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

18 Waterfall in one day - hike & drive


Directions: From Atlanta, GA 
  • Take I85 North to I985 (I985 exits to the left)
  • Continue north on I985 (after it ends it becomes GA 365)
  • Past Cornelia exit, US 441 joins GA 365 - stay on 441/365
  • Continue through Tallulah Falls, GA
  • After going through Tallulah Falls you will cross a large, divided, 4 lane bridge - immediately get into the left-hand turn lane ON the bridge (this is not the bridge at the lake in Tallulah Falls)
  • Immediately after this bridge, turn left, then immediately turn right onto Old US 441
  • Continue for 2.6 miles - cross older bridge with concrete railings and immediately turn left onto Lake Rabun Road - road is very narrow & winding, go slow & stay on your side of the line!
RESET YOUR ODOMETER TO ZERO!
  • At 2.9 miles there is a small falls (#1) on private property that is visible from the road - on a sharp left-hand curve.  Note: this is on a very tight turn and there is space to park past the falls and on the left
  • At 3.4 miles there is a small branch (#2) that cascades a long way down the mountain right beside the road. Note: There is a small space to park just past this and on the left, at a raised concrete manhole.
  • At 4.5 miles pass Rabun Beach Campground #2 - campground road is one way, counterclockwise - there are flush toilets if you need to stop (open from April to November)
  • Continue on Lake Burton Road for an additional 1.6 miles to left turn onto Low Gap Rd and cross the bridge below dam. Note: Just before this turn there is a small wooden slats sign that says "Flat Rock Community" on the left and you can see the concrete dam upstream of the bridge.
  • Continue for 150 yards to left turn onto gravel Bear Gap Road (actually, Low Gap Rd turns right, and Bear Gap Rd goes straight ahead)
RESET YOUR ODOMETER TO ZERO!
  • At .3 mile the road crosses a small creek and there is a small falls visible (#3) on the right.  Note: road is very narrow here - pull over as far as you can to leave room
  • Continue to trail for Minnehaha Falls at 1.5 miles, on the right - there is a railing with a sign - the name is misspelled as "Minihaha Falls" (There is no parking to speak of, park as far off the road as you can but without blocking any of the driveways) This is a total of 1/2 mile hiked, in and out.
    • Trail to falls goes steadily uphill - takes about 10 minutes to hike in.
    • At a more open spot just before the wet spot below, there is a view of a falls that's somewhat obscured by the bushes, but it can be seen (#4)
    • Just at a large wet spot on the trail, there are 2 falls (#5 & #6) that can be seen best by a short scramble down the bank
    • Just before Minnehaha Falls the trail goes very close to a another falls (#7) - backtrack a short way down the trail and scramble down the bank for the best view
    • Minnehaha Falls (#8) is at the end of the trail
  • After returning to Bear Gap Rd - go back to beginning of gravel road and turn left onto Low Gap Rd again
  • Continue for .2+ miles to right turn onto Crow Creek Road - there are 2 roads that come in here, Crow Creek is the 2nd road and more or less straight ahead
RESET YOUR ODOMETER TO ZERO!
  • Continue for 2.8 miles to trail to Bad Branch Falls (#9) on the left - there is no sign, but it can be identified by badly eroded old road/trail. This is a total hike of 1/4 mile, in and out.
    • Trail to falls goes steadily uphill - takes about 5 minutes to hike in
    • There is another falls a short way downstream (#10) - follow creek downstream, cross camping spot and scramble down the bank to the base of the falls. There is a clearer area to the right, and you can return to Crow Creek Rd by walking through this area back to a junction with the trail in.
Note: .1 mile after Bad Branch Falls, on Crow Creek Rd, there is a campground on the right with a flush toilet (there might not be any toilet paper!) - but the parking area can be crowded, park on the road if it is and do the short walk to the building (open from April to November)
  • After returning to Crow Creek Road - continue for an additional .8 miles to lower Crow Creek Falls (#11) on the left (visible from the road). This is a total hike of 1/4 mile, in and out. (there is a wider area for parking past falls, on the right)
    • Trail to middle & upper Crow Creek Falls is just to the right of the lower falls - up over berm
    • There is a middle falls (#12) above the lower falls that is harder to see (can also be seen from the road, in the fall & winter)
    • Trail to falls goes easily uphill - takes about 5 minutes to hike in, then hike down on the left, at eroded spot, to view the upper falls (#13)
  • After returning to Crow Creek Road - continue to end of road  Note: road can be rougher past this point, so drive carefully and watch for potholes
  • Turn left onto Burton Dam road - continue to end of road (there is a convenience store here)
  • Turn left onto highway GA 197
RESET YOUR ODOMETER TO ZERO!
  • Continue through the small town of Batesville
  • At 5.9 miles you will pass Mark of the Potter. There is parking past the shop, stop here and look upriver to see Soque River Shoals (#14)  Note: go into the shop. You can feed the fish in the river from the back porch if it’s not too hot, and if you take the small stairs down into the “basement” there is a waterfall INSIDE the building! (#15) This used to be a mill and they have the old tub wheel in the shop as a table.
  • At 8 miles you cross a "watersplash" over a small branch, there is a small sliding falls upstream (#16) here and another small falls downstream (this one is on private property) (#17)  Note: there is a small paved parking spot just past this crossing and on the left
  • Continue south on GA 197 through Clarkesville - in Clarkesville the road ends at a "T" and the turn is marked, but it's pretty far back from the actual junction, GA 197 turns to the right and then you will see a GA 197 sign again
  • At 20.2 miles (about ¼ mile from 441/365) there is a falls at an old mill (#18) on the left. The falls is set back off the road but is easily visible. There is a place to park just past this, on the left.
  • Continue on GA 197 to 441/365
  • At junction with 441/365 - go under bridge, then turn right onto ramp to 365/441
  • At light - turn left to go south, back towards Atlanta

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