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Hike to Hurricane Falls, Tallulah Gorge SP

Tallulah Falls, Georgia

4.4/5
based on 11 reviews

Details

Distance

1.85 miles

Elevation Gain

564 ft

Route Type

Loop

Description

Added by Matthew Koehnemann

This hike offers incredible views of beautiful waterfalls roaring through a 1,000ft deep gorge. The hike consists of a grouping of stairs that take you down to Hurricane Falls which is located at the bottom of the gorge. Half way to the bottom, the hike crosses the gorge on a suspension providing a different perspective.

The trail is located in Tallulah Gorge State Park which is about 1 ½ hours northeast of Atlanta, off of Highway 441. There is a $5 per car entry fee into the park and they prefer the use of cash. From there, follow the signs to the Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center, where there is parking and plenty of good information about the park.

Behind the Interpretive Center, start out west on the North Rim trail, which takes you to several astonishing overlooks revealing the depths of the gorge with a view of one of the park's waterfalls (L’Eau d’Or Falls) that rush through the bottom.

To the backs of the visitors enjoying the view from the main overlook of the gorge and L’Eau d’Or Falls, there is a set of stairs; this is the trailhead for Hurricane Falls. There are 310 stairs from the trailhead to a suspension bridge that crosses the gorge about half way down. The suspension bridge offers a spectacular perspective of the gorge.

Once across the suspension bridge and on the southern side of the gorge, there are more stairs. The stairs that are to the right head up to the South Rim of the gorge, while the stairs to the left descend another 221 steps to a platform in front of Hurricane Falls. The view at the base of the falls is breathtaking…but not as breathtaking as the 500+ stairs you have to take back up to the North Rim! There are plenty of platforms to stop and rest along the descent and ascent if needed.

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Features

Photography
Hiking
Bathrooms
Easy Parking
Family Friendly
Forest
River
Scenic
Waterfall

Hike to Hurricane Falls, Tallulah Gorge SP Reviews

My kids love going here. We come here at least 4-5x year.

The whole gorge park is absolutely stunning - there are so many lookouts from both sides to take in the beauty! The hike down to these falls were a long string of stairs downward and a wobbly walk across a suspension bridge, but it is well worth it! The falls are beautiful and it's really cool to be right by the water and look upwards at the gorge! You can get a special permit to actually walk down in the water, but I declined this time around. Be prepared for sore calves and bring lots of water!

My wife and I were in the area for a week and decided to come check this place out without doing much research. Man were we pleasantly surprised! Many great waterfalls and overlooks, it seemed like we had more photo ops than space available on our memory cards! My favorite spot was the bridge, but our calves and thighs protested all the way down and all the way back up. It wasn't crowded when we visited, but we did go just after the state opened back up again from the Covid crisis. We did encounter two issues while at the park, the first of which is the only reason I could not rate this as 5 stars. The bathroom closed at 5 (which they actually locked them at 4:50) but the park closed at 9, and there were no porta-johns anywhere. This led to many people going in the woods, which is just a bad look for a state park as beautiful as this one. The second issue was minor- all signs that claimed the "depth" or "height" of the gorge at that point were incorrect. One was claiming 1000ft, yet just down the path a few hundred horizontal feet (with no change in height to the river below and minimal change in the path's altitude) it claimed 600ft. Same thing closer to the dam, there were signs practically next to one another that claimed differences in depth of over 200 feet. Just seemed like they guessed and didn't take actual measurements. I know its something minor, but its a state park so they should have the resources to obtain and post correct facts.

Soooo fun such a good hike. Lots of steps. Absolutely gorgeous. Definitely plan on making this a day trip.

We took the trail all the way down to the bottom of the falls(need a permit for this but it's easy and free to get). Adventurous hike, the falls were a big slide rock that you can slide all the way down and swim at the bottom! I would rate this hike as moderate, the only strenuous part was for 0.8miles on slide rock trail. Total hike on this trail is 3.4miles. They will give you thorough instructions for the trail.

Good place for an older Boy Scout group.

Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

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