2. Hiking Adventures

Headwaters of the Chattahoochee

Describes a bushwhack to a little known waterfall in the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River
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This is my second hike into the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River. This time, I made it to the waterfall I was searching for. I parked at the trailhead parking for Horse Trough Falls in the back of the Upper Chattahochee River Campground. I walked across the River on the pedestrian bridge, turned right and picked up the trail to the Upper Falls on The Chattahoochee <a href="https://mtnimages.smugmug.com/Hiking-With-Mtnimages/Upper-Chattahoochee-Falls-and/">https://mtnimages.smugmug.com/Hiking-With-Mtnimages/Upper-Chattahoochee-Falls-and/</a>
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This is my second hike into the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River. This time, I made it to the waterfall I was searching for. I parked at the trailhead parking for Horse Trough Falls in the back of the Upper Chattahochee River Campground. I walked across the River on the pedestrian bridge, turned right and picked up the trail to the Upper Falls on The Chattahoochee https://mtnimages.smugmug.com/Hiking-With-Mtnimages/Upper-Chattahoochee-Falls-and/

  • This is my second hike into the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River. This time, I made it to the waterfall I was searching for. I parked at the trailhead parking for Horse Trough Falls in the back of the Upper Chattahochee River Campground. I walked across the River on the pedestrian bridge, turned right and picked up the trail to the Upper Falls on The Chattahoochee <a href="https://mtnimages.smugmug.com/Hiking-With-Mtnimages/Upper-Chattahoochee-Falls-and/">https://mtnimages.smugmug.com/Hiking-With-Mtnimages/Upper-Chattahoochee-Falls-and/</a>
  • The trail continues above the Upper Falls. Actually, it is a pretty good trail. I think fishermen and curious hikers keep the trail open. Half an hour, or so, you come to a Wildlife Clearing. Officially, it is called a "Wildlife Planting".
  • And, it looks like this. Just hike through the field to the upper end.
  • Which looks like this. The Fisherman and Lost Hiker trail continues but you have to search around a bit to find it.
  • Adler's Tongue; aka, Trout Lily, are just beginning to bloom.
  • The trail gets weaker and weaker but discernible. About 1.5 miles from the vehicle, an unnamed stream flows down the south side of Coon Den Ridge and joins The Chattahoochee. The Chattahoochee is on the right. From here on, it is pretty tough bushwhacking.
  • I saw an old logging road on the other side of the Chattahoochee so I crossed. That was a big mistake. The road soon became horribly overgrown and I had to cross back over to the left side; left side looking upstream. Dog Hobble was fierce but I was able to hack my way over to the hillside and found a way into some open woods.
  • The open woods soon disappeared as the mountainsides got steeper. I crossed again at the bottom of some shoals.
  • Not far from the shoals in the last pic, the Chattahoochee makes a left turn to swing around a ridge as another unnamed stream comes in on the right . The mountainsides were steep and I seriously considered stopping here. However, my Garmin said I was only 336 feet from where I thought the waterfall might be. Just out of sight around that ridge. So, I chose the right hand side and started up the bank toward some open woods that I could barely see through the jungle. As luck would have it, this turned out to be a classic logging area: A hundred feet up the mountain was a very old logging road that ran right up to (and beyond) the waterfall!
  • Here it is; a 20+ footer in the middle of nowhere. Located at the 2580 foot level of the Chattahoochee River.
  • A little zoom. Folks, this is a terrific adventure if you are so inclined. The only other reference I have seen of this waterfall is by Alan Cressler <br /> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressler/2708624389/in/photostream/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressler/2708624389/in/photostream/</a>
  • There is a 10 foot shelf directly below where I was standing to take the previous photos but I was too tired to scramble down to see if I could get both drops in the picture.
  • Couldn't help but take a snapshot of the Upper Chattahoochee Falls as I was coming home.
  • Here is the track. Choosing the "correct" side of the river is key to doing the hike. I think the left side (left side looking upstream) until you reach the shoal area just below the second major tributary, is the best choice.
  • The profile shows a steady climb of some 350 feet over the two-plus mile hike in. Elevation change was completely obscured by the difficulty of the bushwhack.
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