Raven Cliff Falls (White County, Georgia)

 

Next stop on today's itinerary is a hike to Raven Cliff and the waterfall that cuts through it. The hike begins at a pretty standard trail head and thanks to my National Parks Pass, I can avoid paying the parking fee. Departing the gravel entrance road, the trail immediately enters a beautifully wooded area and follows Dodd Creek.

The trail is well worn and leaves little doubt of the route. There is a little up and down and a couple of log bridges, one over the main creek and a couple of side streams feeding it. All in all though, it's a really easy hike and I'm able to get into a good pace of nearly four miles an hour. My pace does tend to get interrupted often though by the beauty of this area. In addition to Raven Cliff Falls, which is the main attraction, there are a number of other waterfalls along this creek, some of them being pretty spectacular.

The water of the creek itself is beautifully clear. I was just commenting last week about how the waters of the Chattahoochee River are so muddy in comparison to the waterways I've become accustomed to while living in the Sierra Nevada. This stream, though, is much closer to the crystal clear waters I'm used to and I love it.

It seems quite a few others had similar ideas about hiking this trail today as it is somewhat busy, but I would guess it gets even busier on a normal weekend. It's probably good that I decided to hike this trail today.

Finally arriving at the end of the trail, Raven Cliff, a fractured piece of granite rises a couple of hundred feet above me and the namesake waterfall has hollowed out a path through the fracture. It's actually quite stunning. A series of cascading falls bring the water down to a more level area where the crowds are, but I, of course, have to do a little climbing to get a better view of the labors of the falling water. It's a stunning feature and while I can only see hints of the water above the cliff and through the fissure, I can see how deep the water has carved into the fault in the granite; enough to form a large pool within the mass of stone. It's breathtaking.

After spending a few minutes, I head back the way I came and return to the parking lot a short time later. The return trip was uneventful, but I was able to get in an additional 5.5 miles on this trail today. I must say that this is probably my favorite hike since arriving in Georgia.