The Fred Hamilton Rhododendron Garden is the only public botanical garden in the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia specialising in rhododendrons and native azaleas. It spreads across a sloping hillside above Lake Chatuge on the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, with over 3,000 plants including native mountain laurels, magnolias, tulips, dogwoods, and the rarest specimen of all: a yellow azalea hybridised by Fred Hamilton himself, the only one of its kind in existence.
Peak bloom is typically mid-April through May for the azaleas, and late May into June for rhododendrons. In full flower, the hillside is genuinely spectacular — waves of colour tumbling down toward the lake. The garden is open daily and admission is free outside fair periods. It is an easy complement to a visit to the adjacent Fairgrounds.