More Waterfalls near Helen

Friday was our last full day in Helen and it was a dreary day. But we weren’t going to let that stop us from getting more waterfalls. Our first stop was the DeSoto Falls Recreation Area in Chattahoochee National Forest. From Helen, we got on GA-75 Alt North and followed that to GA-11/US-129 North. The recreation area was about 11 miles down this road. After paying the day-use fee, we started out on the trail amid a heavy fog, though it wasn't raining. According to sign at the trailhead, the waterfall is named for Hernando DeSoto who explored the region in the 16th century. A piece of armor believed to have belonged to the explorer was discovered near the falls in the 1880s. From the trailhead, we first turned left and hiked about a quarter-mile to the lower falls. Just below the lower falls was another smaller waterfall, Hidden Falls.

There was no good viewing spot, but we could mostly see it from the trail. Lower DeSoto Falls was just past this and we could get a good view from a viewing deck at the end of the trail.

After we stopped for Hidden and Lower Falls, we continued the other way on the trail to the Upper Falls, a beautiful multi-tiered waterfall. The highest tier was difficult to see due to the fog, but also gave the waterfall a mysterious and spooky feel.

When we were done, we headed back to the car and headed to our next waterfall. We continued driving north on US-129 and turned right on Helton Creek Road. In about 2 miles, we pulled off to the side of the road and made the short hike up to see Lower and Upper Helton Creek Falls. There is a short trail that leads down from the road and then up towards the waterfalls.

About half way, a staircase leads down to rocks at the base of the Lower Falls.

After we got some pictures from here, we continued on up the trail to the wooden overlook for the Upper Falls.

On the hike back, we could see both waterfalls from some places along the trail, but they were partially obscured by the trees.

From here, we continued on Helton Creek and Hatchet Creek Roads to GA-348 and took this to GA-180 and GA-75 heading back towards Helen. After a couple of miles, we turned onto the gravel Chattahoochee Road (FS-44). Almost immediately, we made a quick stop to see Upper Spoilcane Creek Falls right on the side of the road. It was really foggy and hard to see, so we planned to stop on the way back as well if the visibility improved. We drove a couple more miles and pulled over again. We could hear the two waterfalls on Wilks Creek, but couldn’t see them well. We walked down the road a bit and found a safe place to head down to the creek and then bushwhacked up a bit to see the Upper and Lower Falls on Wilks Creek.

They were both decent-sized waterfalls but the heavy rhododendron prevented us from getting a great view.

From here, we continued down FS-44 to the Upper Chattahoochee River Campground and parked. Despite the poor weather, there were several groups camping here, some of whom had drove campers and RVs. I was impressed that they could get those large vehicles down the narrow, winding gravel forest road. Past the campsite, we first made the short hike to Horse Trough Falls, a beautiful 70-foot cascading waterfall on the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River.

The ledges over which the water cascades are angled, giving the waterfall a “crooked” look to it. When we were done at this waterfall, we hiked upstream along the Chattahoochee River a short ways to Upper Chattahoochee Falls. This is a 20 or so foot waterfall through a narrow sluice.

Here at the headwaters, the mighty Chattahoochee River is only a couple feet wide. We could only see the waterfall from the trail, however. There were very steep paths leading down to the base, but given the wet conditions, getting down would be dangerous and getting back up would be near impossible. So we got a couple pictures from the trail and then hiked back to the car. On the way out, the fog had lightened a bit and we stopped quickly to get a better shot of Upper Spoilcane Creek Falls.

Back on the paved roads, we headed back towards Helen, a little earlier than most nights. We walked around town a bit, hoping to do a bit of shopping. Unfortunately, many stores were closed or had limited hours during the off-season, but we did pick up some goodies from Hansel & Gretel Candy Shop. For our last dinner, we ate at Cowboys & Angels again, having the very tasty Avocado Burger. We even saw some rabbits frolicking amidst the landscaping outside. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and started getting our stuff packed up. Finishing the way day up, we were at more than 50 waterfalls for the week and still had a few more on our way back home tomorrow.