour, we were each given a pan and shown how to properly remove the sand so that the heavier gold dropped to the bottom. We learned each pan is seeded with one flake of real gold, but it's possible to find something more in the mud that comes from a nearby river. A school girl actually uncovered a lump of gold worth around $40 while on a field trip! My son's eyes got big as nuggets at this story, and he took to panning like those miners of old who uprooted their lives to move to the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains while dreaming of riches. Me? I am entirely too impatient for such endeavours. Still, I was happy when I found TWO gold flakes in MY pan. Each such flake is worth around $0.30, and I could see how painstaking it must be for someone to find enough to be worth real money. One of the miners who served as a tour guide---all the guides are actual miners---said the whole thing was like gambling... a matter of utter luck.

Anyway, after panning for gold, it was time to go down into the mine. We had a group of around ten people to descend into the mine with us. As it was winter, we were delighted to get to see tiny brown bats who were hibernating in some of the caves. (They apparently like the tour mine cave because the lights that line the rock keep this cave a degree or two warmer than the deeper caves where the bats hang out in the spring.) Our guide told us about how certain caves were there to shelter men who had just set off dynamite in the mine. Apparently, they had to keep their mouths open or the reverberations of sound would burst their eardrums. We could see where gold was still clearly in the rock, but the guide explained why it was too dangerous/expensive to extract. We saw some of the tools miners used to use. Really, it was all very interesting. Indeed, I enjoyed the tour a lot more than I thought I would. It wasn't too long, and it was presented in a professional way. The guide was also very patient answering questions.

Bottom line? I thought this was a cool thing to do. My son had done it once before on a school field trip years ago when he was much younger, but he enjoyed revisiting. If you have older people in your party, there's obviously no where to sit in the mine, but I don't think any of the descents were terribly steep. If someone can go up and down a couple flights of stairs without problems, I think he would be okay, but I wouldn't go down with someone who has very bad knees. Our Nana didn't have any issues though. The time spent here was fun for all... Unique.

Bonus? The mine is open every day except major holidays like Christmas Day. It's also pretty close to the town center.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 31, 2025

Consolidated Gold Mines
185 Consolidated Gold Mine Road
Dahlonega, Georgia
(706) 864-8473

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Upstairs Downstairs/Georgia Wines Tasting Room

Attraction | "A Taste of Georgia Wine"

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Upstairs Downstairs is across from the Dahlonega Gold Museum (the old Lumpkin County Courthouse) in a row of other stores. We enjoyed looking at some of the goods on offer, but our main focus was to go downstairs where there is a Georgia Wines Tasting room. Here we found an early 20th century bar minded by a very cordial lady who was happy to pour us a taste. While I think you can have a sip for free, we opted to pay $7 per adult and do a series of seven. (For this, we each also got to keep a souvenir wine glass.) What was the tasting like? First, the lady who poured was delightful. She gave us each a long list of red, white and blush wines and tried t...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on December 31, 2025

Upstairs Downstairs/Georgia Wines Tasting Room
16 Public Square South
Dahlonega, Georgia
(706) 482-0102

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The Smith House

Restaurant | "Southern Cooking at the Smith House"

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After getting an introduction to Dahlonega in the gold museum, we worked up our appetite by window shopping our way towards the Smith House located a block off the main square. Here you'll find communal country dining in a historic setting. Both an inn and a restaurant, the Smith House has been a city mainstay for as long as anyone can remember. It was actually first built by a Captain Frank Hall in the late 1800s, but he couldn't get permission to include indoor plumbing in the building, so he continued to live in his house with his wife next door. Funnily enough, he opened a mine shaft in the basement of the house, which the Smith family found when they bought the place and opened their inn in 1...Read More

After getting an introduction to Dahlonega in the gold museum, we worked up our appetite by window shopping our way towards the Smith House located a block off the main square. Here you'll find communal country dining in a historic setting. Both an inn and a restaurant, the Smith House has been a city mainstay for as long as anyone can remember. It was actually first built by a Captain Frank Hall in the late 1800s, but he couldn't get permission to include indoor plumbing in the building, so he continued to live in his house with his wife next door. Funnily enough, he opened a mine shaft in the basement of the house, which the Smith family found when they bought the place and opened their inn in 1923. I loved the picture of Mr. Smith and his wife that said the couple knew about the mine but left it alone. They figured if there was gold inside, someone who needed it more could mine it later.

