From the moment I stepped onto the grounds of this world class facility, I knew it was going to be…read morean excellent day. Staff at the Main Office are professional and efficient. Direction to the ranges are extremely easy to follow; You can't get lost. I was amazed at how beautifully groomed and maintained the facility was. Staff up at the range were incredibly, professional, polite, welcoming and kind. Visitors were well behaved and acted appropriately. Overall, staff facilitates a family and safe atmosphere. Price point was extremely fair. Good value! I'm looking forward to my next visit. Today - Saturday - 27 December was a very busy day; - Weather was gorgeous; Nonetheless - Parking was easy and getting around the facility was not an issue. A+ Well designed and kept up!

Impressed by my first visit to this facility, which appears to be a partnership between Cleveland…read moreCounty government and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. Seems to be a well run partnership at first glance. Suggestion: prior to visiting, head to the website, watch the orientation video, and complete the online waiver. They'll have it waiting for you to sign at the office. The office is your first stop, where you'll sign the waiver (after watching the video, if you didn't already watch it online) and pay your fees. A single fee gives you all day access via wristband, and just a couple dollars more pays for the target stands you'll be using. One free target comes with the fees. Staplers and staples are provided free at each range. Office staff can answer your initial questions and get you in-processed quickly, then let the range officers know you're coming their way. Suggestion 2: weapons brought into the complex must be cased and unloaded. Do this before you arrive, and everything will go smoothly. Range officers are helpful, friendly, and not drill sergeants. Listen to them, follow their instructions, and enjoy the day. They've all got different personalities, of course; the Range 2 guys were pretty lackadaisical, while I appreciated the efficiency of the Range 3 crew. The facilities I saw were all clean and well equipped. Nothing fancy, mind you, but still far nicer than most of the public ranges I've seen. It's a shame there aren't more facilities of this caliber dispersed around the state. I certainly wish there were one closer to where I live. But going here was worth the drive. And for those of us who are veterans, there are discounts for visiting on weekdays. Maybe I can take advantage of that some time soon.

I'm a shotgun fan so I gravitate towards the sporting clays setups. They have two courses. One is…read moretraditional with numerous nice stands. The other is simply outstanding. It wanders by the old granite quarry and has shots below you, shots over water, some are quite unique. There are two stands on a high point where you shoot down at clays that are above the tops of the woods below. One of the best courses you will shoot. Additionally they have Trap as well a a five stand setup and skeet. Whatever you prefer to shoot with a shotgun is available... The have numerous pistol bays where you can likely shoot by yourself with high berms between you and the adjacent shooter. They have a rim fire only setup for anyone so inclined. And the center fire rifle range reaches out to 400 yards. Nice clubhouse. They have shells for sale. The shotgun courses accept a credit card size card that you charge with clays. You can come out any day, open the gate with your code and shoot clays on your own or with a friend. I've been a member for years and highly recommend it.

My daughter had a skeet competition this morning and the facility was absolutely gorgeous. It was…read moreclean and the DNR game wardens were friendly. I'm not sure if they rent the facility as an event venue but it would be a gorgeous one! We were only on the skeet fields this morning but they have other fields for shooting and archery.

I love this place! Check in at the Registration Cabin, grab a cart, load up, and go. The last visit…read morewas the birthday visit. For about an hour, it was just two of us out there. Then 4 other guys came out. That was the first time I seen someone else out there. Maybe because it was the weekend and I usually go on a Friday during the day. Made some good shots but mostly watched my son shoot his new compound bow.

Awesome fun. $10 per hour great fun for kids and safe. Got them away from TV and Xbox. The owner…read moregave them some instructions and they were off. Definitely coming back here. I can't wait to do this as a birthday party. My granddaughter won! Great for girls

We absolutely had the best time with these guys. They came out to our church and set us up for…read moresome archery tag with our youth group. We had all ages from 6th grade to our adult volunteers and every single one was ready to do it again. We will definitely have to get them on the calendar soon! Totally recommend for all ages!

