Living in Georgia, I would go to the mountains as much as I could. I even became a Forest Service Volunteer because I wanted to do something more than hike out, and it was great to get some exercise and learn how to swing an axe. The AT follows a great spine of mountains that cross Georgia into NC and TN. We get a fair amount of rain, so this helps North Georgia become a wonderland of waterfalls. From large to small, they are all over the northern part of the state. I start with a few I have photographed.
You can click on the waterfall pictures for larger versions.

This is High Shoals Falls northwest of Atlanta. It is about 15' feet high and is close to us. It is a short and easy hike that anyone can do. There is a small downgrade to the falls.

One of my special places was Raven Cliffs. I maintained that trail for many years with a couple of friends. The area around this valley and beyond to the west is named the Raven Cliffs Wilderness Area, a class four wilderness , so only hand tools are allowed for work. Years ago they finally moved and improved parking and fixed the trail system in there. A 2.5 mile one way trail leads to Raven Cliffs. There are four total waterfalls along the way, with two together at the end. The top one at the end is very difficult to reach.

Some photos of the area from the early 2000's are below. What a great area!

The trail pictures are near the end at the waterfalls. It is a very nice and quiet hike back, mostly level. The pictures on the right show the root climb that takes you to the very top of the falls. It is a hard climb and it is dangerous. Be careful. A small waterfall is seen at the top, but I have been there when people have fallen and died.

My brother Mark is in the green shirt above. Be very careful if you attempt the root climb.

Raven Cliffs Falls are easily viewed from the bottom of the cliffs at the end of the 2.5 mile hike.

Rocktown!

In Northwest Georgia is a very cool place to go hiking called Rocktown.

Rocktown is an interesting formation that is on top of Pigeon Mountain, which is a ridge that shoots off of Lookout Mountain about 30 miles south of Chattanooga. It is also about 6-7 miles SW of LaFayette, GA. Some of the rocks have cracks that have walls that are 100 feet high.

My brother and Tina were with me on this hike. The photo at right is of "Champaign Glass" rock. It is amazing that it stands on the small base and it even survived the 2003 earthquake that was based in Northeast Alabama and Northwest Georgia.

We also came across a bobcat in one of the rock cave/crevasse areas. It just stayed in the cave. We saw feathers at the entrance, and could hear breathing in the cave. Other hikers report seeing bobcat here and the game warden confirmed to us that they are indeed in the area. Be careful.

This is a great place to spend a day
and one of the must see locations in Georgia.

I have hiked many miles of trails and a long time ago I decided to give a little bit back. I offered my time to the Forest Service and boy did they want it! I enjoyed every minute of volunteer time I gave to the FS, the lovely mountains of North Georgia and to the people that hike the trails up there.

One of my most exciting days I had out working was in the Cohutta Wilderness. I was out by myself as usual just working on a worn section of trail. I got done for the day and started heading back. As I came up the ridge toward the top, I stopped a I saw a large, dark colored wild boar off to my right about 25 yard away. It kept eating the ferns and did not pay me much mind. I started walking down the trail again, which would carry me around it fairly safely. As I walked, I heard a hiss in front of me. It was a timber rattlesnake curled up right in the middle of the trail. It did not rattle, it just hissed. I've heard they travel in pairs and I was in a foot tall fern field with rocks mixed in. Slowly, I took my day pack off. I had a gun, and I got it out. The boar snorted some but continued to munch on the abundant ferns. I had a fire rake and a shovel and no gun holster. I got my day pack back on, put the gun in the small of my back and held the shovel and fire rake in a position I used when I was hiking in and out -- wedged together with rake end shovel ends flat against each other so I can hold both of them with one hand. I moved off trail away from the wild boar side pushing into the ferns and rocks as I made my way around the snake. It still only hissed during this, never rattled and never moved. In hind sight, I should have squeezed off a round to get the boar out of there, then at least I could have got the rattlesnake off of the main trail.

Normally it is just brush clearing and such. You can see an example of trail rehab below.