So how did the Smith House become a restaurant? The answer to this is simple. Mrs. Smith started dishing up her special fried chicken with all the fixings for boarders. Her cooking was so good, other people paid to come and dine. After Mrs. Smith died, the cooking continued.

What was eating here like? Don't expect fancy decor. This is a historic place, but the long tables and diner chairs reminded me of what you'd find in a church banquet hall even though eating here costs $18 per adult. A swordfish decorates one wall as painted ducks soar across another. A giant fireplace was decked with Christmas holly at the time of our visit, and we were quickly seated. Before we knew it, another party of people shared our table, and waitresses were delivering platters piled high with food. Now, if you're not familiar with Southern cooking, here's a great place to experience it. My grandmother's table would have included many of the same dishes. There was moist, delicious fried chicken; fried okra; roast beef; a mason jar full of pickles; ham; string beans; collard greens; sweet potatoes; sweet creamed corn; and other sides familiar to anyone from Georgia. We passed the plates and bowls around with the cordial strangers and asked for more biscuits when the plate ran empty. This is all you can eat, and you will leave very full. My only complaint would be the dessert on our day's menu was strawberry shortcake with soft serve ice cream rather than the peach pie I would have preferred.

Disadvantages? Granted, you might have to eat with people you don't like. OR you might make friends. Perhaps that's a matter of luck like with gold mining? It's not inexpensive.

Extra good points? Kids get a price break, and if they are bored while waiting for the meal to be served, they can walk over to see the gold mine shaft that's in the building or poke through the small gift shop. As the atmosphere is casual, the restaurant is well suited for family dining or big groups who want to sit together. No one leaves hungry.

I wouldn't go here every day, but it's certainly a good option if you're playing tourist while in Dahlonega.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 31, 2025

The Smith House
84 Chestatee Street
Dahlonega, Georgia 30533
(706) 867-7000

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Gold Museum

Attraction | "An Introduction to the Gold Rush in the Old Courthouse"

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Dahlonega has a quaint and lovely town center. Decked out for Christmas, it looks especially charming. Regardless of when you visit this historic town, I would advise your first step be the same as ours was. In the middle of the public square you'll find the old Lumpkin County Courthouse, which is now a state museum. Built in 1836, the structure itself is approaching its 200th birthday. Clearly influenced by the Federal architecture that was popular in the 19th century, it is the oldest courthouse still standing in Georgia. What was the museum like? The Dahlonega Gold Museum is small, but it's certainly worth a wander. The best feature is the movie on the s...Read More

Dahlonega has a quaint and lovely town center. Decked out for Christmas, it looks especially charming. Regardless of when you visit this historic town, I would advise your first step be the same as ours was. In the middle of the public square you'll find the old Lumpkin County Courthouse, which is now a state museum. Built in 1836, the structure itself is approaching its 200th birthday. Clearly influenced by the Federal architecture that was popular in the 19th century, it is the oldest courthouse still standing in Georgia.

What was the museum like?
The Dahlonega Gold Museum is small, but it's certainly worth a wander. The best feature is the movie on the second floor that is shown at the top of every hour and then again on the half hour. Here you'll learn about how a hunter literally stumbled over a giant nugget of gold and launched America's first gold rush. By far the most entertaining, however, are some of the characters who are interviewed during the film: old gold miners who share the history of Dahlonega. I loved the story of a miner who plated his dashboard in gold before looking for investors up north for his tapped out mine. The film is around fifteen minutes long but done in a style that will entertain adults and children.

Other interesting facts? Apparently "Dahlonega" was a Cherokee word meaning "pretty yellow" and gold literally dusted the area. You can even find evidence of gold dust in the bricks of the courthouse!!! This, unfortunately, started a sad chapter for the American Indians as it forced the start of the Trail of Tears relocating tribes west. I also didn't know that a national mint was run in Dahlonega until the outbreak of the Civil War. This mint complex turned into North Georgia College and one of the school's buildings still has a roof plated in gold today.

Apart from the film, budget around thirty minutes to look through the displays and small gift shop. (I admit, I bought a Christmas ornament with gold leaf inside. Tat? Sure, but I liked a souvenir I could hang on my tree to remember Christmas 2009!)

Cost for the museum?
$5 for each adult; $4.50 for seniors; and $3.50 for youths 6-17

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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 31, 2025

Gold Museum
1 Public Square
Dahlonega 30533
(706) 864-2257

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