Places to stay near attractions in Clayton / Rabun County

Clayton, Georgia is the seat of Rabun County — the state's northeastern corner and the setting for James Dickey's 1970 novel and 1972 film Deliverance. The town sits on the Tennessee Valley Divide at 1,925 feet, and its walkable Main Street mixes outfitters, farm-to-table restaurants (Fortify Kitchen & Bar, Universal Joint), coffee roasters, and antique shops. Clayton is the natural base for Tallulah Gorge State Park a few miles south — a 1,000-foot-deep quartzite gorge with a suspension bridge, six waterfalls, and North and South Rim trails.

Rabun County is Georgia's lake country: Lake Burton, Lake Rabun, Seed Lake, Lake Nacoochee, and Lake Tugalo form a chain of Tallulah River reservoirs known for boathouses, wooden Chris-Crafts, and Sunday-drive scenery. To the north, the Chattooga Wild & Scenic River carves the Georgia–South Carolina line with world-class Class III–V whitewater. Warwoman Dell, Bartram Trail, Black Rock Mountain State Park (Georgia's highest state park), and Minnehaha Falls round out the outdoor menu.

The town anchors the Foxfire Museum, which preserves the Southern Appalachian folk-life documented by Rabun Gap-Nacoochee students in the Foxfire book series, and hosts a lively fall calendar with the Mountain Music & Medicine Show and Christmas in Clayton.