Things to do, events & Christmas on the Square in Downtown Dahlonega

Parking downtown is free. About 300 spaces sit on and around the Public Square, and three free lots with 140 spaces are a short walk away: two on Warwick Street and one off Meaders and Choice streets near the Visitor Center. Spaces around the Square are limited to 3 hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. The UNG parking deck is free on evenings and weekends.

The Historic Public Square is lit the day after Thanksgiving at the Lighting of the Square, which opens Old Fashioned Christmas. The season runs through the first week of January. In 2025 the lighting was Friday, November 28; road closures started at 3:30 p.m., and the lights stayed up through January 6. Horse-drawn carriage rides begin that same night.

Yes. The Gold Museum is in the 1836 courthouse at 1 Public Square, and tasting rooms surround the square. The free parking lots are a short walk from the main sights. The visitors bureau says the town's sidewalks, pedestrian amenities and abundant trees make walking between nearby neighborhoods, the UNG campus and downtown enjoyable.

It depends on what you want. Gold Rush Days fills town every October. Old Fashioned Christmas runs from the day after Thanksgiving into early January, with events almost daily through December. At the nearest NOAA station with temperature data, average July highs are about 86°F and January lows about 27°F. December and January are the wettest months.

Dahlonega is about 65 miles north of Atlanta. The visitors bureau calls it one hour north, at the end of GA-400. From Hartsfield-Jackson airport the drive is about 75 miles. At the traffic light where GA-400 North ends, turn left on GA-60 N/US-19 N (S. Chestatee St.) and drive about 5.5 miles to the Historic Square.

Yes, with a few limits. The visitors bureau says many outdoor restaurants and shops downtown welcome pets, and it asks that dogs always stay leashed. Hancock Park and Yahoola Creek Park are both recommended for dogs. At the Gold Museum State Historic Site, leashed pets can use the trails but can't go into the buildings.

Consolidated Gold Mine includes gold-panning lessons and a free gold sample with its 40-minute underground tour. Crisson Gold Mine sells ore by the 5-gallon bucket, which you can pan on site or take home. Recreational panning is also allowed in most streambeds without a permit when you use only a shovel and pan; sluices and suction dredges are not allowed.

Yes. The visitors bureau counts 12 tasting rooms and eight wineries in Dahlonega-Lumpkin County, and Reader's Digest describes tasting rooms surrounding the public square. The surrounding vineyards belong to the Dahlonega Plateau American Viticultural Area, which federal regulators established in 2018. The bureau also reports that the Georgia State Senate named Dahlonega the "Wine Tasting Room Capital of Georgia" in 2015.

The Dahlonega Gold Museum State Historic Site at 1 Public Square is open Monday–Saturday 9 a.m.–4:45 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.–4:45 p.m. It is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is $10 for adults, $7.50 for seniors, $7 for youth 6–17 and $3.50 for children 6 and under. The museum fills the 1836 Lumpkin County Courthouse.

Dahlonega takes its name from a Cherokee word for the yellow color of gold. The New Georgia Encyclopedia gives the word as talonega, meaning golden or yellow. The county seat, previously called Licklog, took the name Dahlonega in 1833, the same year the town was formally established and replaced Auraria as the seat of Lumpkin County.

Local tradition dates the discovery to 1828. The first documented evidence is a Georgia newspaper notice from August 1, 1829. By late 1829 thousands of prospectors had poured into the area, then part of the Cherokee Nation, twenty years before California's 1849 rush. Georgia State Parks calls it America's first major gold rush.

The gold steeple tops Price Memorial Hall on the University of North Georgia campus. It is plated with Lumpkin County gold, about thirteen ounces in all. The hall was built in 1879 on the foundations of the U.S. Branch Mint, which made gold coins from 1838 to 1861. UNG is one of only six Senior Military Colleges in the nation.