Three of My Favorite Things!!

What a set of memories with three of my very favorite things; spending time with my son, viewing beautiful Waterfalls, and camping – especially in one of the Yurts of Georgia State Parks.  We camped in Yurt #5 at Cloudland Canyon SP which is nestled up in the northwestern-most part of the state sitting atop Lookout Mountain.

After a filling breakfast, we started our hike from the Yurt Village over to the main trailhead.  While Gretchen wasn't with us on this trip, we made sure to take some photos of all the weird nature stuff she likes such as this shelf fungus.

We were heading downhill towards the falls and it wasn't too long before we could hear some water heading to the start of the giant plunges that awaited us.

But before we got down there, we had to make our way down into the canyon and were greeted by a bunch of rock faces on our descent.

After MANY steps, we finally got down below the first waterfall, Cherokee Falls, and headed back upstream towards it.

Then we were pleased to find this 75 foot plunge.  The pictures simply do not do justice to this waterfall; it must be seen in person.

When then headed back downstream.

And down even more stairs as we headed towards Hemlock Falls.

And yes, even more stairs...

The trails are extremely well maintained at Cloudland Canyon SP.  It is a great experience for all.

And if you ever forget on the hike how the park got its name, you just had to look up!

We finally could hear the loud rumbling of Hemlock Falls.  If you look closely in the next picture you can see it behind the trees.

We finally got there.  Connor beat me to the deck as I was getting tired thinking about climbing back up.

As with its slightly smaller sister, you have to be there in person to hear the thunderous sound of this 100 foot plunge.  It was magnificent!

I'm not going to lie, the walk back up all of those stairs felt even more miserable then the ones you find Camping at Amicalola Falls State Park, but it was definitely worth getting a chance to see these gigantic and powerful waterfalls.  I'd be glad to do it all over again; especially if Connor would accompany me.  When you finally do make it back to the top you are blessed with some awesome vistas of the canyon below.

You even can see Hemlock Falls from above.

Not to mention some great photo opportunities of the 180 foot tiered West Rim Falls.

If these waterfall pictures have motivated you to make it out to Cloudland Canyon SP, keep in mind that in late winter, spring, and early summer, and after heavy rains, the falls here will really rumble.  Later in the year, smaller cascades might be reduced to a just a trickle and you really don't want to walk all the way down, much less back up, those stairs if you aren't going to get to see these waterfalls at full power.