2. Hiking Adventures

Hellhole Falls on Wildcat Creek

Describes a hike to a waterfall on Wildcat Creek just downstream from Hellhole Branch in Rabun County.
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Several waterfalls are easily seen from Wildcat Road in Rabun County. Jack Anthony has pics of the first two at 1.3 miles from Hwy 197<br /> <a href="http://www.jackanthonyphotography.com/yahoola/waterfalls/falls/wildcat-creek-falls.html">http://www.jackanthonyphotography.com/yahoola/waterfalls/falls/wildcat-creek-falls.html</a> Mark Morrison describes a third waterfall at 3.8 miles from Hwy 197. Today's hike describes a visit to a fourth waterfall in between the lower two and the upper one. Just under 2.2 miles from Hwy 197, Wildcat Road tops a hill and makes a sharp left turn through a cut. FS 261 C is on the left after you round the corner. Just beyond FS 261 C is a pull out. Turn around and park here.
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Several waterfalls are easily seen from Wildcat Road in Rabun County. Jack Anthony has pics of the first two at 1.3 miles from Hwy 197
http://www.jackanthonyphotography.com/yahoola/waterfalls/falls/wildcat-creek-falls.html Mark Morrison describes a third waterfall at 3.8 miles from Hwy 197. Today's hike describes a visit to a fourth waterfall in between the lower two and the upper one. Just under 2.2 miles from Hwy 197, Wildcat Road tops a hill and makes a sharp left turn through a cut. FS 261 C is on the left after you round the corner. Just beyond FS 261 C is a pull out. Turn around and park here.

  • Several waterfalls are easily seen from Wildcat Road in Rabun County. Jack Anthony has pics of the first two at 1.3 miles from Hwy 197<br /> <a href="http://www.jackanthonyphotography.com/yahoola/waterfalls/falls/wildcat-creek-falls.html">http://www.jackanthonyphotography.com/yahoola/waterfalls/falls/wildcat-creek-falls.html</a> Mark Morrison describes a third waterfall at 3.8 miles from Hwy 197. Today's hike describes a visit to a fourth waterfall in between the lower two and the upper one. Just under 2.2 miles from Hwy 197, Wildcat Road tops a hill and makes a sharp left turn through a cut. FS 261 C is on the left after you round the corner. Just beyond FS 261 C is a pull out. Turn around and park here.
  • Up front, let me say this hike is for experienced off-trail Hikers/Waterfallers. Ordinary folks should not go. Walk back down the road to the cut and climb the bank on the left.
  • A fisherman's trail leads down the spine of the ridge all the way to the creek.
  • It is an easy scramble to the creek. This pic looks upstream. Hellhole Branch is just out of sight, upstream on the right.
  • This pic looks down stream. As you can see, the trail takes you to the top of the waterfall; not a good place to be. I always try to direct/lead people to the bottom of waterfalls. CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! Do not try to peer over the falls from this side of the creek.
  • To see the waterfall and stay alive, you have to cross the creek. Today was pretty easy as long as you have two hiking sticks to stabilize your crossing. Don't even try it in high water; come back another day.
  • Once safely on the other side, begin working your way down the left bank following a fisherman's trail. The first place you come to is this beautiful pool just below where you crossed. The main attraction is immediately down stream, to the left. DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! Do not try to get any pictures of the main waterfall from here. Back on the trail, the real work begins. Over some fallen trees and down a very steep bank; not overly tough for genuine bushwhackers.
  • The view from the bottom. About 21 feet high.
  • There is a big pile of clutter at the bottom. All my shots are close-in to avoid the ugly stuff.
  • Just so not as to mislead you, here is the big picture. Brush pile getting bigger after every heavy rain.
  • Two hundred feet down stream on the other side of these logs, is a 10 - 12 foot high, 45 degree-angle, cascade.
  • Terrible picture. I didn't see any easy way down to the bottom so I snapped a pic from the top. I am calling this cascade "Lens Cap Falls". I left one there.
  • Initially, I tried to reach the bottom from the right side of the waterfall. Here is a pic I took from that side. Not the way to get down; vertical banks and cliffs.
  • This GPSVisualizer Terrain map shows where the waterfall is. Located at the 2240 foot level of Wildcat Creek, it is just down stream from Hellhole Branch. Let's call it "Hellhole Falls"! Maybe, 200 - 300 yards one way.
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