Moccasin Creek State Park: Wildlife and Hemlock Falls Trails (Blog Hike #423)

Trails: Wildlife and Hemlock Falls Trails

Hike Location: Moccasin Creek State Park

Geographic Location: west of Clayton, GA (34.84464, -83.59000)

Length: 3.7 miles

Difficulty: 4/10 (Easy/Moderate)

Dates Hiked: June 2013, May 2023

Overview: A semi-loop up a cool, moist ravine to Hemlock Falls.

Park Information: http://www.gastateparks.org/MoccasinCreek

Hike Route Map: http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=195529
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: From Clayton, take US 76 west 10.8 miles to SR 197 and turn left on SR 197.  The trailhead parking area is 3.7 miles ahead on the right opposite the fish hatchery and just after passing the park campground.  Use the gravel area on the right to park where paved Andersonville Lane continues to the left.

The hike: Weighing in at only 32 acres, Moccasin Creek State Park is a park in the mountains that contains no mountains.  The park is located on the west shore of Lake Burton, and all of its land surrounds the lake or the lake’s tributary for which the park is named.  The park is most famous for its lake access, trout fishing/hatchery, and a 55-site campground that fills on nice summer weekends.

            For hikers, Moccasin Creek State Park has only one trail, the 1 mile Wildlife Trail.  Fortunately, adjacent Chattahoochee National Forest contains the 1.5 mile one-way Hemlock Falls Trail that can be accessed from the state park with only a 0.1 mile gravel road walk.  Thus, combining these two trails gives the nice 4 mile hike described here and takes you to a major waterfall.           

Wildlife Trail trailhead

            Pick up the Wildlife Trail as it leaves the back of the parking area through a gap in a wooden fence.  Immediately you pass a small pond in Moccasin Creek to your right.  The pond is created by a concrete dam that contains a fish ladder, a testament to this creek’s popularity among anglers.  As I was leaving the parking area, I passed an older man carrying several small trout on hooks.

Fish ladder and concrete dam

            At the upper end of the pond, you pass a sign board that may contain some interpretive pamphlets.  The Wildlife Trail features 18 numbered markers that correspond to items in the pamphlet.  The pamphlet is also available for download on the park’s website.

            The trail goes back and forth between forest and field as it meanders its way west.  Moccasin Creek, a true mountain stream with cascades and rocky streambed, lies to the right, sometimes close and sometimes at a distance.  At 0.2 miles, the trail forks to form its loop.  This trail description will follow the numbered markers in increasing order by turning right here and hiking the loop counterclockwise.           

Wildlife Trail forks to form loop

            The trail crosses several tributaries on wooden footbridges.  If the bridge is wet, take care on these bridges: over time the wooden bridge surface collects a thin layer of dirt that becomes as slippery as ice when wet.  At 0.5 miles, the trail crosses a gravel road.  You need to turn right here to get to the start of the Hemlock Falls Trail, but there is no sign to indicate such.  Near the end of my hike I passed a couple who missed this turn and therefore could not find the waterfall; learn their lesson and turn here.

            In less than 0.1 miles the gravel road ends at the parking lot for the Hemlock Falls Trail, and the Hemlock Falls Trail itself begins at an engraved boulder.  A large toad posed on a log here as I photographed it.  As you begin to climb gradually along the Hemlock Falls Trail, what has thus far been a very mediocre hike starts to gain steam.  Rushing Moccasin Creek makes a near constant companion, and a lush understory of mountain laurel and rhododendron fills the cool, moist ravine.

Trailhead-Hemlock Falls Trail

            1.1 miles into the hike, a small opening in the trees provides a view of a waterfall created by a small tributary falling into Moccasin Creek.  Some benches built as an Eagle Scout project in 2012 provide ample opportunity to rest on the long, gradual climb.  At 1.4 miles, the trail crosses Moccasin Creek on a stone and wood bridge built in 1993.  Some stone steps built into the ground help hikers navigate the steep area around the creek.

Moccasin Creek

            Now on the north side of Moccasin Creek, the trail continues its gradual climb until, 1.8 miles into the hike, an unsigned spur trail exits left to the base of Hemlock Falls.  A large volume of water drops about 25 feet through a spout into a large plunge pool.  Notice the large hemlock trees that surround this area.  Even on warm summer days a cool breeze comes down this ravine from the mountains to the west, so take some time to enjoy this spot, the midpoint of the hike.

Hemlock Falls

            Although an unmarked path continues along the creek past the falls, the official trail ends at the waterfall, and it does not form a loop.  Thus, you next need to retrace your steps back down to the Hemlock Falls parking area and then along the gravel road to where you left the Wildlife Trail.  Turn right to continue the Wildlife Trail.

            The southern half of the Wildlife Trail passes through more young forest and meadow.  Large numbers of Christmas ferns populate the understory.  Interpretive signs describe how the meadows encourage wildlife to frequent the area, but I did not see anything more exotic than a gray squirrel on my visit.  At 3.5 miles, you close the Wildlife Trail loop, where a soft right turn will return you to the parking area to complete the hike.