My North Georgia (mostly) Waterfalls Project: August 2014

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

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Raven Cliffs WMA - unknown creek falls

8/17/2014 - after my sister and I got the videos above Dukes Creek Falls, on Davis Creek, we continued driving up the Forest Service road. Found this waterfall right beside the road. It was pretty tall, but not much flow...still, it's a falls!

We got in about 4 miles and then I got too tired to continue, so we came back. The road wasn't too bad, but it always takes a lot of concentration to drive a 2 wheel drive car on most Forest Service roads.

GPS: 34.70051°N 83.79787°W

Directions and Information: from Cleveland, Ga

north on US 129
right on Alt GA 75
left on GA 348 (Richard B Russell Scenic Highway)
left into Raven Cliffs parking area
continue past parking on gravel road
at turn around, go around then take road to left over small mound

Davis Creek falls (2 falls)

8/17/2014 - didn't feel like sitting around the house, so my sister and I took a drive up above Dukes Creek Falls to get videos of these 2 falls on Davis Creek,

These falls are above Dukes Creek Falls

To get to these you drive past the parking area for Raven Cliffs and at 1/2 mile park in the small area on the left, for the middle falls on Davis Creek. Hike the short trail downhill from this point, more or less straight through a small camping area and then further down. This actually brings you out on top of the main falls of Dukes Creek Falls. There's a big area there, so it's not dangerous as long as you stay well away from the brink of the falls. Upstream at this point is the middle falls on Davis Creek.

GPS: 34.70292°N 83.79250°W

GPS: 34.70573°N 83.79810°W

To get to the upper falls on Davis Creek, you drive an additional 1/2 mile past the parking for the middle falls, cross the creek on a good ford and then stop and park. Hike a short distance through the camping area going upstream and around a turn is the upper falls on Davis Creek.

http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/falls/dukescreekfalls.html

Directions and Information: from Cleveland, Ga

north on US 129
right on Alt GA 75
left on GA 348 (Richard B Russell Scenic Highway)
left into Raven Cliffs parking area
continue past parking on gravel road
for middle falls: at 1/2 mile, park in small wide area on left
follow trail downhill, through camping spot to top of falls
for upper falls: continue an additional 1/2 mile
cross creek & park
follow creek upstream through well-used camping area to falls

Note: there is no fee to park. Middle falls are above the biggest of the Dukes Creek Falls, so be careful around the brink of that falls.

Hemlock Falls (Moccasin Creek) (9 falls)

8/16/2014 - I've been getting physical therapy for my knees and it's working really well. So I decided to do a fairly easy hike and get some better videos of the falls on Moccasin Creek. I didn't get all the way to Hemlock Falls, got too tired. After taking a nice leisurely hike I decided some of the falls I've had here aren't really big enough to count. So I've lowered the total to 9 falls.

Looks like I'll need to go back again! The videos I got don't match up with the still photos I have.

11/25/2013 - since I'm off all this Thanksgiving weekend, I've been getting as many waterfall videos as I can. I can't quite match the videos I got with the still photos, guess I'll have to go back and do a better job!

The trail to Hemlock Falls starts at the end of a rough gravel road opposite Moccasin Creek State Park. The trail is just over a mile long and is an easy, uphill hike. At one point you cross the creek on a recently improved bridge. This is one of my favorites and I've been here several times in the last couple of years.

This falls is actually a side branch that is on the other side of the creek from the trail

This falls is immediately below the bridge across Moccasin Creek

The 4 following falls are one right after the other after you've climbed up from the bridge.

