Since we’re still in the time when streams are at their fullest flow of the year, I thought it would be good to share one more waterfall hike with you before we get into some of the best summertime outings in coming weeks. For now, I’m going to direct you to northern Georgia.
Filled with trout and lined by a wide variety of wildflowers and ferns, Panther Creek, close to Turnerville, flows over a number of small cascades and three larger ones as it winds below rocky bluffs and through the canyon it has carved out of the mountains of the Chattahoochee National Forest. It’s not a hard hike, but there are some interesting spots, such as a rock crevice you have to climb through less than a mile into the journey, the ascent onto high bluffs, and the descent back to the creek and Panther Creek Falls about 3.5 miles from the parking area. The falls drop more than 70 feet to a wide basin pool, almost always filled with people splashing about on warm summer days.
Most people venture no further than the falls, so there is more of a sense of solitude on the last two miles of the trail, which comes to end where Panther Creek meets Davison Creek.
The Panther Creek Falls Trail is included in Hiking Trails of North Georgia (Peachtree Publishers; 800-241-0113).
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