There are no such things as bad or boring waterfalls. The power of flowing water. The majestic roar as it plunges onto rocks. The endless variations of drops, splashes, mists and colors.They appeal to something inside and cause us to detour along the roadways of our life.
We love hiking, and the “sweet spot” for our 60-something souls involves walking between two and five miles on the undulating terrain found everywhere in North Georgia. We also enjoy waterfalls and will follow many twists and turns in trails and roads to find them.
But sometimes – especially with grandchildren and younger children in tow – taking the long way around to find great scenery just isn’t practical. Little ones tend to get bored, tired and hungry quickly, and they don’t hesitate to let you know exactly how much they dislike a situation. We also appreciate that some of our friends just can’t take longer walks anymore for a variety of reasons. So, during our in-state travels, we’ve been on the lookout for the tallest waterfalls requiring short walks for enjoying their spectacular plunges.
To clarify quickly our perspective on waterfalls: there’s no such thing as a bad or boring waterfall. The power of flowing water. The majestic roar as it plunges onto rocks. The endless variations of drops, splashes, mists and colors. Waterfalls appeal to something inside and often cause us to carefully plan our journeys or take quick detours along the roadways of our life.
Fortunately, living in the North Georgia foothills of the Smokey and Appalachian Mountains, we’re blessed with a plethora of these natural wonders nearby. We want to see all of them. But for today, here are some of the tallest nearby Georgia falls that can be enjoyed walking less than one mile, roundtrip.
Amicalola Falls
Georgia’s tallest waterfall and the highest in the Southeastern US also is one of the easiest to access. The impressive falls can be seen from multiple viewpoints with only a short walk. The West Ridge trail is wheelchair accessible, coated with recycled tires for safe footing, and takes visitors from a small parking lot to a falls-front bridge featuring a complete view of the 729-foot plunge. The elevation changes only about 100 feet along the wide, 0.3-mile path, so it’s an easy slope for young and old alike.
Visitors seeking the shortest walks also can drive and park at the top of the falls, then use paved and boardwalk trails to watch the waters of Amicalola Creek take their plunge. The falls-top boardwalk offers spectacular pictures of the valley below.
When leaves are off the trees, the falls are visible without any walking from a reflecting pond where the main park road intersects the base-of-the-falls trail. Fishermen often line the pond, hoping to catch some of the trout from the mountain stream.
On our visit, we hiked the base-of-the-falls trail from the visitor center, along the creek, then up the winding boardwalk and stairs to the top of the falls. Several websites debate the actual number of stair steps required to take this route, ranging from 425 up the west staircase from the West Ridge trail,or 600+ if you start at the reflecting pond and count the climbing along the full route. We descended following the West Ridge trail, then took the Spring Trail, Mountain Laurel Trail and Creek Trail before returning to our car at the Visitor’s Center.
Toccoa Falls
After reading about the 729-foot drop at Amicalola Falls, the paltry-by-comparison 186-foot drop at Toccoa Falls sounds unimpressive. While that’s a reasonable response written statistics, Toccoa Falls is taller than Niagara Falls. And your perspective changes quickly when standing at the base of this free-flowing falls watching multiple streams of water flow over a cliff into the pool below.
Toccoa Falls is located on a college campus, and privately owned. You enter through a gift shop, and there’s a $2 per adult charge – less for the over-62 and under 10 crowd gets in for $1 and there’s a group rate for visiting hordes. You’ll walk along the Toccoa Creek approximately 0.2 miles on an easy, flat rock path to reach the falls. A few benches are available along the way, and a monument commemorates the 1977 upstream dam break that killed 39 people and nearly destroyed the campus.
Anna Ruby Falls
While the round-trip hike here is 0.8 miles, parts of the trail are steep, rocky and slick. Those with the stamina are treated to a double waterfall where Curtis Creek and York Creek drop into the gorge below. The tallest fall is 150 feet high, while the shorter is 50 feet high.
You’ll pay two admission fees to see Anna Ruby Falls, the first a $5 entry fee into Georgia’s Unicoi State Park, then a second $5 fee to enter the Chattahoochee National Forest Recreation area. Like at Amicalola Falls, steps, bridges and viewing platforms offer visitors convenience and safe viewing areas.
The combined roar of the two falls nearly drowns out the load chatter of the large crowds that often visit on summer and fall weekends. Located just a few miles away from Helen, GA, Anna Ruby Falls generally attracts tourists visiting Helen for one of the many special event and festivals conducted in the faux-Alpine village.
If you’re in the mood for more, Helton Falls and Lake Creek Falls are nearby to Helen and Anna Ruby Falls, too. We haven’t visited these falls (yet), but our friends at Atlanta Trails provide information on these. Helton Creek Falls is a 0.6 mile walk, while Lake Creek is a longer 2.0 mile walk.
Plan Your Visit
If you’re determined, it’s possible to do all three waterfalls in one day. Since each is a short walk, there’s not much trail time required. But we wouldn’t recommend it, because that just means you’ll drive by lots of other options without time to enjoy. We’d suggest one site per trip, with other stops on the way out and back to enjoy more fully all the surrounding options.
Depending on your route, you’ll find lots of other options for activities. Here are a few we’ve explored recently while visiting these falls:
Ball Ground, for lunch at Les Bon Temps, Ball Ground Burger Bus or Amos’s Barbeque. Gibb’s Gardens is another favorite stop nearby, but deserves a good portion of a day on its own. Conceivably, you could do the quick scenic visit to Amicalola, then visit Gibbs in a single day. We wrote an entire blog on Gibbs Gardens, and are season pass holders at this spectacular garden.)
Jaemor Farms. Just outstanding, and even more fun on weekends despite the crowds. We visited Jaemor Farms on their annual U-pick day for peaches. We loaded up on those plus some farm-fresh goodies and special treats for the grandkids before heading to Toccoa Falls.
Toccoa. Make time to drive into the town of Toccoa and visit the Currahee Military Museum located in the renovated train station. The museum documents the nearby World War 2 training base, home to the 101st Airborne as it trained for European missions. You also may encounter film crews in town as five movies have been filmed in and around Toccoa recently. When we visited in July 2018, a Hallmark movie featuring Melissa Gilbert and Cloris Leachman was in production on the main street.
Helen. The faux-Alpine village with lots of interesting activities is quaint, tacky, and definitely unique. But weekends are very crowded.
