Monday, July 14, 2025

Chattahoochee National Forest: DeSoto Falls Recreation Area (Blog Hike #1071)

Trail: DeSoto Falls Trail
Hike Location: Chattahoochee National Forest, DeSoto Falls Recreation Area
Geographic Location: north of Dahlonega, GA (34.70786, -83.91444)
Length: 2.2 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: May 2025
Overview: A double out-and-back to Lower and Upper DeSoto Falls.
Area Information: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r08/chattahoochee-oconee/recreation/desoto-falls-recreation-area
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=989695
Photo Highlight:
Hike Video: (coming May 1, 2026)

Directions to the trailhead: From Dahlonega, take US 19 north 17 miles to the signed entrance for DeSoto Falls Recreation Area on the left.  Take a soft left to enter the area, and then turn left into the day-use falls parking lot.  Park here.

The hike: The North Georgia Mountains contain a plethora of famous and scenic waterfalls.  Amicalola Falls impresses with its sheer height, Raven Cliff Falls impresses with its cliff-cutting action, and the waterfalls in Tallulah Gorge impress with their water volume.  Often overlooked among the region's waterfall options is DeSoto Falls, perhaps because of the more famous and identically named waterfall in nearby Alabama.  Yet anyone willing to come to Chattahoochee National Forest's DeSoto Falls Recreation Area after a good rain will find 1 nice waterfall and 1 show-stopping waterfall as scenic as any in the region.
            The DeSoto Falls Recreation Area protects 650 acres around its namesake waterfalls and along scenic Frogtown Creek.  The Recreation Area features a cozy 23-site campground in addition to some picnic tables and, of course, the trails to the waterfalls.  The area's trail system does not connect to any other trails, so waterfall enthusiasts will have it all to themselves.  The hike described here uses every trail in the Recreation Area, and it features both of the waterfalls the Recreation Area has to offer.
Trail leaves parking area
    
        Start at the big information board near the front of the day-use parking lot.  The wide dirt trail descends gradually on a broad switchback as it passes through the Recreation Area's picnic area.  Numerous picnic tables sit here, and several of them were in use on the warm and humid Tuesday afternoon that I came here.
Footbridge over Frogtown Creek
    
        After a few hundred feet, you reach the campground road.  Angle left to start walking along the paved campground road, then turn left to cross Frogtown Creek on a nice wooden footbridge.  Immediately after crossing the bridge, you reach a trail intersection with options going left and right.  Each of these two trails leads to a big waterfall, so we will go both ways eventually; t
he hike to Lower Falls is shorter but steeper than the hike to Upper Falls.  I turned left to head for Lower Falls first.
Frogtown Creek
    
        Next comes a short flat streamside section with Frogtown Creek on your left, but at 0.2 miles you begin climbing the 2 switchbacks that lead to the Lower Falls viewing platform.  At 0.4 miles, you reach the viewing platform for Lower Falls.  Lower Falls drops 30 feet via several cascades, and while it would be the main waterfall attraction on many hikes, it is actually the lesser of the 2 waterfalls on this hike.  Lower Falls had plenty of water volume when I came here right after several days of rain, but it can become a trickle during a drought.
Lower Falls
    
        The trail ends at Lower Falls, so next you have to turn around, retrace your steps to the main trail intersection at the footbridge, and then continue straight to begin heading for Upper Falls.  The next segment is a pleasant streamside hike through forest dominated by maple and oak trees with some dying pine trees.  The mountain laurel was in full bloom when I came here in mid-May; the rhododendron was at least a month away from blooming.  
Some poison ivy lives in the understory, but the trail is plenty wide to allow you to avoid it.  The campground is visible across the creek at first, and noisy US 19 can be heard everywhere on this hike except where it is drowned out by falling water.
Mountain laurel in bloom
    
        1.1 miles into the hike, the trail curves left to pass over a small hill.  A few lime green paint blazes mark the way, and you step over some wooden waterbars on this well-constructed trail.  At 1.3 miles, you reach the viewing platform for Upper Falls.
Upper Falls
    
        What a sight this waterfall is!  Water falls 120 feet in 4 distinct drops, but as with Lower Falls you have to come after a rain for Upper Falls to have enough water.  Upper Falls was fantastic when I came here, and it might be my second favorite waterfall in the North Georgia Mountains, behind Raven Cliff Falls.  The trail ends here, so your only option is to retrace your steps to the parking lot to complete the hike.


