Tallulah Gorge State Park, N. Georgia

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 Saturday, June 27^th – July 1^st Tallulah Gorge State Park, N. Georgia

The drive into N. Georgia on Hwy 441 was very different from our previous days’ travels. Here we began to see mountains and valleys, with many small towns along the way. You know you’ve changed altitudes when you see mountain laurels and rhododendron along the forests. When we arrived at the park, we found a very nice pull thru site at the edge of the campground, perfect for us. It was raining somewhat during our setup, but later it cleared up and we drove around the park and local area to get the lay of the land. This park is surrounding the Tallulah River Gorge, which is dammed just upstream of the campground. This created a nice lake with a swimming beach. We did walk the trail along the north rim to get our first glimpse of the gorge. Wow, it’s amazing to see such a deep canyon (up to 1000 feet) in the mountains!

The next day, the forecast was 60% rain, so we decided to go out for breakfast in the nearby town of Clayton. Nice mountain town with all the necessary shopping and some touristy stuff. Lake Rabun was just west of town, so we drove back on the lake side road, viewing the many huge homes and small cottages on the lake. Now we know where so many Floridians go to escape the summer heat. There were Florida vehicle tags everywhere! We relaxed in the camper until the rain passed. After lunch, we took our kayaks to the lake and paddled around for a couple of hours. The fishing there was apparently good, but Kurt doesn’t have a Georgia fishing license, so we just enjoyed the paddle on a beautiful day.

The third day we went to the ranger station to obtain a permit to hike down to the gorge floor. The weather was perfect and we struck out on the trail. The trail begins at the north rim trail, down 392 steps to the suspension bridge crossing the gorge. After that there were 890 more steps to get to the bottom of the gorge where there was a boulder/rocky river crossing. The ranger did warn everyone about the “rock scrambling” on the trail along the river (2 miles on the south side). Most of it was huge boulders that we had to climb or crawl over. As we passed three waterfalls, the scenery was magnificent.  The last waterfall was at Sliding Rock. Here you could swim in the pool at the base of the waterfall, and/or slide on your behind down the rock to the pool below. We chose not to risk any injuries and just went for a swim to cool off. Next we had to cross the river here and begin the arduous trail climb back up to the south rim trail. This was the hardest part, very rocky as the elevation changed 1000 feet in 1 mile. Wow, it was tough, but we finally made it back to camp. It was a challenging hike with amazing scenery.

The next morning it was raining, so we were stuck in the camper for a few hours. When the rain ended, we took our bikes on a rail trail that went from the park along the river. It was nice to get outside for a while. Later, Kurt took the dogs for a hike down to Tallulah Lake, which they really enjoyed.

For our last day at the park, we decided to drive up through the town of Clayton and on up to Black Rock Mountain State Park. This place was recommended as another mountain park with great hikes to the mountain peak. On a clear day, from the overlook, you can see up to 80 miles; Tennessee, N. Carolina and S. Carolina. However, the promised sunny skies were nonexistent, so we only saw clouded mountains and the valley below. It was still a great hike and at least it didn’t rain.

As we drove around the area of these beautiful N. Georgia mountains, we thought about checking out the real estate in the area for the land we are looking for. This area around Clayton and Mountain City seems like a wonderful place to spend the summers. On our way back to camp, we stopped in Clayton at a real estate office to inquire about the type of land we are looking for. One of the purposes of this trip is to find a couple of acres where we can setup utilities and an area to park our RV, or two! We will definitely consider this area in N. Georgia.