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 26, 2014

Mulberry River falls

7/26/2014 - hot, hot, hot!  Followed some directions I was given to a waterfall on the Mulberry River and realized when I got to it that I had already been there...just came in from the other end of the trail!  At the top of the falls there is a nice bench and just before you get to that bench, along the river bank, there is this fantastic tree that has had the soil washed away from around it's roots.

1/15/2011 Mulberry River falls -this falls can be seen from along the Mulberrry Riverwalk in Braselton, GA.  It's actually across the interstate from the "old town" Braselton and runs behind 2 or 3 upscale subdivisions.  The trail is more or less flat the whole way, so it's an easy hike. 





Directions and Information: from I85
  • exit 129, Ga 211
  • north on GA 211
  • right on Liberty Church Road
  • left into parking for trail, before bridge across river
  • trail starts at gap in rail fence at top of parking area
Note: the trail is paved to the bottom of the hill. After that, it's gravel or just a wide track.  This is, more or less, a maintenance track for the water and/or sewage line that runs behind the 2 or 3 subdivisions that are uphill from the river.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Kilby Mill Falls (2 falls)

1/17/2015 - was up in this area trying to find a new trail I'd heard about and since we were so close, I took my hiking partner to see these falls.  Found there is a big tree that came down on the trail between the lower and upper falls.  It's at a pretty steep slant, but there is just enough room to crawl under it.

7/20/2014 - rainy weekend, but I was so tired of sitting around the house and I made an attempt to do a short hike.  Got lucky and got to this trailhead during a lull in the rain.  I've been getting physical therapy for my knee problems...so I took it easy, especially as the trail was pretty wet!

5/7/2011 - my sister and I went to do Kilby Mill Falls and Denton Branch Falls so I could get new pictures and GPS points.  The Denton Branch Falls hike turned into an adventure!  We met a young couple and their 4 month old baby at that falls and he told us of a side trail that went around and above Denton Branch Falls and then up the branch, where he said there was a falls at least twice as high.

So we set off up that trail.  He said it was about 1/4 mile and that it leveled out just past the curve you could see from the trail to Denton Branch Falls.  Yeah, NOT!  We got to that curve and the old logging road continued more or less straight up the mountain at a pretty steep angle.  We figured it was at LEAST 1/2 mile when we finally ran out of time and had to go back.  This part of the hike turned out to be hiking through waist high poison ivy, and we both got ticks.  So this is on the redo list - as we never did find the falls he talked about, but we'll do it when it's colder and there's no poison ivy and no ticks!

According to GMAPS these falls are on Persimmon Creek

8/7/2010 Did two falls the same day, west of Clayton, GA.  After 2 other tries, I finally found these falls!  With an apparent inability to read instructions, coupled with a problem with Mr. Anthony's instructions for Denton Branch Falls...it took me 3 tries to finally find these.  For Kilby Mill, I kept getting to the right place...just didn't recognize it.  For Denton Branch Falls - Mr. Anthony says to turn onto Denton Branch Rd.  Problem is, there's no sign identifying the road.  I found another website that said it's the next turn after Chapple Road...and that's how I found it.

Kilby Mill Falls is a 2 stage falls, and the lower falls are easy to get to.  The upper falls are a bit more difficult, but certainly doable with a little care.

GPS: 34°57'2"N 83°29'34"W

 

GPS: 34°57'1"N 83°29'33"W



Directions and Information: from Clayton, GA
  • west on US 76
  • right on Persimmon Rd
  • where pavement ends, and road crosses creek, stop and park
  • follow creek upstream, across branch on the right, and continue upstream to falls

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Cataract Falls *

6/5/2014 - joined some other members of Off the Grid for a 3 day trip to Elkmont Campground in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park...to see a firefly display that only occurs this time of the year.  Pretty neat!  We sat along the creek in the campground and thousands of fireflys would display for a little while, then it would go dark...then they would start displaying again.

