Smithgall Woods Conservation Area

Smithgall Woods Conservation Area and Lodge is a 5,664 acres (8.85 sq mi; 22.92 km²) Georgia state park, lodge and protected wilderness area near Helen, Georgia. It contains old growth forests, 12 miles of trout streams, and populations of wild turkeys, bears and deer.[1]

The Lodge at Smithgall Woods

The area is named for Charles A. Smithgall Jr., a Georgia publisher, broadcaster and philanthropist who sold the property to the state in 1994 for half its appraised value. He had assembled the acreage in the 1970s and had a team clear trash, restock streams and plant thousands of trees. In a 1988 interview Smithgall was quoted, "At some point, a man has to put something back. I hate to see people just take from the land and never put something back."[1]