Lake Rabun Waterfalls

Wednesday, we made another trip south into Georgia.  Driving through Clayon, we took Stonewall Creek Road into Chattahoochee National Forest and parked at the trailhead for Stonewall Falls and White Twister Mountain Bike Trails.  Hiking down Stonewall Falls Trail (#59) towards the creek to the scenic Stonewall Falls.

It's only about 20 feet, but pretty and very easy to visit.

On the hike back, we turned on White Twister Trail (#48) to follow the creek further downstream.  There were some nice cascades all along Stonewall Creek.

Soon, we could here a waterfall down below and found a steep scramble path to get down to Upper Stonewall Creek Falls.

I climbed down to the creek to get some pictures of this small but scenic waterfall.

Just a little ways further was the Lower Waterfall on Stonewall Creek.  I climbed down a couple different places but was unable to find a good view from the creek.

So I settled for a picture from the trail and then we headed back.

Our next stop was at Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area.  The campground was closed so we parked at a trailhead along Lake Rabun Road and started hiking Angel Falls Trail (#55).  In under a half-mile, we reached the campground and the main trailhead.  Right at the start was Joe Creek First Falls, a small but scenic stairstep waterfall.

The trail follows the creek upstream along the waterfall and past the ruins of an old springbox from the CCC days.

In about a half-mile, we reached Panther Falls.

I think this is the most scenic one along the trail and we stopped for a snack here.

Continuing on the trail, it climbed up along the waterfall, passing the upper section.

Middle Falls on Joe Creek was just past here, but was hard to see with the foliage blocking a view of the creek.

There were some pearl oyster mushrooms on a dead tree.

As we approached the end, the trail split to make a small loop.  Angel Falls was visible but the view was not good at all.

The trail ends at a wooden boardwalk where the two sides of the split come together at the base of Angel Falls.  There's so much rhododendron growing, it's hard to see the waterfall at all.

So we headed back down.  From here, we drove to the other side of the lake for the short hike to Minnehaha Falls.  The short Minnehaha Falls Trail (#147) followed Falls Branch up past some nice cascades.

The trail ends in under a quarter mile at the base of the beautiful Minnehaha Falls.

This one is really beautiful, but popular since its so easy.

Since a lot people were here, we didn't stay long.

From here, we drove up along Seed Lake on Crow Creek Road.  Where the road crossed Bad Branch, we parked and hiked back on the road a short ways to an old road that entered the forest and led to Bad Branch Falls.

It's the site of an old quarry, so it's not completely natural, but still rather pretty despite all the downfall at the base.

After some pictures, we headed back to the car and continued to where the road crossed Crow Creek and parked.  An old road led up along the creek and there was a nice little cascade right off the bat.

It was just a short ways further to Crow Creek Falls.

It's only about 25 feet, but quite pretty and very easy to visit.

After some pictures we headed back.

Driving back into North Carolina, we made one quick stop in Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory for one more waterfall.  We parked at gated FR-7277 and followed a short path upstream to Camprock Branch Falls.

I had to scramble up the rocks for a good view.

Then we headed back down.

Heading back to Franklin, we got pizza to-go from Papa's Pizza and took it to Currahee Brewing to have dinner and beers with Alex.  Then we headed back to Gooder Grove.

Lake Rabun Waterfalls

It was getting around lunch time, so we stopped for fast food in Walhalla. When we finished lunch, we got on US-76 and followed that into Georgia as we crossed the Chattooga River. In Clayton, we followed US-441 south to Lake Rabun and got on Lake Rabun Road to our first waterfall in Georgia - Angel Falls in the Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area in Chattahoochee National Forest. This camping and recreation area was closed, so we parked at the Angel Falls Trailhead, just up the road from campground 2. The trail lead through a wooded area to the back of the campground and then headed up following Joe Creek. Right at the campground, we could see the First Waterfall on Joe Creek from a footbridge.

This one is a small, 15-foot stairstep waterfall, and was our first Georgia waterfall of the trip. From here, we followed the Angel Falls Trail upstream. Near the start of the trail, we saw a figure of a person made of stones surrounding a tree stump.

In about a half-mile, we reached Panther Falls, a larger tiered waterfall along Joe Creek.

From this point, the trail became much steeper, heading up past Panther Falls via switchbacks to another waterfall, Middle Falls on Joe Creek, above Panther Falls.

Finally, after a little over a mile, we got to the top of the trail, where a wooden platform provided opportunities to view Angel Falls. Despite it still being winter and there being little foliage, Angel Falls was difficult to view.

A thick canopy of rhododendron almost completely blocked our view and a downed tree further blocked the falls. We could tell it would be a nice waterfall if only we could actually see it.

We tried from different vantage points, but really couldn’t get much of a view, so we headed back to the car. Our next waterfall was only a short ways away. We continued on Lake Rabun Road to the Lake Seed Dam and crossed to get on Bear Gap Road. After about 1.5 miles, we pulled over to park at the trailhead for Minnehaha Falls. The trail to the falls is short, less than a half-mile, but steep. But the rewards were well worth it. This waterfall was very scenic and there was no foliage blocking our views.

We spent about 10 minutes here, enjoying the falls and taking pictures, having the falls to ourselves.

As we were getting ready to go, another couple arrived, with the man giving the young lady a piggyback ride. The trail was muddy and I guess she didn’t want to get her shoes dirty. So, we left and let them have the falls to themselves. Back at the car, we made our way to Helen and checked in to our hotel - Riverbend Motel & Cabins. After getting checked in, we strolled around the cute Alpine village and had dinner at Cowboys & Angels. After dinner, we were tired and went to bed early.