Lake Lanier, Water reservoir in northern Georgia, United States

Lake Lanier is a 38,000-acre reservoir on the Chattahoochee River in northern Georgia, held back by Buford Dam. At full pool it reaches 1,071 feet above sea level and has 692 miles of shoreline, filling valleys in Hall, Forsyth, Dawson, Gwinnett and Lumpkin counties. Its open water reflects the sky, with wooded banks and a band of reddish-brown earth at the waterline.

Congress authorized the project in 1946, and ground was broken on Buford Dam on March 1, 1950; the dam was dedicated on October 9, 1957, and the lake reached full pool on August 1, 1958. Construction destroyed more than 50,000 acres of farmland and displaced over 250 families, 15 businesses and 20 cemeteries. The reservoir flooded the site of Oscarville, a Black community whose 1,098 residents had been expelled from Forsyth County in 1912.

The name honors Sidney Lanier, a 19th-century poet who grew up in Georgia and celebrated southern landscapes in his work. Today families from surrounding towns gather on weekends along the shore to fish, picnic, or take boats out on the water.

Boat ramps and swimming spots are scattered around the shoreline, some equipped with restrooms and picnic tables. The best time to visit runs from spring through fall, when the weather is warm enough for swimming and campsites remain open.

Beneath the surface lie foundations of old houses and bridges that sometimes become visible during low water levels. Divers report submerged roads and stone walls that recall the communities that once stood here.