690 miles of shoreline and a summer that runs past Labor Day.
Lake Lanier is the lake that half of Atlanta escapes to every summer, and once you've been out on it, you understand why. 39,000 acres, 690 miles of shoreline, and a season that starts before Memorial Day and doesn't quit until October.
The Cove Map
The trick to Lanier is learning the coves. There are hundreds of them — some busy with sandbars and pontoons rafted together, some so quiet you'll only see a heron and a fisherman. Get a map, pick a cove nobody's in, and spend the afternoon swimming off the back of the boat in water that's already warm by May.
“On Lanier, the perfect cove is the one your friend won't tell you about.”
Stay out past sunset and the lake turns golden, then purple, then dark. The ride back under the stars is the part of the day people remember — and the reason a Lanier summer is the thing Atlanta families plan the rest of their year around.
