Lake Lanier Islands

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Lake Lanier Islands are a small group of islands located on Lake Lanier, a medium sized lake located north of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The islands were previously large hills that became the largest land chain remaining after the flooding of the Appalachian river valley located near Gainesville by a man-made dam, creating the popular lake.

Lake Lanier Islands were originally owned by the State of Georgia, but was sold to private ownership in the early 1990s. It has now become a vacation resort.

The islands have attempted to become a primary recreational destination for the Atlanta area, with limited success. While Lake Lanier itself has always been popular, Lake Lanier Islands has found it difficult to compete with other Atlanta tourist attractions, such as Stone Mountain Park and Six Flags. Lake Lanier Islands is farther away than those other attractions, and private ownership has yet to fully publicize the resort.

Lake Lanier Islands contains a luxury hotel (Emerald Pointe Resort), two golf courses, a waterpark, horse-back riding, camping, and a rarely used amphitheatre. A previous hotel, Pine Isle Resort, was closed after nearly 30 years of operation, and now awaits demolition.

Popular events at the resort include the Annual Independence Day fireworks on the lake, and "Magical Nights of Lights", a Christmas event.

In August of 2005, it was announced that local businessman Virgil Williams had bought the Islands from the KSL corporation. He officially took control on August 26. The purchase was for 14.5 million, a seemingly low sum for such prime real estate, but it doesn't include the actual land, which still stays under government control.

Virgil Williams previously owned the Arena Football League's Georgia Force.