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

Monday, December 24, 2012

Dicks Creek Falls (Chattooga River)

8/13/2011 - my sister and I went to see these falls. She hadn't seen them and I wanted to get some pictures. Had more time to check things out in the area than when I was first there. We found a falls and an old mill at the bridge where Sandy Ford Rd. makes a sharp left turn across a creek. We also found there is a small falls just above the main falls, that is visible from the trail - see blog entry for Sandy Ford falls.

Then we found a side trail, about 1/2 way down the main trail, that went pretty steeply downhill to the rocks at the base of the falls. The last little bit of the trail about about a 6 or 7 foot drop straight down, but it was easily negotiated by sliding, and coming back up was easier than you'd think because it was somewhat "stepped" and there were strong roots and small trees that could be used to pull yourself up.

If you go all the way to the river on the main trail, the only way from there to get a view of the falls is to go out on the rocks in the middle of the river.

7/2/2010 - down a long, and at times very narrow, gravel road. You park just before a creek ford and then hike about 1/3 mile towards the Chattooga River. Dicks Creek Falls drops directly into the river and it wasn't until I got there that I realized that to get the best photos of it you have to get IN the river! So I don't yet have any good pictures. Will have to go back prepared to do some wading!

The first photo is the small falls upstream of Dicks Creek Falls. It is visible from the trail just before you start down beside the main falls. The other is Dicks Creek Falls, taken from the rocks along the river.
GPS: 34°52'5"N 83°14'47"W
GPS: 34°52'6"N 83°14'45"W

 
Directions and Information: from Clayton, GA
  • east on Rickman St
  • at 5 way junction, bear right onto Warwoman Rd
  • (if you miss Rickman St, Warwoman Rd is the next road to the right)
  • right on Sandy Ford Rd (watch carefully, Sandy Ford Rd makes a sharp turn to the left a short way in
  • stop at wet crossing and park (parking is limited, may have to back up and park on the road)
  • follow trail downstream
  • will cross Bartram Trail, but keep going past that
  • trail goes downhill along falls

Note: it's difficult to get a good view of the falls from anywhere along the trail. There is a short side trail that comes out on top of the falls. And about 1/2 way down the trail there is short and fairly steep trail, that comes out on the rocks at the base of the falls. This is the best view of the falls, without actually getting in the river.
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