Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia.
The Chattahoochee National Forest is located in the northern part of Georgia and I visited 2 different areas recently.
I stayed at the same property that I was at last summer in Murphy, NC (see post here) and had a wonderful time again.
The entire area has so much beauty and I could spend weeks there and not see everything.
The main reason that I went back to the area was to visit Tallulah Gorge State Park. It caught my eye and was a must see for me!
One of the most spectacular canyons in the eastern U.S., Tallulah Gorge is two miles long and nearly 1,000 feet deep. Visitors can hike rim trails to several overlooks, or they can obtain a permit to hike to the gorge floor (100 per day, not available during water releases). A suspension bridge sways 80 feet above the rocky bottom, providing spectacular views of the river and waterfalls.
I had a slight injury the week leading up to my visit, so I was a bit limited with my walking. I still hiked around the rim and down some of the basic trails, but I was not able to take the full hike down into the gorge. (next time…)
Even from the rim, the views of the river, the rapids and the waterfalls were spectacular!
Then there is the dam, where they do the controlled water release. As you can see, it wasn’t in full flow that day, but still impressive.
You can walk across the top of the dam by the road and there are some cool views.
This was the other side of the gorge and a great view of the river.
Even though I wasn’t able to make my way down to the suspension bridge and then down to the bottom of the gorge, you can see what a wonderful view it would be from the bridge.
It really didn’t matter where you were or where you looked, the views were amazing. And it was one of those days when it was busy-ish, but not an overwhelming number of people.
I definitely want to go back so that I can have the full experience, but it was a great day and I highly recommend it!
The second place that I wanted to check out, was Fall Branch Falls.
A double waterfall on the Benton MacKaye Trail with mountain laurel and rhododendron growing along the trail and creek bank. The hike to the falls is about 30 minutes round trip. Because of the incline, roots and rocks, this trail although short is rated moderate.
If you notice in the back ground of the picture above, you will see the globe looking things. Those are “glamping” cabins and I saw a lot of complaints in the reviews about them. Not that the people who stay there are causing any issues, but that they intrude on the natural beaty of the area. Although I don’t disagree with that, I didn’t find them to be overly distracting.
As you are coming down into the area of the falls, you come around the corner and start to see the view. It’s pretty cool.
They aren’t raging rapids or waterfalls, but it is very peaceful and beautiful.
I think that the video tells the story pretty well.
I was able to carefully walk out at roughly the halfway point.
And then the view from the top. I do venture out on the rocks in these situations quite a bit, but only if it looks safe. The rocks can be slippery and I never try to walk out on them if they are wet or if the water is actually flowing over them.
This was not a long trail or a difficult one (in my opinion), but well worth the time. I am a huge fan of waterfalls and try to check out as many trails that I can that have them.
I know that I said it at the beginning also, but this area of Georgia is so beautiful. I never have enough time to see everything that I want to see, but I was not disappointed.
With that entire area, between North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, you can’t go wrong with anything that you want to see or anywhere you want to visit. It is all beautiful and worth the trip.