What this is all about

I like to hike, and I belong to a womens hiking group called "TrailDames" - one of our hikes took us to a waterfall just over the border in South Carolina. This got me interested in finding waterfalls nearby and earlier this year I found a website with directions and photos of waterfalls in North Georgia at (see links for TrailDames & North Georgia Waterfalls below)

I now also belong to another womens hiking group called Off the Grid. Both OTG and Traildames are on Meetup.

Mr. Anthony's site has lovely photos of well over 100 waterfalls in North Georgia and I got interested in seeing them. As the weather got hotter through the summer I concentrated on shorter hikes to falls, and falls that were visible from the road. Then, as it started to get cooler again, I started doing longer hikes. It turned out to be far more fun than I expected it to be, and to my surprise - when I added them up - I had been to over 100 myself!

So I decided to make a record of them and of what it's like to visit them, in case anyone else is interested in seeing them too. I will be adding photos and directions, trail conditions, etc. in the future. As I "redo" falls I will update the page that already exists for them, instead of creating a new page every time. Keeping with the format of this blog site, I will put new information at the top of each existing page.

I won't be putting road mileages on the directions, I strongly urge you to compare my directions to a good map so you can see the distances for yourself. I'm not very good at guessing distances, so if I can find a trail length I will use that. If I'm guessing, I'll put a question mark so you'll know!

My apologies for the "watermarks" on the photos, but I have had...and know other people who have had...photos stolen off the net. The watermarks are to ensure that they can't be reused without being identified as mine.

I got a good GPS unit and I'll slowly be putting GPS coordinates for the falls, when I can. If I can get close to the falls the GPS will be for the falls. Otherwise, it will be for where you can see them most easily.

Nov 2012: I got a new PC and now that I can actually get things done (!) I'm going to rearrange the way the falls are listed. I'm going to list them separately, instead of grouping them by the day I saw them. The only ones I'll group are the ones that are on the same creek, or very close - like on the same road.

I've completed rearranging the posts. Hopefully this will help make the falls easier to find. I also found my count was WAY off, so I've updated the total too.

Jan 2013 - I just got a video camera, so I'll be adding short videos of the falls as I am able to get back to them. They might be a bit shakey at first, but hopefully I'll get better as I get used to using it!

Jan 2014 - I almost forgot about posting this! I had been in contact with Sharon Collins, the host of GPB's "Georgia Outdoors"...offering to take her around my 18 Waterfalls tour. She was not able to make it, but I did take her cameraman Shane Keating on the tour. I was hoping they'd do a show about the tour, but that didn't happen. However, some of the shots did show up in the episode "Mountain Magic"...so I've added a link to that episode.

Aug 2015 - I've created a Google map of the waterfalls I either have been to, or know about as publicly accessable, check it out at: https://goo.gl/maps/79Lyb

Got some additional news. The episode of Georgia Outdoors mentioned above, that has some of the shots taken by the cameraman on my 18 Wateralls tour...won a 2015 Southeastern Emmy for "Magazine Program" http://www.gpb.org/emmys

Total Falls

Total waterfalls as of 6/7/2015: 504
Total videos as of 6/7/2015: 180

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Rock Creek Rd.(3 falls)

9/2/2012 - went back up Hwy 60, through Suches and on to Rock Creek Rd, to get some falls I've heard in the past but didn't have time to track down to get photos.  Got the falls below the dam at Woody Lake in Suches and then drove up Rock Creek Rd to get some falls above the fish hatchery and below the dam at Rock Creek Lake along there. 
 
Rock Creek Rd - these 2 falls are a ways above the fish hatchery.  To see them you have to stop when you can hear them, and then bushwhack down to the creek.  There are actually 3 sets of falls, but the first one downstream was pretty low and I couldn't really get to a place where I could get a photo of it.
 
These falls are on Rock Creek
 
GPS:34.69359° -84.14284°
GPS:34.69347° -84.14256°


Rock Creek Rd - this falls is a short way above the other two.  It's below the dam for Rock Creek Lake.  Stop when you can see the water coming over the spill way on the dam, then bushwhack down to the creek and the falls are downstream of the dam.  There's a faint trail along the creek.
 
GPS: 34.68456° -84.14069°
 
 
Directions and Information: from Dahlonega, GA
  • north on US 19
  • left onto Hwy 60 - through Suches, GA
  • left on Rock Creek Rd
Note: follow Rock Creek Rd past the National Forest fish hatchery.  The Rock Creek falls are all upstream on the same creek that flows through the hatchery.  It's easiest to find the first ones by driving with your stream-side windows open and stop when you can hear them.  The last one is below the dam at the lake.
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Saturday, September 1, 2012

Highland Falls

9/1/2012 - drove up over Blood Mtn to check out Owltown Rd and try to find Highland Falls.  Saw a sign for Highland Falls Cabins, so I went up to the office and they told me how to find the falls.  Only thing is, they're on posted private property - in a mountain subdivision, on a private preserve.  Luckily, just as I got to the private road a resident stopped when I flagged her down and she told me how to get to the falls.  It's about 1/2 mile off the road, and is pretty small...but since I had to hike over a mile just to see it, it counts!


Note: this falls is on private property
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