Raven Cliff Wilderness

Wednesday, we were planning to hit some waterfalls closer to Helen, so not as much driving today. Our first stop was Raven Cliff Falls in the Raven Cliffs Wilderness of Chattahoochee National Forest. We headed northwest from town on GA-75 and GA-75A and then turned on GA-348 to the trailhead for Raven Cliff Falls and began our hike. The Raven Cliffs Trail runs for about 3 miles to its namesake waterfall along Dodd Creek, with three additional waterfalls on the way.  It was cold this morning and we saw some interesting ice formations along the trail and a few icicles hanging from spots near the waterfalls.

In less than a mile, we saw the First Waterfall on Dodd Creek, a smaller 20-foot cascade.

In about a mile, we got to the Second Waterfall on a nice plunge followed by a waterslide.

I scrambled down to get a picture from a distance to get the whole thing and then scrambled down again near the plunge to get a shot of just that part.

Then we got back on the trail and shortly came to the Third Waterfall on Dodd Creek, the largest before hitting Raven Cliff Falls.

There appeared to be a way down just above the falls, but as we started to make our way down, we realized this would have required scaling down a sheer rock face and looked very dangerous. So we backtracked just a bit and found another way to get down and hike up to the waterfall along the edge of the creek.

There were quite a few icicles hanging from a downed tree at the waterfall.

We got some nice pictures and looked up at that sheer rock face, which looked even more treacherous from below. It was definitely a good thing we didn’t try to go down that way. We got back on the trail and finished the hike to Raven Cliffs.

As the trail approached the cliffs and waterfall, it got much steeper, but we hardly noticed given the beautiful scenery. Raven Cliff Falls is a really beautiful and unique waterfall, with the creek plunging down through a narrow chasm in the cliff.

We spent a bit of time here, enjoying the views and trying to get pictures. It was a bit tricky given the lighting - a bright sunny day with light cliffs and the waterfall in the shadows of the charm - but we managed to get some good pictures.

When we were finished, we made the hike back to the parking area.

Before we left the area, however, there were a couple more waterfalls to get in the area. Driving about a half-mile down the gravel road, we pulled over at a pull-off near a primitive campsite and walked down to Davis Creek.

We were right at the top of Dukes Creek Falls (which is actually on Davis Creek) and got a view of the top of this enormous waterfall as well as Second Waterfall on Davis Creek that is just upstream of its much larger brother.

From here, we continued another half-mile on the gravel road and parked just before the road fords Davis Creek.

We hiked just a short ways to see Falls on Tributary of Davis Creek and Third Waterfall on Davis Creek, then headed back to the car.

Our next destination was just up the road at Dukes Creek Falls Recreation Area. We drove here and paid the day-use fee and then started hiking down the trail. Although somewhat steep, it was a well-maintained trail and very scenic. Almost immediately, there was an overlook that is handicapped-accessible, but the views of the falls weren’t great with many trees in the way. We continued down the switchbacks to a big wooden overlook at the base of the falls. To the north was Waterfall on Dukes Creek, a smaller but powerful waterfall right above the confluence of Dukes Creek and Davis Creek.

Dukes Creek Falls was enormous. Although it was somewhat blocked by trees, we still got amazing views of this waterfall from the overlook.

When we had finished, we hiked back up the trail.

It was getting into the evening, but we still had time for a couple more quick waterfalls. Back towards Helen, we turned on Poplar Stump Road to Chattahoochee River Road, a forest road that runs parallel to GA-17 on the opposite side of the river, and drove a couple miles. The paved road turned to gravel and after a few miles, we parked where the road crossed Double Culvert Branch. Although there wasn’t much of a trail, we hiked upstream along the creek. We got to Lower Double Culvert Branch Falls almost immediately and got a few pictures and then crossed the stream and continued up.

The hike up to Upper Double Culvert Branch Falls was a bit more tricky. There was almost no trail to follow and the banks of the creek were very steep. We made it as far as we could and got some pictures of the upper waterfall.

This was a pretty cool waterfall with two distinct streams of water plunging over the cliff face. As we hiked back down, the sun was setting over the mountain and made a nice picture with the two waterfalls partially visible below the setting sun over the cliffs above.

Back at the car, we made our way back to Helen and had dinner at Troll Tavern. Located right along the river, it seemed like a nice place to eat. Unfortunately, the food and service were poor, so we wouldn’t be eating there again. After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel and went to bed.