Dawson Forest Wildcat Tract

Tuesday, we were heading back towards the Dawsonville area, but with only one stop here, though it would be a long one. Our destination was the Wildcat Tract of Dawson Forest. From Steve Tate Highway, we entered the forest at the Wildcat Campground. Originally, we had planned to hike a 12-mile loop, but had a late start, so we decided we would do a shorter 10-mile up and back hike to maximize the number of waterfalls we could get. From the campground, we got on the Wildcat Creek Trail and followed the creek upstream for about a mile. The stream is pretty calm in this section and the trail flat and easy, except for a couple of rock outcrops to climb over and around. There was some fencing to help navigate over the wet rocks. Despite the wilderness feel and the fact that we were likely the only people in this tract of forest, the trails were pretty well maintained and blazed and easy to follow.

After about 1.5 miles, we passed the footbridge over Wildcat Creek and then headed up and then down to the terminus of the Wildcat Creek Trail. Wildcat Creek Trail becomes Fall Creek Trail and almost immediately had to cross Wildcat Creek. There were ropes to aid in fording the creek, but Sandy didn’t want to get her feet wet and found a giant downed tree across the creek and managed to climb across. I followed her; it was rather treacherous and I vowed to return via wading. Right after the crossing, we took a short spur trail that led to the Fourth Waterfall on Fall Creek. For good views of the falls, I had to wade across just below the falls.

Sandy made it across on a log, but after the last one, I just stuck with wading. We got a couple of pictures and then headed back, turning right onto Fall Creek Trail. Almost immediately, the trail starting going uphill steeply and we started to see flurries of snow, though nothing significant and no accumulation. We passed the intersection with Tobacco Pouch Trail and then headed down a bit to a cove and then up again. We could hear the Third Waterfall on Fall Creek, but had to bushwhack from the cove, so we decided to get this one on the way back. Shortly, we came to another creek crossing, but were able to rock-hop this one and after a bit more uphill, we came to the spur trail to Second Waterfall on Fall Creek, the biggest and most spectacular waterfall in the forest.

We spent a bit of time here, taking pictures, relaxing, and eating lunch. The waterfall itself is close to 100 feet and there was a cute little cascade next to it. I used the GoPro to get a wide angle shot with both waterfalls.

When we were finished, we started making our way back. After passing the Third Waterfall on Fall Creek, we got off the trail in the cove and bushwhacked our way back to the falls. There were some logs in the way and I had to wade across the creek to get a good picture.

At one point, I was standing in the frigid water and a flurry of snow came down. I couldn’t help but think that perhaps I was a bit crazy for standing ankle deep in cold water in the snow. Sandy climbed out on to one of the logs, as she was was not fond of getting her feet wet, but I was done climbing logs for the day. When we were finished, we bushwhacked back to the trail and continued on towards Wildcat Creek. Sandy climbed up onto the log again and crossed dry, while I took my shoes off to wade across. Thankfully, it would be the last time I would have to do that for the day. We took Wildcat Creek Trail a little ways back and got on Turner Trail across the footbridge. We followed this for about a quarter-mile and then turned right on Rocky Ford Trail. We only had less than a half-mile to go, but this section was quite steep. It finally leveled off near the intersection with Windy Ridge Trail near the First and Second Waterfalls on Rocky Ford Creek.

We had to bushwhack a little to get down and view these falls.

After a few pictures and video, we started making our way back.

We followed Rocky Ford Trail back to Turner Trail and then followed Wildcat Creek Trail back to the campground to finish our day. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was getting late and we were both very tired. We had leftovers for dinner and got to bed early.