We had another double day of mountain biking and hiking planned. We started off in the morning with a drive south to Tiger, GA and began the hunt for the Stonewall Falls and White Twister Trails for some mountain bike action. It took a while to find the trailhead. You have to go down a small gravel forest service road for nearly two miles to get to the unmarked parking area which has no directions on how to get on the loop. The GPS said we were on the wrong road, but the GPS was wrong. The street names in the GPS were off one for the entire length we were on Old Hwy 441. There is one small sign where the gravel road turns off of Old Hwy 441. Once you pass a small water treatment facility on your left, you can park at the first left turnoff to access the White Twister Trail, which starts in the woods on the left side of the main road. Drive about two miles down the gravel road to get to the main parking area for the Stonewall Falls Trail.
I recommend you ride the Stonewall Falls Trail first. It is longer, but way more fun than White Twister. I'd print out a map before you go as some of the signage is confusing. There are several cutoffs that are not on any map I saw, but they can be useful to shorten the loop. I liked the counter-clockwise direction the best. To hit the trail this way, continue up the gravel road beyond the parking area through the gate. The trail enters on the left about 100 yards past the gate. Follow the main trail markers to get in the full 10-mile loop. I was lost as a kitten during my loop, but I found my way around eventually. The trails were very fun. They were a good combo of climbing and rolling trails, all flowing nicely. The trail was all singletrack and way back off in the forest. I loved how remote it was. No sounds of cars, no barking dogs and no people. It was nice.
Scarecrow in the first clearing on the Stonewall Falls loop
Shannon wasn't feeling 10 miles so I did this loop alone. One thing we had noticed this week was the weird mushrooms we had seen on our hikes. Each hike we saw one or two odd mushrooms that were like nothing any we had ever seen before. This trail had dozens of different kinds of mushrooms. Since I knew Shannon would not get to see them, I started taking pictures of some of the unique ones so she could see them. There were plenty to take pictures of. I saw one on a descent that was as tall as my knee! I will post more pictures of the mushrooms in a later blog post.
Orange mushroom
The first seven miles are all typical Georgia forest on the top of the hill, just thicker than most of the forests I have ridden through. Then you get a nice descent down to the creek bottom along Stonewall Creek. It's fairly flat the rest of the loop as you criss-cross Stonewall Creek four times. Two of the crossings are deep enough to require a wade across. Near the end of the loop is two waterfalls about 100 yards apart. The first is not visible from the trail, but you can hear it as you approach. There is a small foot path down a steep bank that takes you to the creek where you can see the waterfall clearly.
Creek crossing
First waterfall on Stonewall Creek
Video: Upper portion of Stonewall Falls
As the main trails exits the woods onto a dirt road you can see the main waterfall on your right.
Stonewall Falls
It was nice to finally reach a waterfall by bike
Video: Lower portion of Stonewall Falls
If you follow the dirt road out from the waterfall, it dumps you out about 50 yards from the parking area on the main gravel road. Turn left and the car is on your left. I hit White Twister instead of taking the dirt road back to the car. This loop is much steeper and rougher, with many areas out in the sun. I didn't care too much for this trail. Maybe I would have liked it more if I had not ridden Stonewall Falls first. It is amazing.
Shannon and I went in for a shorter lap, taking the first left turn along the Stonewall Falls trail. It is labeled as Short Cut. It takes you quickly down to the creek for the final two creek crossings that require the wading. Then you are at the falls. It was just over five miles, a perfect distance for Shannon on a loop with so much climbing. We stopped to examine some more interesting mushrooms then swam in the pool beneath the second falls. It was full of mussels and small fish that nibbled at my toes while I sat in the water. It was very cool to see this waterfall by bike as every other one has been on a hiking trail. We heard thunder often during our ride, but never felt more than a drizzle falling on the trail.
Shannon on the Stonewall Falls Trail
Me wading across the first deep creek crossing
Shannon's turn
I took Shannon down to the first waterfall. It wasn't quite so sunny this time
Mussels on the rocks
Shannon wading through the creek below Stonewall Falls
Cooling off the legs
The area around Stonewall Falls. Would be a great place to camp.
My splash
The butterflies were loving my wet shoes and socks
We then drove a short distance down Hwy 441 to Tallulah Gorge State Park in Tallulah Falls, GA. The Tallulah Gorge is roughly a 1,000-foot deep gorge with the Tallulah River flowing through it forming many rapids and waterfalls along the way. The hiking trails around the gorge provide many views from various perspectives. We walked part of the way down into the gorge to cross the Hurricane Falls Suspension Bridge which hangs over the river. Shannon was not a fan of the bridge, but she went across it. We had descended 400 steps to get to it and had 400 more to get up the other side. The bridge is a nice shortcut across to the opposite side of the gorge. There is a Rim Trail on each side of the gorge. You can descend further beyond the bridge, but it requires a Gorge Floor Permit from the park. We did not get there early enough to get a permit.
Looking down on the Hurricane Falls Suspension bridge from Overlook 1A
Overlook 1A
The gorge from Overlook 1
Inspiration Point
Hurricane Falls Suspension Bridge
Hurricane Falls from the bridge
The stairs on the Hurricane Falls Trail. We have seen a lot of these this week.
It started to rain on us as we crossed the bridge and poured for about 45 minutes. We didn't mind as you could still see into the gorge and the cool rain felt nice on another hot day. The rain deterred all the other visitors. After a few minutes, we were to only people out on the trail. We hiked only 2.8 miles total, but it was a tough hike with all the stairs.
Looking across the gorge to the Interpretive Center through the rain from Overlook 8
Hurricane Falls from Overlook 9
Stone bench under a rock overhang. Kept us dry during the last part of the rain shower.
Tempesta Falls from Overlook 7
Tempesta Falls
Overlook 7
Hurricane Falls Suspension bridge from Overlook 7
Map of our hike around and through Tallulah Gorge from my Garmin
The water flow through the gorge is now controlled by the Tallulah Gorge Dam. They open it one weekend per year in the spring and allow for full water flow through the gorge. I would love to be down here for that and see what the gorge looked like in its natural state. When the dam was initially built they stopped all water flow through the gorge to send water to a hydroelectric plant which services Atlanta. Now they allow steady flow through the gorge, but it is nowhere near the amount of water that comes through naturally.
Tallulah Falls Lake, formed by the dam
Tallulah Gorge Dam
Tallulah Gorge Dam from Overlook 5
Overlook 4
On our way back to the campground, we stopped to check out Black Rock Lake. We hiked a 0.9-mile loop around the lake just before sunset. The loop was full of mountain views. It was a nice way to end the day.
Black Rock Lake
Another interesting mushroom, this time on the Black Rock Lake Trail
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