Dillard lies in the Little Tennessee valley in Rabun County, the north-eastern corner of Georgia, a place of high green meadows and farms hemmed in by forested ridges. It feels like a bowl of land set between mountains: cattle graze the lower slopes, orchards climb the hillsides, and the road along the valley floor runs between rail-fenced pastures. Its mild summers have drawn visitors from the Georgia lowlands for well over a century, and the old inns and guest houses of the district still do a steady trade in country cooking and mountain air.
The countryside around it is some of the wildest in the state. To the west rises the long ridge of the Chattahoochee National Forest, with Black Rock Mountain State Park on the crest above, and to the east lies the Chattooga River, which runs through steep gorges and was the setting for the film Deliverance in the early 1970s. The river is now a national wild and scenic river, famous for its whitewater, and rafting companies operate from the towns nearby. Waterfalls hide in the folds of the hills, and in late April the dogwoods and mountain laurel bloom in the woods.
For a rider, Dillard is a good start or finish. US 441 runs up the valley, a smooth, fast and well-engineered road, and from it, smaller state routes and county roads climb into the hills in long curves, passing through forest and clearings. The best of them, the gaps over the ridges, have steep gradients, tight bends and lots of leaf litter, so they demand care. Weekends in October bring heavy traffic as people come for the colour, and the narrow valley roads can back up near the orchards. Rain can come in quickly in the mountains, and the roads stay slick under the trees long after it has stopped.
The nearest towns are small: Mountain City is only a few kilometres away, and Clayton, about ten, is the main centre, with fuel, shops and a good choice of places to eat. Dillard itself has farmhouse restaurants and a few places to stay, but no real services of the kind a rider needs, so fill up in Clayton. Franklin, in North Carolina, is further north, and the roads between are among the best of the Southern Appalachians.