Raven Cliff Falls

The Raven Cliff Falls trail is located on the Chattahoochee National Forest near Helen, Georgia. Being only about an hour and a half from Atlanta, Raven Cliff Falls is worthy of the moderate-long drive. It is a popular destination for hikers, being that we went during the week and there were more hikers than I anticipated. It is also a popular camping site for many. Throughout our hike, we noticed quite a few signs warning visitors to be aware of black bears by not having food out and staying away from them. There are other scenic trails near Helen including High Shoals Falls, Tray Mountain, Byron Reece Trail, Duke Creek Falls, among others.

Raven Cliff Falls is a 5 mile scenic trail following the Dodd Creek upstream in a shady and mossy forest leading to the beautiful waterfall within a 400 feet sliced rock outcrop.The trail begins near Dodd and Bear Den Creek, it is hard to miss with all of the signs leading the way. One of my favorite things about the trail was the fact that it truly is scenic throughout, from small cascades to an overlook and of course the waterfall within the cliff!

The inclined hike was moderately difficult for me being 5 miles going up for the majority of it, but the inside view of the waterfall was well worth the at times strenuous parts of the hike. 

Beautiful overlook, isn't nature just beautiful? 

I absolutely loved Raven Cliff Falls and intend on coming back to North Georgia to explore the other scenic trails it has to offer!

Amicalola Falls

Amicalola Falls Trail is in Dawsonville, GA and is part of the Chattahoochee National Forest. Amicalola is actually what motivated me to start hiking and exploring Georgia's nature while at it. I had seen quite a few of my friends' posts on Facebook and Instagram and I couldn't believe Georgia had such beautiful waterfalls! I've been itching to come to Amicalola for months, but decided to wait until the leaves changed colors in order to enjoy the beautiful fall scenery. 


The trail itself is only sightly over 2 miles, but due to the steep climb to reach the top of the waterfall, it feels a lot more difficult than I anticipated.  The gravel incline felt a lot more than one mile since it was 725 feet in elevation from the trail-head! When we reached a parking lot at the top, we felt alleviated because we could now hear the rushing waterfall nearby, so we knew we were close! 

Past the parking lot, we found a bridge that was over the crest of the waterfall and featured this beautiful view of the mountains covered in fall's beautiful colors. 

Immediately after the wooden bridge, we found many sets of wooden stairs that go along the waterfall.

Although the sets of stairs were moderately difficult, having the beautiful scenery and being able to hear the waterfall so close made it more enjoyable! 

Amicalola was just as beautiful as I anticipated, maybe more! And I was not the only one admiring its' beautiful scenery, there were some photographers there taking pictures. There was even a bride and groom taking pictures by the waterfall! I absolutely loved it and will definitely be coming back to Amicalola and the parks nearby that I noticed on our way to Amicalola Falls. 

Cochran Shoals Park

Cochran Shoals Trail is part of the Cochran Shoals section of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. There is also another park on the opposite side of Cochran Shoals Trail called Powers Island. We initially planned on going to Powers Island, but when we passed the entrance and found Cochran, we decided to just go ahead and check it out! 

Cochran Shoals is off of 285 near 75 on Interstate North Parkway, conveniently close to me! The trail is about 3 miles mostly through gravel, big shady paths, and along the river. Cochran Shoals is very popular among walkers, runners, and hikers a like. We went in the morning and there were already a lot of people walking, running, and with their pets. Because the whether is getting a bit cooler, I decided to take my dog Toby with us and he loved it! 

Meet Toby!

A great thing about Cochran Shoals aside from the accessibility, easy stroll, and wildlife, is that it is very dog friendly! There were so many walkers and runners with their dogs. There were even some doggies with Halloween costumes (we went a few days before Halloween)! Toby being the goofball that he is, wanted to play with absolutely every dog he came across and wanted to play with every kid that came near. Cochran Shoals Trail also had a dog fountain next to the water fountain that Toby was ready to tackle as soon as he noticed it. 

Hello huge fish!

After walking for about half a mile, we noticed a lot of people crowded around the edge of the river. Naturally, we got curious as to what they were looking at. Everyone was looking at the ducks and the huge fish below them! These fish were probably about a foot long! I don't eat seafood, so it wasn't enticing to me, but there was a guy there who ran to his car to get his fishing rod in efforts to catch some.