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

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Minnehaha Falls (5 falls)

This is in the 18 Waterfalls in One Day - hike and drive, see the link on the right

7/20/2013 - headed back up to Minnehaha Falls to get videos and see how my leg did on a bit longer hike.  My leg, was fine...but I did get queasy and had to cut the trip short before I could do Bad Branch Falls and the upper Crow Creek Falls

 4/24/2011 - went back today and got 2 more falls I'd missed before

According to GMAPS these falls are on Falls Branch

2/19/2011 - went back to get better pictures, and also got pictures of 2 other falls downstream of Minnehaha Falls. Noticed when I got to the trailhead that the falls name has been burned into the hand rail, but it's misspelled "Minihaha Falls!

As you go upstream on the trail, there are 2, maybe 3, possible falls that you can hear but not see. Near the root ball for a BIG downed tree it's possible to carefully work your way down the bank to a falls. It's a scramble, but it''s not too bad, though it might be if it's wet.

Then just a bit further upstream the trail comes very close to the creek at another falls. If you backtrack down the trail a bit, you can again scramble down to the base of these falls - it's an easy scramble too.

6/19/2010 - This is a popular summer fun spot and has been for generations. Public TV in Atlanta has a show they broadcast occasionally about waterfalls in GA (see link in the sidebar for "Crashing Waters"), and in that show they interview a woman who was there photographing her grand-daughter...and that woman also has a picture of HER Mother on these falls. The falls are up a short trail. Except for the beginning, where the steps are rotting away - it's an easy hike. There's no parking area, but it's not difficult to find space to park along the road, just be careful not to block anyone's driveway.

This falls is hard to see in the photo
GPS: 34°44'52"N 83°28'50"W




These 2 falls are close together, with the #2 just downstream of #3. There's a big downed tree along the trail and just before you get to the root ball, there's a sizeable wet spot on the trail. Right at this wet spot you can see a short trail down to the creek that comes out between these 2 falls
GPS: 34°44'52"N 83°28'50"W



Falls #4 is just below the main Minnehaha falls. The trail comes very close to it, but near the top.  Last photo is Minnehaha Falls
GPS: 34°44'50"N 83°28'49"W


Directions and Information: from Tallulah Falls, GA
  • north on US 441/US 23
  • left on Old 44
  • immediately right on Old 441
  • left on Lake Rabun Rd
  • left on Low Gap Rd (below dam)
  • where Low Gap Rd bears right, straight on Bear Gap Rd
  • look for wood railing going up hill on right, with "Minihaha Falls" burned into it

Note: there is a small pull-off on the left, but during the summer this is a busy falls and you might have to just park as far to the side of the road as you can
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