Chattahoochee National Forest: Angel Falls Trail (Blog Hike #307)

Trail: Angel Falls Trail

Hike Location: Chattahoochee National Forest, Rabun Lake Recreation Area

Geographic Location: northwest of Tallulah Falls, GA (34.76115, -83.47275)

Length: 1.8 miles

Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)

Dates Hiked: June 2010, June 2014

Overview: An out-and-back featuring two impressive waterfalls.

Trail Information: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/conf/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=10507&actid=50
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=722601
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Tallulah Falls, take US 441 north 3 miles to Old US 441.  Turn left, then immediately turn right to head north on Old US 441.  Take Old US 441 north 2.5 miles to Lake Rabun Rd. and turn left on Lake Rabun Rd.  Take narrow, curvy Lake Rabun Rd. 5 miles to the Lake Rabun Campground entrance on the right.  Turn right, then turn right again to head for the trailhead parking area on the campground’s B loop.  Park in the small hiker parking lot near the signed trailhead 150 yards from the campground entrance.

The hike: For my general comments on Lake Rabun, see the blog entry for Minnehaha Falls.  Most campground trails feature no major attractions and hence are of little interest to non-campers.  Fortunately, the Angel Falls Trail not only provides a nice walk through beautiful hemlock forest, but it also features two major cascade-type waterfalls which are of interest to everyone.  Even better, the trail is wide and well-maintained, so accessing these falls can be done with minimal effort.

            Before starting, there is one thing I should mention about accessing this trail.  As I learned when I first visited Lake Rabun in April 2009, the campground is only open for part of the year.  In 2009, the only access to this trail was from the campground, and thus I could not hike this trail due to lack of parking.  When I came back in 2010, a new trail connects the Angel Falls Trail directly to Lake Rabun Road, by-passing the campground.  Thus, if the campground is closed, you can still access the falls by parking along the side of the road (taking care not to block traffic) at the sign about 200 yards east of the campground entrance.

Campground trailhead: Angel Falls Trail

            Starting in the campground, a stone monument across the road from the trailhead commemorates the efforts of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  Before this campground was a US Forest Service campground, it housed the hard-working members of the CCC who built the trail you are hiking today.  Members of the CCC served here from 1933 through 1942, at which time all available hands were mobilized for World War II.

The trail starts to the left of a campsite as it enters the dark, moist streamside forest right beside Joe Creek.  The trail is blazed with plastic neon-green rectangles nailed to trees.  Notice how the nails on the blazes are not driven all of the way into the trees: this gives the trees room to grow without pushing the nails out and dislodging the blazes.  Immediately you pass a couple of small cascades, hints of what is to come.

Climbing beside a cascade

            The trail from Lake Rabun Road comes in from the right as you exit the campground and continue up the creek, soon to cross it for the first of many times.  All of these creek crossings are made on small wooden bridges.  The largest trees in the forest at this elevation are hemlocks with a few smaller sycamore and beech trees thrown in.  A dense understory of rhododendron gives you that choked-in feeling.  Near 0.15 miles you will pass a rock spring box to the left of the trail and the remains of a concrete dam along the creek bank to the right.  Back in the 1930’s this spring supplied water for the CCC camp at the trailhead.

            The trail climbs gradually until, at 0.5 miles, you reach the base of Panther Falls.  Water splish-splashes for 30-plus feet down the rock face.  When I visited this waterfall only 2 days after a good rain, the sights and sounds were very impressive.  I suspect that the splish-splash becomes more of a drip-drop during a drought, so plan your visit accordingly.

Panther Falls

            From Panther Falls, the trail curves sharply left to climb the hillside using one steep switchback; look for the neon-green blaze heading up the hill.  Also, notice the CCC stone work at the base of this climb.  As you get nearer the top, a cable strung between posts separates the trail from the sheer drop to the right.  I would not trust this cable to support your weight.  You may have missed it on the climb up, but when you come back down, look for the first of these posts near the switchback: it has slid down the hillside.

            The tight ravine around Panther Falls soon widens out, and you are again climbing gradually beside Joe Creek.  Rhododendron has been replaced by mountain laurel, and hemlocks are fewer in number above Panther Falls.  1 mile into the hike, you reach the wooden observation platform at Angel Falls, the final destination of this trail. 

Some guidebooks call this Joe Falls because it is the largest waterfall on Joe Creek, but the Forest Service seems to prefer Angel Falls.  Angel Falls looks very similar to Panther Falls, but at 60-plus feet it is roughly twice as high.  Mountain laurel partially blocks your view of the top of the waterfall.  A bench makes for a great place to view the waterfall and rest after your climb.

Angel Falls

            The Angel Falls Trail ends at its namesake waterfall, and it does not form a loop.  What was a moderate climb becomes an easy downhill glide as you retrace your steps 1 mile back to the campground to complete the hike.