Tallulah Gorge State Park: Hurricane Falls Loop (Blog Hike #290)

Trails: North Rim, Hurricane Falls, and South Rim Trails

Hike Location: Tallulah Gorge State Park

Geographic Location: north of Tallulah Falls, GA (34.73988, -83.39039)

Length: 2.1 miles round-trip

Difficulty: 10/10 (Difficult)

Dates Hiked: November 2009, February 2014, March 2023

Overview: A difficult hike with 1090 stairs to the bottom of Tallulah Gorge.

Park Information: http://www.gastateparks.org/TallulahGorge
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=722491

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: In northeast Georgia, the state park is located on US 441 just north of Tallulah Falls.  A large sign and traffic light at Jane Hurt Yarn Road mark the entrance.  If you are heading northbound, turn right (east) to enter the park.  Pay the nominal entrance fee and park in the large blacktop parking lot in front of the Interpretive Center at the end of the road.

The hike: Though Tallulah Gorge State Park is one of the latest additions to the Georgia state park system, Tallulah Gorge itself is one of Georgia’s earliest tourist draws.  In the mid-1800’s, thousands of people each year would make the difficult trek to see the sheer rock walls and waterfalls of this gorge.  In 1882, the Tallulah Gorge Railroad was built, turning thousands per year into thousands per week.  The town of Tallulah Falls, located at the head of the gorge, flourished as its streets became lined with hotels and restaurants.

            In the early 1900’s another visitor arrived at the gorge: Georgia Power.  This new visitor was more interested in the hydroelectric power potential of the gorge than it was in scenic views or waterfalls.  After a protracted political battle, permits were issued to build Tallulah Falls Dam, about which more will be said below.  The dam diverted water from the gorge’s waterfalls, and as the water dried up, so did the tourists.  Even with the construction of US 441, a major thoroughfare in the early days of the automobile, the town of Tallulah Falls began to die a slow and painful death.  A large fire in 1921 inflicted more damage, as did a supercell tornado in 1994.

            Fortunately, just when the town had hit its worst, things were looking better for the gorge.  In 1992, Georgia Governor Zell Miller established a new state park on the gorge’s rim, bringing new interest and state money to the gorge.  One year later, the project to widen US 441 brought the highway to the park’s doorstep, giving visitors an easy way to get to the gorge.  Visitors began to return, and in 1996 the state-of-the-art Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center opened to help visitors better experience the gorge.

            Today the gorge is once again a major tourist attraction in Georgia, as Tallulah Gorge State Park is one of the most popular parks in the state park system.  The park has other attractions and trails, but everyone comes to see the gorge.  An elaborate set of steps allows today’s visitors to access the gorge much more easily than visitors in the 1800’s.  In fact, scouts who climb Cloudland Canyon, Providence Canyon, Amicalola Falls, and these steps are eligible for the state’s Canyon Climbers badge.  I am not a scout, but with my climb of these steps on a chilly November morning I completed this quartet of climbs.

Trailhead behind Interpretive Center

            Begin a visit to the gorge by browsing the Interpretive Center at the rear of the parking lot.  The center itself is interesting: a ramp spirals from the second floor down to the first.  The exhibits give the impression you are descending into the gorge as you go down the ramp.  At the bottom of the ramp, exit the back door and head down a recycled rubber path for the real gorge.  At some other parks, this type of pavement has some weak spots that can throw you off balance, but the surface here seems rather sturdy.

            At the first intersection, take a sharp left to leave the rubber path and head for overlook #1.  There are 10 overlooks around the rim of the gorge numbered counterclockwise 1 through 10.  After walking 0.25 miles along mulch and easy wooden steps, you will arrive at overlook #1.  This is the easternmost overlook, and hence it gives the best view into the lowest section of the gorge.  The river, here some 750 feet below you, can be seen flowing rapidly to the east.  Oceana Falls lies directly below the overlook, but a better view of this waterfall can be had from Overlook #10 to be visited later.

View down gorge from Overlook #1

            Also of interest at the overlook is the North Wallenda Tower, a metal scaffolding that now lies on its side.  In 1970, this tower and a similar one on the south side of the gorge were used by tightrope walker Karl Wallenda when he walked across the gorge on a high wire.  The feat drew over 35,000 spectators to the gorge in the middle of the summer.  Photos and tickets from the spectacle can be seen in the Interpretive Center.

Remains of North Wallenda Tower

            Although the more primitive trail to Inspiration Point continues east, the North Rim Trail ends at overlook #1, so you will have to backtrack 0.25 miles to rejoin the rubber path, which continues to descend gradually.  0.6 miles into this hike, the rubber path arrives at overlook #3.  This overlook features L’Eau d’Or Falls, the river’s first waterfall in the gorge.  The falls are 350 feet below you, so you will have to admire them from a distance.  Still, the large volume of water in this and all of the river waterfalls make them easy to admire and hard to leave.

