Excerpt by Karen T.

High Shoals Falls & Blue Hole Falls – I had an adventure on this hike, for
sure! The hike starts near the top of the mountain and you switchback down
to near the bottom. It’s a good trail, nice bridges and nice viewing
platforms at both falls. The hike back up is a bit strenuous, but not too
bad. When I did this one a bear cub ran across the road near the bottom of
the mountain as I was driving in. I stopped as I was hiking out to talk to some other hikers and
told them about the cub. They said they hadn’t seen anything of him and JUST
at that moment a bear cub jumped up out of the brush and took off down the
hill!

Cupid Falls – this is a pretty, small falls that is right in the town of
Young Harris, behind Young Harris College. It’s easy to get to, it’s in a
park that is right along the road. There is part of an old stone wall at the
top of the falls.  Drive past the college and then turn just before the tennis courts.

Denton Branch Falls – it took me three tries to find this one, and of course
once I did it was easy to find! This is a short hike along the branch –
maybe 1/4 mile. The last half is uphill and you have to work your way
through a pretty big blown-down tree. I chose to go through the smaller
branches instead of over the trunk – which was pretty high off the ground,
but not high enough to go under. Good decision! When I got to the falls some
people already there said “Did you see the hornet’s nest at that downed
tree”?! Turns out it was near the base of the tree and I did the right thing
by staying away from that end. The falls are very pretty and you can
actually walk around behind the falling water. The road in to the trailhead
is an unmarked road off the forest service road, which is why I had a hard
time finding it. On Mr Anthony’s page is says “Denton Branch Rd” but there’s
no actual street sign to identify it, but another website says it’s right
after Chapple Road, and it is. The drive in to the campsite where the trail
starts is short, and rough but I did it OK in my Ford Focus wagon – though
you want to stay to the left, as at one point there is a rock on the right
that I bottomed out on.

Desoto Falls – this is actually 2 falls, upper and lower – which designation
is deceiving. The “lower” falls are actually higher than the “upper” falls!
They are upper and lower because both feed into a creek in the valley, and
one is upstream of the campground, the other downstream. Do the lower falls
first. This is a steep, switch-backed trail up to the viewing platform. The
hike to the upper falls is longer, about 3/4 mile, but is much easier and
the falls are only a little way off the trail, up a short side trail to the
viewing platform. From the parking area the total hiked to get back is about
2 1/2 miles. Both falls are pretty, and this would be nice hike when the
rhododendron is in bloom as the valley is full of them.  There is a fee at the parking area.

Dicks Creek Falls (Lumpkin County) – this is actually a series of falls and
cascades and is very easy to get to as they are right along the forest
service road. This is a very popular area in the summer. The last time I was
there, there must have been 50 or 60 people all up and down the creek at the
various cascades, and jumping off the lower falls.

Dicks Creek Falls (Chattooga River) – this is a long drive down a narrow
forest service road – be prepared to back up if someone is coming in the
other direction, then a short easy hike to the Chattooga River. The last
maybe 1/4 of the hike is downhill along Dicks Creek. The problem with this
falls is that you can’t actually see it from the trail! In fact, in order to
view it at all you have to go out into the Chattooga River! There is one
spot where you can get alongside the falls, but it’s not a very good view of
them.

Dukes Creek Falls – this is another show-piece of GA waterfalls. The trail
down is a series of long, fairly easy switchbacks – about a mile total.
There are several interconnected viewing platforms. There are actually 2
falls here, the largest and most spectacular is on Davis Creek, and the
smaller one is on Dodd Creek. They are, combined, “Dukes Creek Falls”
because the two creeks join here to make Dukes Creek. The large falls has a
drop of 200 feet.  There is a fee at the parking area.

Estatoah Falls and Mud Creek Falls – Estatoah Falls is on private property
and can’t be approached closely, but it makes a spectacular, distant sight
on the drive up to Sky Valley, where Mud Creek Falls can be found just below
the golf course. Mud Creek Falls is a steepish drive down a gravel road, and
the falls is at a nice picnic area right off the road down.

Falls Branch Falls – this is a double falls not too far from Blue Ridge.
It’s a steep, short hike up to the lower falls and I didn’t have time to do
the hike further up to the upper falls.

Fall Creek Falls – this beautiful falls is about 1/2 way down a tough, 5
mile hike in Dawson Forest. The trail is called the Fall Creek Trail
and it starts high up and has a total drop of 1200 feet to the other end at
the campground. There’s supposed to be 5 waterfalls along here, but when we
hiked it we only saw 3, but you can hear a lot of cascading water as you
hike, but in most places you can’t actually see them very well due to the
“curse” of cascading streams in GA: mountain laurel and rhododendron bushes
right along the stream banks. This is a tough, but beautiful hike.

Gurley Creek Falls & Joel Creek Falls – these 2 falls are on the grounds of
the Enota Mountain Retreat near the road that goes up to Brasstown Bald.
This is a private retreat and the day use fee is $10 which I thought was a
bit steep. The Gurley Creek Falls are 220 feet high, and the Joel Creek
Falls are about 150 feet high. There is a nice viewing platform down in the
valley where you can get a distant view of the Joel Creek Falls. I did try
to hike up to the base of these falls, but the trail is steep and the day
was hot and I just didn’t have enough energy to make it all the way up. I
did manage to do the hike to Gurley Creek Falls, which is shorter but nearly
as tough and you do have to be careful as you get close to the spot where
you can view them. There are supposed to be other falls in this area, but I
couldn’t find them.

