Learn About Native Plants
As part of the University of Georgia education system, The Georgia Mountain Research & Education Center is used by UGA faculty to conduct ongoing research and education projects. Its grounds cover 415 acres of orchards, test plots, pasture land, specimen and preservation gardens, historic sites and forests. The center makes a unique research area in Georgia because its growing season is similar to that of southern Canada.
The Community Council of the GMREC provides environmental education programs for children and youth in surrounding counties, including Union, Fannin and Towns counties in Georgia, and Cherokee and Clay counties in North Carolina. The Council’s Johnny Appleseed Program was featured on an episode of the Mountain Trails on Windstream TV and is available to view on YouTube. The Community Council also educates the public on the importance of cultivating, preserving and using the diversity of plant species native to the Southern Appalachian Mountain region.
Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the Ethnobotanic Gardens and Woodland Medicine Trail, which includes botanic and historic interpretive signs throughout the area, on most weekdays. Guided tours are available on Mondays, May through September.
DIRECTIONS
The Georgia Mountain Research & Education Center is located 3 miles south of Blairsville on Hwy. 19/129 in Union County.