This past first Sunday in November was a great day for a long walk. Temps were in the mid to upper 50’s with light winds. We decided to take the short drive (only 10 minutes) from our house to park and walk to Dukes Creek Falls off Russell Scenic Highway.
The trail-head for this 1.25-mile trail is at the parking lot providing visitors to a scenic hike down to the observation deck overlooking Dukes Creek and the waterfalls. The round trip is 2.5 miles and a $4.00 parking fee. When we first parked, I had to get a shot of the panoramic view (yes again) of Yonah Mountain.
We spent about 2 hours on this nice hike. The first 1/10 mile of the trail is accessible by people who need to use a wheel chair and leads to a viewing deck so everyone can get view of the waterfalls from afar. Here’s a shot of the first part of the trail. As you can see it’s quite wide and clean.
As we ventured on, the trail becomes narrow and very stumpy, almost a pig trail. Some who have a hard time keeping their balance would want to carry a hiking stick. We met many people on the trail and it seemed like a popular place. I even noticed five picnic tables and a couple of grills when we first entered the trail, so it’s nice to know we can carry food the next time we visit. Here is 2nd shot of the trail.
The challenge for this trail is moderate. I’m not an avid hiker and I have to say it’s not that bad. The part which challenged me was the narrow pig trail coming back up. Just tells me I need to get in shape and see more of what nature has to offer. Definitely do not forget the water bottles. As we got to the falls area, there were 2 observation decks.
Here is a shot of the lower deck.
The next few images are of Dukes Creek Falls….Enjoy!
The massive waterfall drops over 150 feet at the convergence of two streams: Dukes Creek and Dodds Creek. We were walking along side of Dodds creek on the start of the trail, it sounded wonderful. We didn’t see any wild life but took our baby girl, Gracey with us and she met some friendly pups along the way. She was a bit tired half way through the hike back so she had to be carried a bit. Here’s a photo of our girl, Gracy.
This is a highly recommended trip, especially if you are already in the nice little town of Helen, Georgia. I was also able to get a short clip of the falls on video. You can view it here on my YouTube channel .
The color was just beautiful and we are actually still holding on to color now in North Georgia. Here’s a couple of lone maple leaves on a log that were screaming for their picture to be taken as we were coming back up the trail.
If you want more info on North Ga trails, you can purchase “The Hiking Trails of North Georgia” by Tim Homan –3rd edition on Amazon. It features 124 North Georgia Trails with 11 area maps.
Thank you for visiting and reading!
~Mish
