If there is one place where Mother Nature is alive and kicking, it is Dawsonville-Dawson County. Perched at the trailhead of the Appalachian Trail, surrounded by mountain high country and encompassing rivers and forests, backcountry trails and cascading waterfalls—not to mention a portion of the 39,000-acre Lake Lanier, Dawsonville-Dawson County offers recreation and adventure opportunities from hiking, biking, golfing and horseback riding to fishing, boating, kayaking, canoeing and whitewater rafting. Here is home to the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi at Amicalola Falls, the sprawling Dawson Forest and the very “Edge of the World” at Amicalola River—the Class IV whitewater rapids on the Amicalola River Trail and a fine place to pack a picnic lunch to share atop the rocks on the shoals.