Helton Creek Falls – these are a 2 stage falls that is right along the
forest service road. They are easy to get to, and the short climb to the 2
viewing platforms is not difficult. There is good parking on the road, this
is a popular site.

Hemlock Falls & unnamed falls upstream on Moccasin Creek – the hike to
Hemlock Falls is one of my favorites. It’s only a little over a mile in,
uphill, but not steep, and easy. The falls are not tall – but are very
pretty, and there is a deep pool at their base that is nice for swimming.
The trail to the upper falls is tough, tough. It’s not maintained and there
are many, many blowdowns. There are places where you can – carefully – climb
up, but I found them easier to slide down coming back than to try to “walk”
down. In fact, I did this for the first time today and when we got to the
falls I didn’t actually have the energy to climb down to the base – but I’ll
do it someday!

Horse Trough Falls – this is a long drive (5 miles) down a forest service
road from near the top of Unicoi Gap. You need to have your “forest service
road manners” down pat as this falls is in a popular campground and you will
meet people driving out the other way. In the greater part of the road, it’s
not wide enough for 2 cars to pass – especially a big one pulling a trailer,
so be good about finding a wider spot and pulling over – even if you have to
back up to do it. The trail is a short, easy hike to a nice viewing
platform.
To be continued……

Excerpt by Karen T.

Anna’s reports on her summer adventures inspired me to report on MY
“adventures” this summer. With it being so hot for so long, here in GA, I
didn’t feel like doing any really long or strenuous hiking…so almost every
weekend I’ve been out one or both days “chasing” waterfalls.

I found this wonderful site: http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/ that has
something like 100+ waterfalls in North Georgia, and I’ve been using it to
target waterfalls. He has a few that I’ll probably never get to, because of
the trail (or lack of one) but I think I can eventually do most of the ones
that are publicly accessible. Some of them I’m saving for when the weather
is a bit cooler.

Here are the ones I’ve done so far, all of them on Mr. Anthony’s site
(except the last one):

Ada-Hi Falls – this falls is at Black Rock Mountain State Park. The trail
starts near the campground and is 1/2 mile down the mountain. This is a
steepish, switch-backed trail with a lot of steps near the bottom. There’s a
nice viewing platform at the falls, but the falls themselves are somewhat
disappointing. At the park headquarters they have a nice photo of the falls
with a lot of water coming over, but they said it doesn’t look like that now
because the creek re-routed itself. Now it’s not much more than a trickle.
It’s not worth a special trip, but there are several waterfalls in the area
and if, like me, you just want to “mark it off the list” it’s not too bad a
hike down.  There is a fee for the park.

Amicalola Falls – this is probably GA’s most famous waterfall. Mr Anthony
lists it as a 600 foot high waterfall, but the state parks site says 729
feet and it’s the highest waterfall in GA. The trail from the parking area
to the base of the falls is a short, steep, paved trail. I don’t know how
long, maybe 1/3 mile? Then it changes to a combination of steps and
bridges – over 400 to the top of the falls (I’ve never done this part).
There’s also a trail from a parking area up the mountain that is wheelchair
accessible that comes out onto the steps/bridges part of the trail. Any way
you look at it, this is a spectacular waterfall and well worth the work to
get to it.  There is a fee for the park.

Holcomb Creek Falls, Ammons Creek Falls, and an unnamed falls on Holcomb
Creek – this is a long drive from my house, and a relatively short, but
strenuous trail. As described in most trail descriptions (Holcomb Creek
Trail) you park at the junction of 2 forest service roads. From there you
switchback pretty steeply down to the Holcomb Creek Falls. You then go past
these falls, start hiking pretty steeply back up until you get to Ammons
Creek Falls where this part of the trail ends. Then you backtrack a short
way and take a side trail back up the mountain. This is a tough, steep trail
that goes more or less straight up the mountain beside Holcomb Creek – but
for most of the length you can’t actually see the creek due to the (mostly)
mountain laurel and rhododendron bushes along the banks. Shortly before you
get back to the road, there is another unnamed falls that is quite pretty.
When you get back to the road you are actually higher than where you parked,
so you have about 1/2 mile+ hike back down the road to your car. This was a
tough hike, but well worth it for the falls. I think if I did it again,
though, I’d park at the same place, but hike it “backwards” so I’m hiking
down that long uphill hike.

Angel & Panther Falls – These 2 falls are on the same trail, about 1 mile+
long. Panther Falls is first at about 1/2 mile and is a tall, cascading
waterfall. Angel Falls is another 1/2 mile further up the mountain and is
similar to Panther Falls but is spectacularly much higher. In fact, the
viewing platform is so close to the falls that I had to take 3 separate
pictures – top, middle, and bottom – to get it all! The trail is all uphill
going in, but is not too steep, except for just above Panther Falls where it’s a
steepish climb for a couple/three hundred feet, then it gets a bit easier.
These are beautiful falls, well worth the hike.  There is a fee for the campground.

Anna Ruby Falls – this is another famous falls, and the trail to the base is
paved. It’s steepish at first, then gets easier just before you get to the
base of the falls – where there are some nicely placed viewing platforms.
This would be a pretty hike even if there were no falls at the end, the
creek is just one cascade after another all the way up.  There is a fee to view the falls.

To be continued……