Venue Smithgall Woods State Park ( Smithgall Cottages) 5 out of 5 stars…read more After copious amounts of research and several venue tours, we decided on Smithgall Woods state park, and more specifically the cottages as the venue for our wedding on June 8th. We just have to say we loved the team we worked with at Smithgall, mainly Todd, Patty, and Art. Todd at Guestservices was simply fantastic! As he will be quick to mention "the venue sells itself", however having him as our man on the inside was a pretty huge selling point on its own. He was with us every step of the way to answer our plethora of questions, work with vendors, and generally keep our minds at ease. Honestly, I doubt the wedding weekend would have gone as smoothly and been as much of a success had it not been for Todd's guidance and cooperation. The venue is magical. I know how that sounds, but it's the truth. It's tucked away deep in the beautiful North Georgia mountains, surrounded by a lush forest teaming with wildlife. This majestic property consists of five "cottages", in quotations because they are more like log cabin style mansions. The two largest being; the expansive 4 bedroom 4.5 bathroom cottage called the Smithgall Cottage, and the even larger 5 bedroom 5 bathroom Dover cottage. The Creekside Cottage is 3 bedrooms, and The Laurel and Garden cottages are one bedroom cottages with hot tubs on secluded side porches. All the cottages were clean, modern, and a huge hit with our guests. We were able to house both our families, close friends and wedding party all on the same property. Which saved us a great deal on lodging. Which after factoring in the cost of rooms made this one of the more affordable wedding venues out there. Also you get it for the whole weekend!!! We used the Smithgall Cottage for our wedding location due to the large wrap around porch and decks, and also due to the picturesque, covered foot bridge under which flows a gorgeous champion trout stream. We had some difficulty deciding where on this property to hold our ceremony because it is simply lovely all over. Unfortunately, the record rainfall that weekend made the decision for us. Even though the storms limited our use of the enormous field in front of the Dover cottage, and the gardens next to Smithgall we still were able to comfortably host our 50 or so guests and dozen vendors, at the Smithgall Cottage and our ceremony and reception went along wonderfully. We would highly recommend this venue to anyone wishing to have a once in a lifetime event at a once in a lifetime location.

I came here to see the covered bridge, but discovered they have so much more…read more THE SCENE Smithgall Woods may not be someplace Georgians are familiar with, unless you are an avid hunter or trout fisherman. It was once private property that was gifted to the state by conservationist Charles A. Smithgall Jr. in 1994. A large section still remains private property for the Smithgall family, but what was gifted is a treasure trove of beautiful mountains, streams, meadow fields and wetlands. I began my solo hike around 12:15pm from the Visitors Center. There I was given a map and a few brief highlights of points of interest, like the waterfalls and gold mine. I then set off one what turned out to be a 4.5 hour adventure. Probably not the smartest of ideas since I had surgery just three weeks ago. But I was tired of resting around the house and desperately wanted to get out and do something. Besides, nature brings a calmness to my inner being and allows me to relax my mind in ways I just can't at home. It was a perfect day with perfect temperatures for hiking. In my entire time there, I only ran across one other human. ----- THE HIKE Inside the Visitor's Center is a gift shop and small wildlife museum of the nature plants and animals. I walked down the paved Tsalaki Trail towards the Cathy Ellis Trail (approximately 2.6 mile away). The trail starts off as a fairly steep incline. Along the way I saw a sign saying "caution - bees". I thought that was a curious warning until I noticed the white honey bee houses in the woods nearby. Next came the wetlands with a one mile looping trail and a boardwalk into the marshes. Here you have a strong possibility of seeing a beaver at work on a dam. I decided to save this area for my return hike and I'm glad I did. My energy on the return leg was running very low and I needed the benches here for a nice long rest. I reached the covered bridge about 37 minutes after leaving the visitors center. It was a real beauty made in the simple Town Lattice style. The memorial plaque at the entrance was titled "Bay's Bridge In loving memory of 'Bay' Elizabeth Smithgall Watts", whom died the year the land for the state park was gifted. It crosses the amazing mountain stream known as Duke's Creek. The creek from here will be a large part of your journey. The trail turns to gravel just past the bridge. MARTIN'S MINE was one of the first Gold mines in Georgia. Most of the mining occurred from 1829 to 1935. By the 1840's most of the easy gold was gone and hard mining began. Miners dug tunnels and shafts to remove ore from deep underground. You can still see some of the entrances and shafts. The trail is well marked with numbers, so be sure to pick up the Mining Trail brochure at the Visitor's Center to help you decode the locations. There is a spur trail off the Martin's Mine loop that takes you to a waterfall used for hydraulic mining, which began in the 1850's. It is an uphill hike, but the waterfall is very nice. Back on the main trail I traveled another 1/2 mile to Cathy Ellis Trail. This 1/2 mile trail starts off uphill, but once you reach the shelter it's all downhill from there. The trail ends at the beautiful Chunannee waterfall (which means friendship). Lots of vegetation on this portion of the hike. This land was once the home of Lucy Bryant, a Cherokee Indian widow whom was granted this 640 acre parcel in the Treaty of 1817. But by 1839 the Trail of Tear forced all Cherokee Indians off their land to relocate in Oklahoma. They curiously chose to name the trail after a 19 year old girl who fell over a waterfall in a different county altogether instead of the Indian widow Lucy. I don't get that, but whatever. The waterfall here is beautiful. I sat here about 25 minutes resting and admiring its beauty and feeling sad for the ancient Cherokee Indian nation. I arrived here approx. 2.5 hours after I began my journey from the visitors center. NOTE: Prior to arriving at the Cathy Ellis trail there is another steep incline, similar to the one near the Visitor's Center. ----- FINAL THOUGHTS In total I hiked approximately 7.5 miles today. I would normally have done this in probably 3 hours, but I tried to go at an easier pace since I'm still recovering from surgery. I allowed myself plenty of places to sit and rest, the most enjoyable of them being the waterfall on the Cathy Ellis Trail. Smithgall Woods State Park is indeed a wonderful place for those who love nature and peaceful hiking venues. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND giving them a visit.