It seems that every time we have two days to explore a place, one of those days is rainy and a complete washout. That was today in Cloudland Canyon State Park in northwestern Georgia. Luckily, we knew the forecast, so yesterday we were able to check out a couple of the overlooks and hike to see two waterfalls. There were several other hikes that looked interesting that we were really hoping to do today, but with the rain and low cloud cover, it just wasn’t meant to be. That just means that we will have to come back another time! Maybe we can even convince our Georgia friends to meet us here sometime! What do you think, Mike and Michelle?
We are staying in the park’s West Rim Campground that has recently been updated with nice gravel in each site, new picnic tables and fire rings/grills, utilities that work well, and even some sites (like ours) with sewer hook ups! It is a really nice place to stay. We were in site 8 in the middle of the campground where there were no trees or shade. This time of year it wasn’t a problem, but in the heat of a Georgia summer we might opt for a site on the perimeter where there are trees!
We started our visit by walking the short Overlook Trail which takes you to two different overlooks into the canyon. Both are beautiful, but the Main Overlook is definitely the most spectacular. We can only imagine how beautiful it would be during the spring or fall, too, when there would be some leaves on the trees and some color!
We also really enjoyed the Waterfalls Trail. This trail is rated strenuous due to the 600 steps you have to take down into the canyon to see the waterfalls, and then, of course, back up to the trailhead, but it is relatively short and both Cherokee and Hemlock Falls are impressive! The ranger was telling us that until a week or two ago, the falls were dry and only started flowing again in the last couple of days, so our timing was great. Surprisingly, the best time to see these waterfalls is in the winter and spring. It isn’t uncommon for them to dry up in the summer and fall.
We are disappointed to not get to explore the park more, especially the popular West Rim Trail, but you can’t see it all! It is time for us to inch ever closer to Kentucky. Christmas is approaching fast and we want to be home to celebrate with our families!
Until next time!
Cherokee Falls looks pretty sweet.
I think northern Georgia doesn’t get nearly as much credit as it deserves.
Did you go to or through Chattanooga?
Both waterfalls were pretty great, and we are told they weren’t even flowing that well. This is a close enough destination for a long weekend for us now that we are home, so we will definitely be back!
We did not go to Chattanooga. We’ve heard it is a pretty cool place, but we have to save some things for our next trip!
Chattanooga is very cool….a total surprise. I had been there on a job interview right out of college (70’s) and it was pretty dismal. But we spent a day there a few years back and it was totally different.
We have heard great things about Chattanooga and hope to get back to that area to explore in the future!
Your Georgia friends would definitely be up to that. We haven’t explored that state park yet!
Michelle
Sounds great! It was a really neat park and we definitely want to get back to explore further!