L'Eau d'Or Falls

            From overlook #3, the North Rim Trail heads right to continue along the rim toward overlooks #4 and #5.  This hike will get to those overlooks eventually, but to see the gorge from the inside, turn left and continue along the rubber path, which is now the Hurricane Falls Trail.  After a brief steep descent, you will arrive at Overlook #2.  Although located only a couple hundred feet from Overlook #3, this overlook gives a view directly across the gorge instead of up or down the gorge.  Hence, the view is very different than what you have seen before.

            The rubber path ends at overlook #2, and the Hurricane Falls Trail begins its descent of 310 wooden and metal steps into the gorge.  A sign warns of the difficulty of this trail, and it should be heeded by anyone not in good health.  The climb out of the gorge uses 560 steps; if there is a chance this will be too much for you, you should stay on the rim and be content to visit the 10 overlooks along the rim.  Truth be told, you can see as much from the rim as you can from the base of the gorge, just at a much greater distance.

Steps into gorge

            Descending the steps, you can feel the air getting moister as the river gets closer.  Rock cliffs rise to the left and the river lies downhill to the right, but at most points the forest is too dense to get good views either direction.  After a pair of long staircases, you arrive at the base of the steps and a trail fork.  The right fork leads a short distance downhill to an overlook of the river.  From here, you can look downstream to where the river disappears over Hurricane Falls.  The low, high-pitched roar of the river makes a pleasant companion along this portion of the trail.

            The right trail fork dead-ends at this overlook, so eventually you will need to take the left fork, which leads to the wooden suspension bridge over the Tallulah River.  The bridge is 80 feet high, but 4 metal cables ensure that it swings only a little bit.  Two staircases depart from the south end of the bridge, one leading up to the right and the other leading down to the left.  We will eventually use the one leading up, but for a close-up view of one of the river waterfalls, turn left and continue descending stairs.

            Another 220 stairs will bring you to river level and another wooden overlook.  This overlook sits at the base of Hurricane Falls, a noisy and powerful river waterfall.  Some large boulders partially obscure the view, but there is no denying the power of this waterfall.  Looking downstream, the cliffs of High Bluff rise roughly 1000 feet above you from the opposite bank, and the river continues its noisy and bumpy ride through the gorge.  Take some time to enjoy the sights and sounds of this special spot deep in the belly of the gorge.

Hurricane Falls

Tallulah River in the gorge

            The trail ends at this overlook, and so the hard work of climbing back to the rim now begins.  First climb the 220 steps back to the suspension bridge, then angle left and climb the 340 steps to the South Rim Trail.  Take your time and climb one step at a time.  Several much-needed benches give opportunities to rest as you climb.  The information kiosk and trail sign along the South Rim Trail are welcome sights as you finally arrive at the last three sets of stairs.

            To see all of the overlooks, you will need to turn left on the packed-gravel South Rim Trail.  The trail stays near the edge of the gorge, but a nice wooden fence ensures you will not fall over.  Overlooks #8 through #10 are passed in quick fashion, each one offering a slightly different view of the gorge.  Overlook #10 is especially inviting as it sits under a small rock overhang and provides a nice view of cascading Oceana Falls in the river below.  Also, the sheer rock face of High Bluff can be seen to the right, and Caledonia Cascade, a 600 foot waterfall created by a creek dumping its water into the gorge, can be seen across the gorge to the left of overlook #1.

            The South Rim Trail ends at overlook #10, so you will have to turn around and retrace your steps to the upper end of the staircase.  Fortunately, you do not have to climb the stairs to get back to the north rim; continuing straight on the South Rim Trail will get you there the easy way.

View from Overlook #10

            After passing through a nice stand of rhododendron, you will quickly come to overlooks #7 and #6.  These overlooks offer nice views of the upper gorge similar to the ones you saw from the north rim earlier.  At 1.4 miles, the South Rim Trail ends at the shoulder of US 441.  Do not follow the trail under the highway (it leads to Tallulah Falls Lake), but instead use the sidewalk to cross the Tallulah River on the highway bridge.  Heavy traffic from the highway makes this walk a bit unpleasant, but the wide concrete sidewalk should get you across safely.

            Once across the highway bridge, do a U-turn and descend some steps to intersect the North Rim Trail.   Turn left on the North Rim Trail to head back to the Interpretive Center; the trail heading right under the highway bridge leads to the day-use area along Tallulah Falls Lake.

The wide gravel/mulch North Rim Trail undulates moderately as it stays near the rim, passing overlooks #5 and #4.  Overlook #5 is somewhat unremarkable (by Tallulah Gorge’s standard, anyway), but overlook #4 gives a nice view of concrete Tallulah Falls Dam.  As mentioned in the introduction to this hike, this dam was constructed in 1913 to provide electric power to the growing city of Atlanta.  Though not natural, the waterfall created by the dam’s spillway still makes an interesting sight.  0.15 miles past overlook #4, a final right turn will return you to the rubber path and close the loop.  Another 0.1 miles of walking gradually uphill along the rubber path will return you to the Interpretive Center and complete the hike.