Jeff Willett

Jeff Willett

Blue Hole and High Shoals Creek Falls

07/13/17

Thanks OC for this find! Just spent a week and a half up in N GA (early July) with the family and made a point to check out this waterfall. First - Getting There: If you are coming in southbound off of 17, look for the sign that says High Shoals, set back of the road a little, as your GPS might tell you turn left at the private drive - the gravel trail head road is actually right past this. Next, preferably you have a higher clearance vehicle as there is a stream crossing with hard (read rock) bottom and moderate entry/exit angle and the road up can be a little rutted as well. But I understand there is another approach where you do not have to cross the stream, however it is much longer. Park at the trailhead or along the road just past the trailhead. There is room for maybe 4 or 5 vehicles at the actual trailhead parking area. Second - The Hike Down: Easy to moderate hike down (remember you will have to come back up) on a well worn path, some exposed roots, some man-made wood and rock ledge stair steps. There was a large (30" diameter) tree down over the trail which we had to hop over - no big deal and it looks like the trail is maintained for downed trees as several fallen trees across the trail had obviously been cut to clear the trail in the recent past. The trail levels out as you approach the campground area - some really good open campsites along the stream, some with fire rings already. Keep moving thru the campground and cross a foot bridge over a trickling creek. The trail begins to descend again and you can hear the sound of water moving faster. Not too far past the camping area and foot bridge there will be another spot for camping of the right side of the trail, and shortly after that the first left spur will take you down to Blue Hole Falls and the swimming hole. My suggestion is to keep going to the second left spur for High Shoal Falls, the grander of the two falls, about another 10 minutes down the trail. Here you can relax on the rocks, have some lunch, and soak in the small pool below the falls and just in front of the observation platform. This area is a little more open and depending upon time of day you can take in some sun on the rocks as well. After relaxing here for a while, we then hiked back up the trail to Blue Hole Falls, which definitely is the better choice for a plunge, as the swimming hole is large and deep enough to actually swim in - be warned, it's chilly, and the sun does not really poke thru the trees too much here so you may not warm up quickly. If you are feeling adventurous, someone has tied a rope to a tree above the falls here that you can swing out over the falls and drop in to the pool. There is trail above this spur that goes to a rock "clearing" where the rope swing is. There is an observation platform at this site as well. We did this hike in the morning, took a few snacks with us and were pretty hungry by the time we got back to the car. Good location as Helen is a short drive away where you can grab a bite to eat.

5.0