Mountain Get Away: Hidden Falls on Georgia's Backroads

Our family decided to take a quick jaunt to the North Georgia Mountains, escaping the doldrums of the Covid pandemic 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.

With a two-night stay reserved in a state park cabin, we headed up I-575, visited the Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega, then set course for our first falls stop. Our personal waterfall journey, limited somewhat by time and the patience of unplugged youngsters, included these five falls:

• Dick's Creek Falls, on GA 19 approximately 30 minutes away from Dahlonega. After wading below and hiking above the falls, we watched intrepid visitors make running leaps into the deep falls pool.
• Trahlyata Falls, located in Vogel State Park, where we ventured to the side of the falls, boosted the littles onto a ledge and allowed them to sit in a small, cold stream of falling water.
• Helton Creek Falls, located on GA 19 near Vogel State Park. 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.

• Duke's Creek Falls, near Helen, GA. We hiked down the canyon for 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.
• Anna Ruby Falls, near Helen, GA. Each time I visit Anna Ruby Falls, the site of the twin falls evokes Mick Jagger singing the opening lines of Jumpin’ Jack Flash: I was born in a cross-fire hurricane.

For our full account, routing and more insights, check out our personal waterfall trail from this fun trip.