That's What She Said...: Hiking Review #3: Amicalola Falls Loop Trail

In mid-Septmeber we decided to take advantage of a beautiful Saturday and find a waterfall hike. We chose the Amicalola Falls Loop Trail and are so glad that we did. This is by far my favorite hiking spot.

Book Review:

Length: 2.8 miles

Configuration: Loop

Difficulty: Difficult

Scenery: Waterfalls, long-distance mountain views

Exposure: Full sun a the falls, visitor center, and upper third of the East Ridge; mostly shaded elsewhere

Traffic: Heavy

Trail Surface: Compacted soil and gravel road. The trail from the West Ridge parking lot to the falls is made of rubber tires.

Hiking time: 2 hours

Here is our review in pictures.

As we drove in to the Amicalola Falls State Park we stopped to pay the $3 fee listed in the book. Surprise, the fee was now $5. CR scrambled for change and handed the park ranger a handfull of penny's and said..."that should do it" Thankfully he let us in and said "I'll cover the rest". We were probably only short 5 cents.

We stopped by the visitor center to get a map, and found a park ranger displaying a very large snake...a python maybe? CR2 didn't know what to think!

We then stopped at the picnic area to fuel up before the hike. What a nice area! There were alot of picnic tables, a covered shed area, and a few playgrounds. There were also cabin's available for passing through hikers to rent, as this trail is part of the A.T.

We gathered our things and I started with CR2 in the pack! I really do love to hike with him, such a great workout!

A shot of CR2 and mommy during the first mile of the hike. I think that we followed an additional trail making our hike around 4 miles.

At this point we came upon the Amicalola creek and started our acend to the waterfall. I toughed out the climb for a little while and then gladly handed the pack over to CR. He really doesn't appreciate comments from strangers when I am hauling CR2 up a mountain. My favorite came from a little old lady who said "honey, you carried that child for 9 months...it's his turn now!" I really do insist on carrying CR2 for at least part of our hikes. Mom's can be tough too!

Here are the boys at the bottom of the steps. There are about 500 steps that lead up to the base of the falls, and 300 more that take you to the top of the falls. Talk about a "stair master workout"!!! If you are looking to sweat, this is the hike for you!

We made it to the base! Not a great picture of the falls, but man is it a sight in person!

Here is a shot of the stair climb...now muliply that by 10. My thighs hurt just look at this!

View from the top of the falls

We made it to the top! Now just a few miles down to go!

As you round the top of the falls you see this! Beautiful mountain range views for the majority of the hike down. North Georgia reminds me so much of home. This area is in between Dawsonville and Ellijay.

Boys on the way down. We passed a group of girl scouts that came up this way, and assured them that they were close. I can only imagine the melt downs if they would have taken the stairs!