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; the 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.