This is Hemlock Falls

http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/falls/hemlockfalls.html

unnamed falls on Moccasin Creek- this falls is upstream of Hemlock Falls. Hike above Hemlock Falls and immediately cross the creek, then hike uphill until you hit an unimproved trail. Most of this trail appears to be an old logging road, but it's not maintained and there a lot of blow-downs to negotiate. At one point there's a tangle of smaller blow-downs and it's tricky to get around them. Once you are at the falls - maybe a bit more than 1/2 mile - you will hear them, and there is a short, steep side trail down to the base.

http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/falls/moccasin-creek.html

Directions and Information: from Clarkesville, GA

north on GA Hwy 197

just before Moccasin Creek State Park, left on Andersonville Rd

part at end of Andersonville Lane on left

trail is a continuation of the old road, past the rock with the trail named carved in it

Monday, August 11, 2014

Rivermist falls

8/10/2014 - after going to the falls at Fairmont on the Park I went on to the falls at Rivermist subdivision. Had more time to check around and found you get a better and easier view of the falls from the other side. Hike upstream and cross on the bridge, then work your way downstream to a nice, big rock shelf that goes out into the creek.

I took a picture of the sign at the trail head, but I can't tell if it's saying the falls is "Red Fox Falls" or if it's just saying this is the "Red Fox Trail to the falls" You decide! The sign that said it was for homowners only was not there this time.

1/22/2011 - went to Rivermist Subdivision, near Snellville, to find the waterfall mentioned on their website (http://www.rivermistrafter.org/home.html). There is a sign at the beginning of the short trail that says it's for homeowners only, so I suggest contacting them to get directions and permission to see the falls. The creek drops over a long shelf of rock, but only at one end of it, so I've included a close-up of the falls and then a wider view showing the whole shelf.

According to GMAPS this falls is on Watson Creek

Directions and Information: from Snellville, GA

south on Us78/GA10

right on Hewatt Rd SW

left on Rivermist Dr SW

right on Red Fox Run SW

park in turn-around at end of road

trail begins beside sign

Note: the best view of the falls is on the other side from where the gravel trail ends. Go upstream, cross the bridge, then work you way back downstream to the rock shelf below the falls.

Fairmont on the Park

8/10/2014 - too hot and muggy to do any hiking, so I went back to Fairmont on the Park to get a video of their itty bitty waterfall. It seems this one is not much more than a trickle even at the best of times.

1/18/2012 - we had a couple of days of really good rain, so I went back to Fairmont on the Park to get photos with more water coming over. Turns out there really isn't a lot of water even at the best of times! But I did get a better photo.

6/19/2011 - went to Fairmont on the Park, a subdivision in Gwinnett County, because their website mentions a waterfall. I did find it, it's right by the clubhouse. It's on a very small branch and might be dry in prolonged dry spells...and there wasn't much water even with all the rain we've had lately. It's in a minature amphitheater and is easy to get to.

GMAPS does not show this small branch

GPS: 34.04073° -83.87968°

Directions and Information: from Dacula, GA

east on Hwy 8
left on Dacula Rd NE
right on Fence Rd
right on Fairmont Park Dr
left into clubhouse parking lot
steps down to pool area
go past pool and past clubhouse
follow short gravel trail down to bridge across branch

Mingo Falls *

8/9/2014 - braved the forecast of 80% chance of rain and drove up to the Smokies. My original plan was to do the hike from Deep Creek Campground to Indian Creek Falls, but I totally forgot it's prime tubing weather and I wasn't able to find a parking space close enough to the trail head. So I drove back to the Cherokee, NC area and did Mingo Falls instead.

The hike is not long, but it starts with 159 steps up the side of the mountain! Not so bad going up, but I had to go slow coming down to avoid hurting my knees...but I made it with no trouble.

The trail crosses a bridge right at the base of the falls, and looks like it continues on but I don't know where it comes out.

According to GMAPS this falls is on Mingo Creek

Directions and Information: from Cherokee, NC

US 441 north
right on Big Cove Rd (careful, makes a sharp left turn immediately across the bridge)
follow to Mingo Falls Campground on the right
parking area for hikers is immediately across the bridge

Note: the trail begins as a long series of concrete/railroad tie steps - 159 in all! At the top of the stairs, the trail is short and easy to the bridge that crosses the creek at the base of the falls.