Cartersville Visitor Guide
Cartersville is 44 miles northwest of Atlanta on Interstate 75. Visitors who have never been to Cartersville may wish to make their first stop at the Cartersville-Bartow County Visitor Information Center inside the Historic Railroad Depot in the center of downtown Cartersville. This is a great place to gather pamphlets and information about local area attractions. Downtown Cartersville is a fun place to explore. The downtown business district contains a wide variety of shopping boutiques, antique and thrift stores, restaurants and other interesting retail establishments.
One of the most historic sites in Georgia is in Cartersville. The 54 acre Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site is a Georgia State Park containing the most extensive evidence of prehistoric Mississippian culture the Southeastern United States. The three large earthen mounds, the village area and the plaza at the Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site date back to the Paleo-Indian Period around 10,000 B.C.
Interesting attractions in Cartersville
The Booth Western Art Museum at 501 Museum Drive, (770) 387-1300, contains 80,000 sq. ft. filled with Contemporary Western American artwork, a collection of Presidential letters and portraits, a Civil War gallery, and a children’s gallery with many interactive and educational exhibits related to art and Western American culture. Each year at the end of October, the Booth Museum sponsors the annual Southeastern Cowboy Festival and Symposium, a four day celebration that features a re-enactment of the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Western music and poetry concerts, Cowpoke Corner children's activities including pioneer demonstrations and an old-fashioned medicine show, a Western marketplace, authentic Native American dancing, and educational lectures on art and history.
Tellus: Northwest Georgia Science Museum at 100 Tellus Museum Drive, (770) 386-0576, is Cartersville’s newest museum. The 120,000 sq. ft. facility contains many hands-on interactive exhibits related to the fields of science and technology, the Weinman Mineral Gallery with over 4,000 rocks, gems and minerals, the Fossil Gallery featuring a 40-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex along with other dinosaurs and fossils, and a 120-seat digital Planetarium.
Nearby Cartersville at Allatoona Lake is one of Georgia’s most popular state parks. The 1,562-acre Red Top Mountain State Park is located on a peninsula of Lake Allatoona and it contains fishing areas, swimming areas with boat ramps and docks, tennis courts, 12 miles of hiking trails, camping areas, RV spaces, and a lodge with 33 guest rooms and a restaurant.