Helen is a Bavarian village in the Georgia mountains, an improbable idea that somehow works. Founded as a lumber town in the early twentieth century, it fell on hard times after the timber ran out, and in the late 1960s local businessmen, looking for a way to attract tourists, hired an artist to redesign the town in the style of an Alpine village. Today, half-timbered buildings with painted facades, flower boxes, cobbled alleys and signs in German script line the streets, and the Oktoberfest, held from mid-September through October, is among the longest in the country.
The setting is real. The Chattahoochee River, which begins in the hills a short way north, runs through the middle of town at an altitude of about 430 meters, and in summer crowds float down it on inner tubes. Nearby, Anna Ruby Falls drops in twin cascades from the slopes of Tray Mountain, and Unicoi State Park offers a lake and trails. The surrounding hills of the Chattahoochee National Forest are steep and wooded, with oak, hickory and rhododendron, and the southern Appalachians' blue haze hangs over everything.
For riders, Helen is the start of the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway, Georgia 348, a short, twisting mountain road that climbs over Hogpen Gap, at roughly 3,400 feet, crossing the Appalachian Trail on its way to the Vogel State Park area. The road has tight curves, steep grades and glimpses of long ridges, and it is well maintained, with light traffic outside weekends. Georgia 75 and Georgia 180, the Wolf Pen Gap road, are other good routes, and the notorious US 129 Deals Gap in North Carolina is not far away.
The village has fuel, restaurants and parking that fills on weekends, and Cleveland, a short ride south, has larger supermarkets and stations. The best months are April and May, when the dogwoods bloom, and October, though Oktoberfest brings traffic jams that can last for hours on peak weekends. Summer is hot and humid, and afternoon thunderstorms are common. Winter can bring ice on the high gaps. Watch for gravel, wet leaves and other riders pushing too hard on the bends.