Choestoe Falls & ice falls

6/30/2012 - hot, hot, hot!  106 degrees in Atlanta, and maybe close to that on Blood Mtn.  Did a TrailDames meetup to see the falls on Dicks Creek and because we got done so early we tried for this one too, but I'm sad to say it's no longer accessible to the public.  A house has been built on the property and the drive is now behind a locked gate.  So I am removing the directions.

According to GMAPS these falls are on Shoal Branch

4/9/2011 - did a long, roundabout drive today looking for new falls (see entry for Tray Mtn Rd, etc) and since I was in the area I stopped at Choestoe falls to get new pictures and the GPS coordinate.

12/18/2010 This falls is on the grounds of the Choestoe Falls RV park, off GA 180 between Blood Mountain and Brasstown Bald: http://www.choestoefallsrvpark.com/

Someone emailed this one to me after I posted about my blog on a couple of mail lists I belong to.  It's very pretty, and easy to get to.  It's on private property but is not posted and there is a nice, short gravel road to a parking area near the falls.  If you want to get closer than that, the road goes right to the base of the falls, but is rutted and muddy, so park and walk to get closer.

On the way to this falls I drove up GA 348-the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway, which goes over Tesnatee Gap.  Just before the gap, and at the gap, there were these fantastic ice falls!

Directions and Information:

Choestoe Falls is no longer accessible to the public.

Pounding Mill Creek falls (5 falls)

6/16/2012 - went back to see if conditions on the road had improved.  They definitely have.  Looks like quite a bit of road work and graveling was done and the road was in good condition.  I was able to drive the road all the way west to where it becomes a paved road.  Found a new, small waterfall on the side of the road.  It's pretty much buried in rhododendron, so it doesn't show up well in the photo - but as usual, when you are there the moving water makes it easier to see.

7/10/2011 - went back up to Rabun County to Hale Ridge Rd.  My intention was to follow the Forest Service roads all the way into North Carolina, but they were too wet and in too bad a shape and I had to stop at the trailhead for the Holcomb Creek trail and turn around.  But I did get 4 falls along Hale Ridge Rd. 

These are all really hard to see in the photos, they're all buried in thick rhododendon.  As is usual with falls like this, they are much easier to see when you are there.

Falls 1 is the gray spot dead center in the photo.
Falls 2 is the line of white spots in the center of the photo.

According to GMAPS the first 4 falls are on Pounding Mill Creek

GPS: 34°55'40"N 83°14'18"W (Pounding Mill Creek)
GPS: 34°56'16"N 83°14'26"W (Pounding Mill Creek)

These two falls are very close together.
Falls 3 is the broken white line just above the enter of the photo.
Falls  4 is all of the broken white in most of the photo.
GPS: 34°56'21"N 83°14'26"W (Pounding Mill Creek)

This falls is hard to see in the photo.  It goes from the large dark area just off-center to the little white spot that is just visible near the top and just off-center.

 

GMAPS does not show the name of the creek for this falls, but it flows into an also unnamed creek that flows into Holcomb Creek

 

GPS: 34.98488° -83.28256° (this may not be correct)

Directions and Information: from Clayton, GA

• east on Warwoman Rd
• north on Hale Ridge Rd
• last falls is west on Hale Ridge Rd - left turn at the T junction

Note: I didn't see a sign with the name of the road on it, but there is a sign on the right side of Warwoman Rd that says "Hale Ridge Cemetary"