Karen's Waterfall Adventures-Part 1

 

 Anna's reports on her summer adventures inspired me to report on MY
"adventures" this summer. With it being so hot for so long, here in GA, I
didn't feel like doing any really long or strenuous hiking...so almost every
weekend I've been out one or both days "chasing" waterfalls.

I found this wonderful site: http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/ that has
something like 100+ waterfalls in North Georgia, and I've been using it to
target waterfalls. He has a few that I'll probably never get to, because of
the trail (or lack of one) but I think I can eventually do most of the ones
that are publicly accessible. Some of them I'm saving for when the weather
is a bit cooler.

Here are the ones I've done so far, all of them on Mr. Anthony's site
(except the last one):

Ada-Hi Falls - this falls is at Black Rock Mountain State Park. The trail
starts near the campground and is 1/2 mile down the mountain. This is a
steepish, switch-backed trail with a lot of steps near the bottom. There's a
nice viewing platform at the falls, but the falls themselves are somewhat
disappointing. At the park headquarters they have a nice photo of the falls
with a lot of water coming over, but they said it doesn't look like that now
because the creek re-routed itself. Now it's not much more than a trickle.
It's not worth a special trip, but there are several waterfalls in the area
and if, like me, you just want to "mark it off the list" it's not too bad a
hike down.  There is a fee for the park.

Amicalola Falls - this is probably GA's most famous waterfall. Mr Anthony
lists it as a 600 foot high waterfall, but the state parks site says 729
feet and it's the highest waterfall in GA. The trail from the parking area
to the base of the falls is a short, steep, paved trail. I don't know how
long, maybe 1/3 mile? Then it changes to a combination of steps and
bridges - over 400 to the top of the falls (I've never done this part).
There's also a trail from a parking area up the mountain that is wheelchair
accessible that comes out onto the steps/bridges part of the trail. Any way
you look at it, this is a spectacular waterfall and well worth the work to
get to it.  There is a fee for the park.

Holcomb Creek Falls, Ammons Creek Falls, and an unnamed falls on Holcomb
Creek - this is a long drive from my house, and a relatively short, but
strenuous trail. As described in most trail descriptions (Holcomb Creek
Trail) you park at the junction of 2 forest service roads. From there you
switchback pretty steeply down to the Holcomb Creek Falls. You then go past
these falls, start hiking pretty steeply back up until you get to Ammons
Creek Falls where this part of the trail ends. Then you backtrack a short
way and take a side trail back up the mountain. This is a tough, steep trail
that goes more or less straight up the mountain beside Holcomb Creek - but
for most of the length you can't actually see the creek due to the (mostly)
mountain laurel and rhododendron bushes along the banks. Shortly before you
get back to the road, there is another unnamed falls that is quite pretty.
When you get back to the road you are actually higher than where you parked,
so you have about 1/2 mile+ hike back down the road to your car. This was a
tough hike, but well worth it for the falls. I think if I did it again,
though, I'd park at the same place, but hike it "backwards" so I'm hiking
down that long uphill hike.

Angel & Panther Falls - These 2 falls are on the same trail, about 1 mile+
long. Panther Falls is first at about 1/2 mile and is a tall, cascading
waterfall. Angel Falls is another 1/2 mile further up the mountain and is
similar to Panther Falls but is spectacularly much higher. In fact, the
viewing platform is so close to the falls that I had to take 3 separate
pictures - top, middle, and bottom - to get it all! The trail is all uphill
going in, but is not too steep, except for just above Panther Falls where it's a
steepish climb for a couple/three hundred feet, then it gets a bit easier.
These are beautiful falls, well worth the hike.  There is a fee for the campground.

Anna Ruby Falls - this is another famous falls, and the trail to the base is
paved. It's steepish at first, then gets easier just before you get to the
base of the falls - where there are some nicely placed viewing platforms.
This would be a pretty hike even if there were no falls at the end, the
creek is just one cascade after another all the way up.  There is a fee to view the falls.


To be continued......