We visited from South Florida, looking to get away from the heat and concrete for a few days. Generally speaking, this cabin is amazing. Tons of space, well-appointed, and 99.99% of everything worked as advertised. The lot is truly special, and it gives you the legitimate log cabin escape feel you are probably looking for if you’re reading this. My only two minor knocks are a bit of a fly/gnat issue in the kitchen sink area and the “fire/jump” buttons not working on the arcade. The fly issue we kind of got used to as it really was just localized to the sink area. The buttons were a bit heartbreaking though as my kids and I were excited to have some video game tourneys in the evenings but could only play games that did not require shooting or jumping. So basically, we were left with Pacman. Still had fun with it, but it was a small bummer. I grilled twice and used the firepit. If you’re not a city boy like me, just book it, it’s great and the decks/views are awesome.
With that being said, if you are from the city or a flat area like South Florida, be prepared for the steep gravel-laden drive up to the cabin. It worked out fine after some helpful guidance from the maintenance person, but the initial climb up in our front-wheel-drive SUV was a bit of a shock. I was sincerely concerned about traversing it in the rain. My advice is to leave it in low gear, slow and steady and you will be fine. It is also, from my crowded South Florida suburban perspective, very secluded. I know, the listing says “secluded”! That said it is just over a mile to the cabin from the main road, you pass maybe 6 driveways to hidden homes, and there is only one house higher up than this one on the same mountain. Standing outside of the cabin, you literally cannot see another house nearby.
Outside of the cabin itself, Ellijay was a pleasant surprise. We initially looked for Blue Ridge, but this cabin looked amazing, and we ended up spending far more time in and around Ellijay than Blue Ridge. Highly recommend dinner at The Roof, pizza from Ellijay Coal Fired Pizza, and ice cream from Abby’s. Everyone we ran into was amazingly nice and service-oriented. Heck, we hit the Hardee’s drive-through for breakfast on our way back to Florida at 5:30 am and even they seemed genuinely happy to be there.
Once I was used to the mountain road, I loved the experience. And looking back on it, I miss it. But just be prepared if you are not used to it, and take your time, it’s worth it.