Find Your Neighborhood

A mountainous wilderness with numerous water features, Big Canoe had its beginnings as a retirement and second-home community in the north Georgia mountains in the 1970s. Now, it has blossomed into a neighborhood of permanent homes for a younger generation. Residents view the seven mountains, three lakes, numerous streams and miles of wilderness trails as a home place worth the 61-mile commute to Atlanta. Big Canoe’s more than 7,600 acres represent a master-planned community of 20-plus neighborhoods, with about 1,600 residents between Jasper and Dawsonville. About 30 percent of the property has been designated as greenbelts and recreational areas. The neighborhoods offer a variety of home prices from $500,000 to $2 million. Town homes and cluster homes are also available, with prices starting in the $200,000s. And while this settlement is still relatively new, Paleo Indians inhabited the area 15,000 years ago. At Indian Rocks Park, a 50-acre green area, visible rock mounds left by Indian nations that followed the Paleo can be seen. Years later, Cherokee Indians lived there until the government moved them to Oklahoma during the “Trail of Tears.” In the 1800s, hotel owner Sam Tate discovered rich marble deposits on his land. The Tate family continued purchasing property -- including the land that now defines Big Canoe. Developers finally turned that land, which had become a private retreat, into a grand reality in the late 1980s.