Friday, July 11, 2025

Waimea Valley Botanical Garden and Waimea Falls (Blog Hike #1070)

Trails: (unnamed)
Hike Location: Waimea Valley Botanical Garden and Waimea Falls
Geographic Location: north of Waialua, HI (21.63641, -158.05447)
Length: 2.2 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: April 2025
Overview: A modified out-and-back mostly on asphalt trail to Waimea Falls.
Park Information: https://www.waimeavalley.net/
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=983720
Photo Highlight:
Hawaii Trip Video: (coming December 23)

Directions to the trailhead: Waimea Valley is located on SR 83 5.6 miles north of Waialua on the northwest side of Oahu.  Turn inland to enter the valley, and park at the only parking lot.  Alternatively, The Bus route 60 stops right outside the entrance to Waimea Valley.

The hike: Regardless of whether you arrive by city bus, tour bus, or private vehicle, at first Waimea Valley Botanical Garden screams tourist attraction.  There is the crowded parking lot and entrance plaza.  There is the mandatory concession building selling overpriced food items and souvenirs.  There is also the sky-high $25 admission fee.  But once you get away from the touristy stuff at the entrance and get into the garden itself, there is a very developed but very nice hike to be had here.  Of the 3 hikes I did on Oahu, this one may be my favorite even though it is the only one that does not lead to a beach.
            The garden is owned and maintained by Hi'ipaka LLC, a private non-profit organization created in 2003 by a collaboration of county, state, and federal agencies specifically to care for Waimea Valley.  In the previous 2 centuries, the valley saw ranching and farming, and Oahu high priests lived here.  Today a single main asphalt trail goes through the center of the garden to Waimea Falls, but an innumerable number of side trails offer access to the garden's more remote corners.  This hike goes out on the main trail and explores some of the side trails on the way back.
Information board behind ticket booth
    
        Walk through the open-air Visitor Center, pass through the ticket booth, pay the admission fee, and walk halfway around the circle behind the ticket booth to begin following the asphalt trail upstream.  Next you cross a side stream to reach an area dominated by native Hawaiian flora.  Many of the plants in this area are rare or endangered, and the ku'ula shrine, or fishing shrine, is also located here.
Native Hawaiian flora area
    
        750 feet from the parking lot, you cross the Waimea River on a bridge for the first of three times.  The river was a raging torrent due to recent rains on my visit, and the amount of water in the river will give an early indication of the amount of water in Waimea Falls.  You also reach a trail intersection here.  The trail going right leads to a dead-end loop on the south side of the river, and the trail going straight was closed on my visit.  Thus, I turned left to stay on the main blacktop trail.
Pineapple plants in Pacific garden
    
        The next segment passes through the hibiscus garden, which features seemingly every type of hibiscus from all around the world.  Tags help you identify the various flora.  Continuing upstream leads through the Central and South American garden and the Pacific garden.  The latter gives you the chance to see pineapple plants in a natural environment along with some large mango trees and a banyan tree.  I also did some nice bird-watching here that included some red-crested cardinals.  Later as I exited, some peacocks were roaming around the parking lot.
Large mango tree
    
        At 0.6 miles, you reach another major trail intersection just after passing Auntie Coco's Lei Garden.  I chose to turn left to remain on the main trail and explore the side trail going right on my return route.  The fruit, nut, and spice garden, which features some banana trees, comes next as you descend the steepest grade on this entire hike and cross another side stream.  While it seems odd to descend steeply while you are heading upstream, just keep following the paved trail: it is indeed leading to the main attraction.
Main garden trail
            You pass through the gardens featuring plants from the Mascarene Islands, Sri Lanka, and Madagascar in quick order while crossing the Waimea River twice.  Just shy of 1 mile, you reach the snack bar, amphitheater, viewing area, and swimming area for Waimea Falls.  The Hawaiian word for waterfall is wailele (pronounced like why-lay-lay), and at 45 feet tall and plenty of water volume, this wailele is quite impressive.  Swimming is allowed in the large plunge pool when the current is tolerable, which it was not on my visit.  The surrounding black-rock cliffs and green jungle-like growth make for a stark setting, and this waterfall made "wailele" my new favorite Hawaiian word.
Waimea Falls
Setting for Waimea Falls
    
        The trail ends at the wailele, so you have to reverse course through the gardens to return to the parking lot.  The return route is a good opportunity to explore the many dirt side trails that lead off into various parts of the garden and along the Waimea River.  While all of the side trails quickly come back to the main paved trail, they allow more lengthy and intimate interaction with the various gardens than the paved trail, plus they add some variety to your return route.  Also, although this is the only 1 of my 3 Hawaii hikes that does not lead to a beach, Waimea Bay Beach Park with its wide sandy beach, palm trees, and black rocks is located right across SR 83; it is accessible from the Garden by a short road walk and a pedestrian bridge.