Where to Park for a Dahlonega Shopping Day

Parking for a Dahlonega shopping day is free on and around the Public Square. The catch is time: the closest spaces are 3-hour spaces on weekdays. If you plan to stay all day, use a Park & Stay lot, and on evenings and weekends the University of North Georgia’s deck is free to the public. Here is how to choose, with each rule from the city, the downtown authority or the Visitors Bureau, checked Oct 19, 2026.

The free spaces on the Square

The Dahlonega DDA counts about 300 free parking spaces on and around the Public Square, plus three free lots with 140 spaces. (Its parking page was last edited in 2022, so treat the counts as approximate.) These are the “Shop & Dine” spaces on both sides of Main Street around the Gold Museum.

The rule that matters: these are 3-hour spaces, and the Visitors Bureau parking guide says the city enforces the limit from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The guide counts the Choice Street lot among the 3-hour spaces too. Fine for a quick visit; for a full day, use one of the lots below.

All-day parking: Park & Stay

For all-day or multi-day parking, the Visitors Bureau points to the Park & Stay spaces in the North Park Street lot and the Warwick Street lot. The City of Dahlonega describes Warwick Street as two free lots one block from the Gold Museum, with all-day spaces plus 3-hour and accessible ones. The North Park Street lot runs alongside Hancock Park.

On a weekday, this is the move: park once in a Park & Stay lot and walk. You will not be watching the clock at 2 p.m. with a bag in each hand.

The UNG deck: evenings and weekends

The University of North Georgia lets the public use its shady parking deck at no charge outside the working week. Per the DDA, the entrance is next to the Smith House at 84 South Chestatee Street, and the deck is free from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. Monday to Thursday, and from Friday at 5:30 p.m. through Monday at 7:30 a.m. The city confirms that UNG, as a community partner, allows public parking in the deck and select lots on weeknights and weekends.

The University of North Georgia's shady parking deck (entrance next to the Smith House, 84 S. Chestatee St.) is free to the public from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. Monday to Thursday and from Friday 5:30 p.m. to Monday 7:30 a.m. (Dahlonega DDA / Main Street, checked Oct 19, 2026)

For a Saturday trip the deck is the simplest choice: arrive any time, no 3-hour limit to track. It is also what the Bear on the Square organizers recommend for their festival weekend, when much of the street parking is closed, per Bear on the Square.

EV charging

The city lists a Level 2 EV charging port in the Choice Street public lot, behind the Holiday Inn Express, a short walk from downtown. Because the Visitors Bureau guide puts the Choice Street lot among the 3-hour spaces, read the signs when you plug in on a weekday.

Accessible spaces and loading

The city’s map marks accessible spaces on Warwick Street, West Main, North Park, East Main, in the Choice Street lot and around the Gold Museum on both sides of the Square. Short 15-minute loading spaces are on North Park, East Main and around the Gold Museum, which helps if you are collecting a heavy purchase. There are motorcycle spaces around the Square too.

The meter question

You may read that Dahlonega has paid parking. Here is exactly what we found. As of the city’s October 2025 parking study, the only paid parking downtown was 29 metered spaces on North and South Meaders Street and Maple Street, more than 300 feet from the Square, while the prime spaces at the Square stayed free, per the City of Dahlonega workshop packet. At a December 2025 workshop the study listed fee parking among its recommendations, and city staff recommended removing the existing meters because of maintenance cost.

We found no 2026 council action adopting paid parking or removing the meters. So the status of those 29 meters in 2026 is not confirmed. If you park on Meaders or Maple, read the meter. For questions, the city points visitors to the Visitors Center at (706) 864-3711.

Two other items are still only proposals. A downtown shuttle and employee-parking program went to City Council in June 2026, and the mayor asked for a request for proposals; no action was taken. The city attorney also announced a forthcoming bus parking ordinance; we found no published bus or RV parking rule for downtown yet.

Which to pick

• Weekday, quick visit: a 3-hour space on the Square.
• Weekday, all day: Park & Stay on North Park Street or Warwick Street.
• Friday evening through Sunday: the UNG deck off South Chestatee.
• Electric car: the Choice Street lot.
• Festival or parade day: come early. The 2026 Lighting of the Square falls on a Friday (November 27), when the 3-hour limit is enforced until 5 p.m.; the parade is Saturday, December 12, at noon. For Christmas dates, see our Christmas shopping guide.

• Parking on and around the Public Square is free; the downtown authority counts about 300 free spaces around the Square plus three free lots with 140 spaces. Dahlonega DDA / Main Street
• The prime 'Shop & Dine' spaces around the Public Square and the Choice Street lot are 3-hour spaces, enforced 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Visitors Bureau
• For all-day or multi-day parking, the Park & Stay spaces are in the North Park Street lot and the Warwick Street lot. Visitors Bureau
• There is a Level 2 EV charging port in the Choice Street public parking lot behind the Holiday Inn Express, a short walk from downtown. City of Dahlonega

Getting here

Dahlonega is about an hour (71 miles) north of Atlanta, at the end of GA-400, per the Visitors Bureau. At the light at the end of GA-400, turn left on GA-60 North/US-19 North (South Chestatee Street) and continue about 5.5 miles to the Square. South Chestatee is also the street with the UNG deck entrance. The Visitors Center at 13 South Park Street is open every day, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is staffed by information specialists and volunteers.

Our parking and getting here guide has every lot on a map, and the Shopping Day Planner builds the day around where you park.

Questions people ask

Written by the Dahlonega Shopping Editorial Team. AI tools help us draft; people check every fact against its source before it publishes.