While I was there, I drove back to the Elkmont Visitor Center and took the trail to Cataract Falls.  It's an easy, level trail...about a mile or a little more to the falls.  The falls aren't big, but are quite pretty and might be quite a sight is there's been a recent big rain.


Directions and Information: from Elkmont Visitor Center
take the trail from behind the center

South River falls

7/5/2014 - set out to get the falls at Cascade Springs Nature Preserve (http://doggonega.blogspot.com/2014/07/cascade-falls.html) and to check out the route to Panola State Park.  On the way to the park I went past a small park along the South River and there was a good sized sliding waterfall right below the bridge!  The only route I could see down to the river was a rough, eroded "trail" with a lot of loose sand.  With my knees still not well, I decided I would have to pass on trying to get down there, so I got the best video and picture I could from up on the bank.



Directions and Information: from I20 East
  • Panola Rd south
  • just before junction with Snapfinger Rd - pull into small park on left
  • falls are just below the bridge

Cascade Springs falls

7/5/2014 - on a whim I started checking around on the internet for any new falls I haven't found before and I actually found one...and it's INSIDE the Perimeter!  It's in Cascade Springs Nature Preserve.  From the parking lot, take the trail across the wooden bridge and at the trail junction, the shortest trail to the falls is to the left.  It's an easy, level trail along the creek but just before the falls it starts up a short climb to a bench.  From the bench you can go back down to the base of the falls, but it's pretty steep and I didn't do that...so the picture and video are maybe not as clear as they could be.  The creek was low on water and the falls wanders across the rocks from left to right.  The dark, rectangular blotch at the top is the bridge where Cascade Road crosses the creek.



Directions and Information: from Atlanta, Ga
  • from I258 west of Atlanta and south of the I20 junction
  • take Cascade Road east
  • watch for high chain link fence on right, after Harbin Rd SW
  • turn into parking lot for Cascade Springs Nature Preserve
  • take trail across bridge

Toccoa Falls

7/4/2014 - my sister and I took advantage of the holiday and went to get videos of Toccoa Falls And Henderson Falls (http://doggonega.blogspot.com/2011/11/toccoa-falls-henderson-falls-401-402.html).  Since it was the holiday, and this is a popular falls, it wasn't possible to get the video with no people in it...but I did the best I could!

11/25/2011 - Took an easy day and went to Toccoa to get a couple of falls.  Toccoa Falls I'd been to before, but didn't have any photos.  Henderson Falls I found on the internet and since it was in Toccoa I did that one too!

This falls is on Toccoa Creek

GPS: 34.59455 -83.3674



Directions and Information: from US 441-north of Cornelia, GA
  • east on Alt Ga 17-to Toccoa Falls College
  • right into college grounds
  • follow college signs to parking for falls
Note: basically, follow the creek through the college to gift shop.  The falls is through the black iron gate beside the building.

Henderson Falls

7/4/2014 - my sister and I took advantage of the holiday and went to get videos of Toccoa Falls (http://doggonega.blogspot.com/2011/11/toccoa-falls-henderson-falls-401-402.htmland Henderson Falls.  I couldn't get down to the base of the falls...the steps and deck are closed due to rotting of the wood.

11/25/2011 - Took an easy day and went to Toccoa to get a couple of falls. Toccoa Falls I'd been to before, but didn't have any photos. Henderson Falls I found on the internet and since it was in Toccoa I did that one too!

GMAPS does not show the creek for this falls

GPS: 34.59198° -83.33302°
 

Directions and Information: from Toccoa College
  • east on Alt Ga 17
  • right on Henderson Falls Rd (just before Alt 17 turns right)
  • follow road to Henderson Falls Park
  • follow creek downstream to viewing deck
  • falls is down the steps beside the deck
Note: my map program show Henderson Falls Road as York Road, but there is a sign where the road meet Ga Alt 17 and it says Henderson Falls Road