Dukes Creek Falls

This was a fun quick hike. Dukes Creek Falls is located just north of Helen on Richard B. Russel Parkway. It's a nice 1.9 mile hike along a wide trail to the bottom where you see Dukes Creek and Davis Creek join together in several sets of falls.

Here's the view from the parking lot towards Yonah Mtn.... Cherokee for The Sleeping Bear. You can KIND OF see what they are talking about.

The first portion of the trail is actually wheelchair accessible down to the upper overlook deck. From there it branches off down a set of stairs to see another portion of cascades. Funny side note, this picture was taken just before a couple coming up the trail in the opposite direction of us told us that they had a black bear charge down the hill within about 20' of them. Luckily for them it jumped over the trail and kept going down hill.... luckily for us, we didn't see him when we got to the bottom of the hill.

A view looking down from the top of the trail.

A view from the bottom deck up towards the upper deck.

A view looking towards the lower deck.

Providence Canyon- Georgia's Little Grand Canyon

The last place on the Canyon Climbers List is Providence Canyon located outside of Columbus, GA. It's a nice little ride from home, but well worth the trip. These canyons were formed back in the 1800's from poor soil management practices causing massive erosion throughout the area. from the pictures, you'd think that the canyon walls were made of stone, but at an up close and personal view, they are actually soil. Everytime it rains, the canyon slowly widens.

Actually, the white layer of these walls aren't granular like sand....it feels more like a gummy clay. We actually took a little back to camp with us and baked it like pottery over the campfire. Pretty neat stuff.

The trail into the back country campsites. We followed the red blazes down many stairs into what looks like a creek bed. These stairs probably go down several more feet but are completely buried by the sediment.

Yes... THIS is the trail. We followed this creek bed for a good ways until it finally turned and we climbed back up out of the canyon on the other side. Just one big hill and you were at the top of the rim.

Here we are at the edge of the rim. Once we set up camp, we ventured back into the canyon and ended up right below this area.

Take note on the sign...hehehee....

At the bottom of the canyon.

DANI! hehehe! Making her mark in the canyon.

A close up view of some of the layered soils. Almost looked like cake.

Such detail.... almost like another world down there.

This is what happens when you get too close to the edge.....

Taking it easy

Canyon Jumping.... kind of. The soils weren't as soft as the guys had said they were the last time they were there, but still fun to slide and jump around on.... probably not a good idea considering it doesn't HELP the erosion problem.

Our "primative" campsite. There is only one shelter out in the backcountry. The rest are set up for tents. Luckily for us, we got to this site first because we weren't prepared to backpack and our tent weighed more than Danielle. ; ) It was great.... right there in the middle of nature.... then the Coyotes started to surround us and it got a little scary, but they didn't get too close.

The next day we decided we wanted to take another way down the big "hill" to the creek. A path that was closer to our campsite. Saw some really neat areas like this wetland area.

Here's another creek we crossed before we joined back up on the red blazed trail. This one was a little tricky with our packs on and not too many branches to grab onto.

A view of the trail on the way back. I suggest you either bring 2 pairs of shoes so you aren't hiking out the next day in wet shoes, OR you wear shoes that can handle this amount of water.

Follow the Red Blazed Trail.

More trail. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a creek that filled in with sediment or a trail that filled in with water.

At the overlook of the Canyon. What a beautiful site.

Tallulah Gorge

Another one on the Canyon Climbers list..... Tallulah Gorge. One of Georgia's greatest natural wonders that's 2 miles long and up to 1000 feet deep with 7 waterfalls. This is one place I wished I got to visit longer, but we did get there to hike the stairs down to the bottom and back. They only give out 100 permits to actually leave the wooden decks and hike the canyon floor and you need to be there early to get them. We were just 3 people away from getting our permit, but the guy ahead of us had "3 people in the car waiting on the permits", so we were bumped. We'll be doing that next time for sure!

View from one of the observation areas.

Long way down!

The view looking down the Tallulah River.

Ah... the scary bridge. Here the Colbeck Brothers try to convince me that it's ok to cross.

I did, but let me tell ya.... it wiggled and swayed the whole way across and I was shaking like a leaf when I crossed it. I hear the view down was pretty cool..... I wouldn't know though. ; )


The falls at the bottom of the stairs. I wish I could remember how many there were.

The Canyon floor

And there goes the people that had permits. Hum!
On a side note..... we saw this place back on our way home along 441. They really weren't kidding when they say Goats on the Roof!

We actually HAD to stop. They actually live up there and that tall metal pully system in the picture is how you feed them. You buy a hand full of goat food, it falls into a bowl and is sent up to the roof and dumps out into their food trough. Very cool!

Amicalola Falls

While I'm on the subject, Georgia has a club called the Canyon Climbers Club. They list 4 places that you can go to in the State of Georgia that falls into the qualifications. Cloudland Canyon, which I've shown you previously, Tallulah Gorge, Providence Canyon..... AND..... Amicalola Falls. Not really a canyon, but it does have many flights of stairs to climb to the top of them, so I kind of understand. Maybe? Anyway, you pay $10 to join and have an unlimited amount of time to accomplish the task.... what happens when you do? You get a t-shirt and bragging rights. Not bad.

All but one of these pictures were taken by Chris of these beautiful waterfalls. Amicalola is considered the largest falls east of the Mississippi and the name is Cherokee for Tumbling Waters. The falls cascade 749 feet and from the overlook bridge, it's another 425 steps to get to the top. It's a tough hike if you aren't used to climbing that many stairs, but it's an amazing view from the top. Not so much of the actual falls, but out over the mountains. They don't allow you to actually climb along the falls for safety reasons, but I've heard tell of a few stories that my mom has told of her and several other family members climbing up the falls before they added the stairs. hehehee! That was also back when kids played with knives on the playgrounds and it was ok. ; )


View up the falls from the overlook bridge.


This is the view towards the bridge from the paved hiking trail. The actual trail to the bridge isn't too bad either.


Here's the view from the top of the falls out towards the bottom.

And here's another view of the falls. Such a beautiful sight!