Before the onset of fall, our family decided to take a quick jaunt to the North Georgia Mountains, enjoying the waning days of summer by chasing waterfalls and dipping our toes into the cool mountain streams that feed and flow from them. With two grandkids (Five and seven years-old) and our teenager, we loaded the minivan with some basic supplies and headed up to Vogel State Park, our waterfalls-central headquarters for this trip.
Planning Our Route
Usually, I’m a meticulous trip planner, mapping specific routes, estimating times and failing miserably at trying to cram way too much activity into even long summer days. But this time, I decided to leave time and routes to destiny, simply reserving a two-night stay in a two-bedroom cabin at Vogel State Park and determining the rest along the way based largely on the enroute choices given to elementary and high school kids. Our only restrictions were we had to leave after 9 am on a Tuesday, once the little ones were in our care, and we needed to return by 7 pm on Thursday.
Once we were on our way and headed up I-575, we made our first collective routing decision: we would bypass Amicalola Falls, one of our all-time favorites and a frequent destination for us, and instead visit the Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega. Following that stop (which we cover in another blog post!) and another for ice cream, we set course for our first falls stop.
Dick’s Creek Falls
After driving approximately 30 minutes on beautiful, curvy mountainous Georgia Hwy 19, we turned onto Dick’s Creek Road for the three-mile drive on a gravel forest road to reach the small parking lot. Not realizing another lot was located just 500-feet around the next turn, I forced my minivan into the only remaining small, unlevel, deeply-rutted parking spot. We jumped out of the vehicle and headed down the short, wooded path to the falls.
Reaching the creek below the falls, we climbed out onto a large rock in the creek to get a full view, snap a few pictures and watch a larger group play in the falls outflow stream. Then we headed up the side path and climbed above the falls to watch more intrepid visitors make running leaps into the deep pool. We climbed a bit further, where the creek enters a small rapids area before plunging over the larger cliff below.
A trout-fisherman flicked his fly rod, while a family of five soaked in the creek and slid through one rocky rapid with a smooth surface. After shoes were removed and bare feet waded into the cold water, our littles decided a full-body dip likely was beyond their temperature and adventure comfort zone. We waded for a few minutes, then reversed course before heading on to Vogel State Park for the evening.
Trahlyata Falls
In the morning, we walked from our forest-view cabin along the man-made, stocked Lake Trahlyta at the entry to Vogel State Park. Crossing the dam, we descended the spur trail to a natural soundtrack of singing birds and falling water. When we reached the wooden observation deck built directly over a portion of the falls, our littles decided they were feeling more adventurous than the previous day and wanted to play in the stream.
We had packed watershoes for this excursion, so we slipped those on, a great decision given the slippery rocks lining the stream bottom. While footing was occasionally treacherous for the elders, the youngsters enjoyed intentional and unintentional splashing into the stream. Feeling even braver, we ventured to the side of the falls, where we boosted them onto a ledge and allowed them to sit in a small, cold stream of falling water.
Once the novelty of the falls wore off on the youngsters, we headed back to the beach and lake for playtime and relaxation before our afternoon excursion.
Helton Creek Falls
While we entertained a return to Dick’s Creek in the late afternoon, we chose instead to visit the double-falls of Helton Creek instead. Just down Highway 19 from Vogel, we turned into a mountain residential neighborhood on Helton Creek Falls road before joining the gravel downhill route down into the canyon. Despite the mixed reviews about the road from our Georgia hiking and waterfall Facebook groups, our minivan had no trouble on the downhill or uphill segments.
A full parking area and high-trafficked path led to a relatively crowded viewing area, surprising to us on a Thursday during this summer of COVID. While we brought masks for safety and wore them because of crowd size, we decided to maximize our photo opportunities in a minimum amount of visit time. In retrospect, that turned out to be a great decision as our little ones wore out on the hike back up and remained grumpy until we made S’mores on the campfire back at the cabin.
Duke’s Creek Falls
Checking out of our cabin at Vogel on the second morning, we headed toward Helen, bypassing a potential stop at DeSoto Falls, instead visiting Duke’s Creek Falls. While it’s possible to catch a glimpse of the main falls from a viewing platform near the parking area, we chose to walk the wide, winding path on it’s 1.1 mile descent to the main falls.
Along the way to the main attraction, the switch-back trail allows great views and sounds from smaller falls and cascades along the creek. At trail’s end, three viewing platforms snuggled into the narrow canyon enable naturally air-conditioned and close-up views of the two main falls – a multi-tiered smaller falls formed from Duke’s Creek and the 150-foot tall cascading falls of Davis Creek. In the summer, much of the taller Davis Creek drop is hidden by trees, so we’re already planning a fall and winter return. (And we did it in November, with a second video below!)
Anna Ruby Falls
We grabbed a fast-food lunch in Helen, sitting in the riverside park to eat while watching tube groups finish their down-river float. Then we headed up toward Unicoi State Park and Anna Ruby Falls.
Each time I visit Anna Ruby Falls, the sites evoke Mick Jagger singing the opening lines of Jumpin’ Jack Flash: I was born in a cross-fire hurricane. While this time was no different, the virtual song was accompanied by the whining of tired boys totally over their grandparents fascination with waterfalls. So again, quick pics, then a stop-and-go hike back to the parking lot with a nearby thunderstorm providing extra bass to the Stone’s ditty playing in continuous loop.
And, for Our Return Trip . . .
We’re already planning a return, likely in the fall and definitely without the grandkids. While they had a great time and we enjoyed them, too, we left much undone and unseen. So learn from us. If you make this trip, pace yourself better than we did, allowing more time for exploration and fewer activities.
