Smithgall Woods - Tsalaki Trail to Chunanee Falls (White County, Georgia)

Another site that I have been meaning to visit is the Smithgall Woods Conservation Area, which serves also serves as a Georgia State Park. After some research, it seems that Charles A. Smithgall Jr. assembled the acreage, paid teams to clear trash, plant trees, restock streams, and then sold it to the state at half the appraised value. He is quoted as saying "At some point, a man has to put something back. I hate to see people just take from the land and never put something back." I guess this was his way of doing just that. The land now serves as the protected home of populations of wild turkey, bear, and deer.

The start of the hike along the Tsalaki Trail is paved and after leaving the parking lot almost immediately starts a steep uphill. There area lot of folks out enjoying the oncoming fall weather this morning and as I breeze past them at my normal brisk pace, I wish them a good day. There are a number of side trails available, but two particular ones are of the most interest to me and they are a couple of miles further in.

After about a mile and a half, the pavement ends and the trail becomes a wide gravel road; still very well paved and maintained. I pass an area with a couple of dozen bee boxes, which resides to a field of diminutive sunflowers. I bet that makes for some tasty honey. As I continue on, I pass several sections offering views of Duke's Creek and eventually cross a tall covered bridge over the creek.

Not too far beyond, I find the first of the side trails that I want to explore, which leads to Martin's Mine. I always enjoy exploring in and around mine shafts and this one was apparently active during the northern Georgia gold rush of the 1830's. The trail is a single track and winds around the sloping hillsides. I find the need to wave a stick in front of me to prevent me from running face-first into one or more of the many spider webs stretched across the trail. Apparently, I'm the first person out here in this part of the woods today. Eventually, I reach an area that seems to be cut unnaturally, and as I read some of the information signs, I realize that there is not mine shaft and that this was the site of hydraulic mining. This is a very destructive process that uses pressurized water to eat way the earth and reveal the shiny gold element. While the woods has grown around the area, the scars of these water-cut inlets remain. The stone piers of a small bridge also remain, but there isn't much else to see beyond this - disappointing.

After returning to the trail, I continue on for the next side trail, which is closer to the end of the Tsalaki Trail. This one will take me to Chunanee Falls. A large boulder with a bronze plaque marks the beginning of this side trail. It provides some history and tells of a Cherokee widow that once owned this land prior to the gold rush. The trail is a little rugged and slightly overgrown, but again is a single track through the woods. With the humidity and after running through another spider web, I question whether or not I really want to push on towards the fall, but I convince myself to do so. After about a half-mile of dodging spider webs and low-hanging rhododendron, I finally find the waterfall, which was worth the trip. 

A large house-sized stone juts out from the hillside and one of the many tributary creeks to Duke's Creek washes over it. The water is flowing pretty well today, but I bet it would be stupendous during or immediately after a good downpour. I spend a couple of minutes admiring the waterfall and then turn to go back the way I came. As we have plans this evening and I've already gone slightly longer than I planned on, I need to pick up the pace to make it back to my jeep in time. I eventually do and see that I've covered about 7.4 miles on this hike, most of which was road-walking. Still though, it was a nice pleasant day and it's always nice to get out to see a new waterfall.