Standing atop Georgia's Lookout Mountain provides a true-feeling-getaway setting. Its hills are covered with pine, birch and oak trees, and at about 2,400 meters high, the mountain offers views of seven regions. As my wife and I climbed above the clouds to the top of Lookout Mountain, where Cloudland at McLemore Resort awaited us, we were almost speechless. We could say to each other, “Look at that.”
Cloudland has two golf courses and a new Curio Collection by Hilton hotel that opened in February, a combination the resort hopes will help stake its claim as the newest golf destination in the Southeast. The profitable golf travel business has been growing since the pandemic: The The National Golf Foundation reports that in 2023, 531 million rounds were played, surpassing the 529 million set in 2021, which increased because golf was one of the few group activities that allowed for social reduction. In addition, the NGF reports that “rounds are trending more than 10 percent ahead of the five-year, pre-pandemic average from 2015-19.”
Although mountain golf is not new, good mountain golf is difficult to find because of the location. Cloud Developersland, however, they originate from the area, which already has a number of elite private golf courses that take advantage of the natural beauty of Lookout Mountain.
The development of Cloudland was prompted by a desire to take advantage of its setting and reputation as a destination for outdoor enthusiasts, Duane Horton, president of Scenic Land Company, Cloudland's developer, told the Observer.
The addition of the Cloudland Hilton hotel is the culmination of a years-long process. Scenic Land purchased the existing resort in 2017 and rebranded it the following year as McLemore, with one golf course and adjacent golf cottages. In the fall of 2024, on the heels of the opening of the hotel, they opened their second course, The Keep, to play first, unlike its older brother, which is the cliffs of Lookout Mountain. Golfers play on dozens of infinity greens, which, from a distance, appear to drop off the edge of a cliff, like an infinity pool. Long views of the Smoky Mountains abound from every vantage point at The Keep, and holes eight through 11 allow golfers to traverse the mountainside as they play.
While those holes are the most important part of the course, architect Bill Bergin took advantage of the setting to create fairways and holes of varying lengths, while keeping the course walkable. One of the charms of The Keep is that you play by using bold stones; the contrast of those granite slabs and the green grass makes for an attractive and captivating golf course.
The Highlands Course is the resort's original course and boasts what the resort claims on the scorecard as “the best finishing hole in golf.” This is because golfers put their pins in the ground right on the edge or edge on top of the mountain, the mountains with purple dots hug the left side of the fairway until you reach the green. The Highlands Course has very tight fairways, with pine trees marking the edges of the fairway from hole to hole. It has a serpentine course over the land and the exposed rock on this course provides the same texture as The Keep, but it also seems to indicate that the land was very difficult to find and lay out the 18 holes of golf.
The resort divides the course into three distinct regions: canyons, highlands and cliff edges. Aside from the 18, the standout holes at Highlands are its par 3's. My favorite is the third hole, which is a short par 3 to a large, sloping green guarded by two bunkers that offer little chance of recovery. The boulders above the green provide the theater for this challenging hole.
After a day of golfing, the new 245-room hotel–and its dining options–offers plenty of ways to recharge. The hotel is the epitome of modern luxury, with plenty of seating in its large common areas, from leather recliners to deep sofas with large black leather ottomans. The library, just outside the door, has backlit bookshelves with a collection of classics ranging from Hemingway to Woolf, as well as a selection of contemporary non-fiction and contemporary fiction. Sofas around coffee tables and plush rocking chairs with small side tables make this room a great place to read in the morning, while most of the hotel is still asleep. The only thing missing was a throw blanket
At the hotel's terrace level, on the ground floor, a large wooden wall is cut from the mountain wall, while Eames-inspired chairs invite guests to sit and visit each other. The mix of design is modern and cozy, and large floor lamps with built-in tables provide plenty of space to set down a cocktail. Guests can step outside to the pool area for a spectacular view of the mountains in front of them—at this point, the horizon takes on contrasting shades of blue and purple, as if filled with their own colors.
For dinner on our first night, we visited The Creag in the main clubhouse (order hushpuppies, filet and caramel cloud mousse) and watched the big moon rise behind the ridge. The sky was orange, and the moon was shining overhead until we were under its white light. Visitors, including us, rushed outside to film the spectacle, snapping selfies and sharing posts.
The next day, we ventured outside to visit Cloudland Canyon State Park, where a series of trails allow you to walk through the nearly 4,000-acre area. The Waterfalls Trail was a great morning test to burn off our dinner from the night before. The 1.8 mile round trip trail leads to Cherokee Falls and involves about 600 steps climbing back up the mountainside.
The building's proximity to parks and outdoor activities was no accident in the planning process. According to Horton, it was part of the original overall concept, and taking advantage of Lookout Mountain's proximity to the growing population centers nearby. Chattanooga is only 35 minutes from the resort, and Cloudland is also easily accessible from Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham and Huntsville.
Like other resort communities in the southeast, such as the Cliffs again Palmetto BluffCloudland includes a real estate segment and a private members club. Golf is part of that club, and the only community play it offers to hotel guests. Like those other communities, Horton says, golf was the driver from the beginning. “We believed that the uniqueness of offering a fair and stunning mountaintop accessible course would be a draw and create more demand for guests and members at the resort,” he said, noting that many mountaintop courses are not actually on top of a mountain. , and none boast the expansive views of the Blue Ridge Mountains found in Cloudland.
On our last day at the resort, we took our kids, ages eight and six, to The Cairn, a short six-hole course off the main clubhouse, and watched them hit shots between 40 and 80 yards to the actual greens. from real boys. While there were plenty of golfers walking around the area, many watching college football games at night, there were plenty of couples and families, too. We may have gone to bed with our kids, but the party had just begun on the first floor—fire pits had been lit outside, and drinks were being ordered inside to enjoy alfresco. There was something for everyone and even our children, back in the room, were asking when we would be back.
