Artfuldodger
Senior Member
This is the one off Hwy 441. We got on the trial about 5:20pm last Friday. It was myself, my daughter, and her dog. We made it to the first campsite close to the creek and barely set up camp before dark. We ate Ramen noodles in the dark. Got up the next morning and saw lots of folks hiking in past our site. I was warned about the crowds and they were right. It was pretty crowded by Saturday afternoon.
We broke camp and hiked on to the first little waterfall and stopped for lunch. Lots of day hiker passing us all day. The trail itself is rated as high moderate. We had to get low to pass under a few outcropping rocks. Passed over a few creeks but feet stayed dry all the way.
The trail is nice as it passed through both the Piedmont and Mountain Eco-systems. One sandy part reminded me of South Georgia. It's in between two mountain parts of the terrain.
The rough part of the trail is right before you get to the main falls. Lots of rocks, roots, fallen trees, and mud.
I wasn't aware the falls was down in a gorge. So you have to walk along the side of the gorge wall and then descend the last part of the trail almost straight down to the gorge floor. This by itself isn't too bad for day hikers but for backpackers with a dog it was a little unnerving.
Plus we had about 10 day hikers waiting on us to do down and 10 day hikers waiting on us to come up.
It was a trail traffic funnel.
We made it into the gorge and although the beauty of the falls and sandbar was appealing, the crowd was not. It looked like a music festival campsite with all the tents and hammocks. Luckily most of the folks were day hikers.
Being in a gorge and the floor being limited, we had trouble finding a site to camp. We settled on a site on the beach. It was the site farther away from the other campers but closer to the day hikers. We knew they would be gone by dark. I guess there was about five different camping groups when we got there. One was a lady with about five young teenage girls. The others were mixed young to middle-aged groups. Lots of day hikers as well.
We set up our hammocks and flys. Then we went swimming a bit and had supper. We felt like we were in the center of the crowd and were giving a "camping demonstration." People were saying "are you sleeping under those things," as they couldn't see our hammocks.
We thought we were getting away from the other campers as well as we could on the limited gorge floor but for the rest of the afternoon campers and day hikers poured in. We kept saying "this has got to be it. It's getting dark." Some came in right before dark. Must have been about 10 groups before the madness stopped. Most were groups of only 3 or 4 but still it was overcrowded.
These three young ladies set up right next to us, then a group of three young couples set up right behind us. Their tent was about 10 feet from my daughter's hammock. Everyone was nice but it was a bit noisy.
Luckily the falls was so loud it drowned out their chatter.
The falls provided great white noise for sleeping.
Two groups had unleashed and unattended dogs running around. That was annoying. There was really no good place for a latrine. People were using the bathroom all over the place and not covering it up. There was toilet paper hanging over bushes next to the creek.
We did find a little trail halfway up the gorge wall to use for a latrine.
The rest of the campers left Sunday and we had Sunday night to ourselves. Day hikers poured in both days. Some would look at the falls for 5 minutes and leave. Others would hang hammocks and take a short nap. Most would eat a light snack. Some brought sub sandwiches and burritos. Most were nice and would ask questions about our campsite and hammocks, etc.
About half the day hikers would swim. It was a warm weekend. It rained a bit Sunday night starting about 1AM until 3AM. Monday was nice. No one there when we woke up. It was also less humid and a little bit cooler. We had a nice hike out only seeing a few day hikers.
I would suggest not going on a weekend. I think that in the future, if we go back, we will camp somewhere along the creek and day hike to the falls. There were a few nice campsites along the way that were scenic. You'd still have all the day hikers passing close to your campsite though. I'd still rather not go on a weekend even doing that.
We could hike in and set up camp at a spot for 2 or 3 nights before the falls. Then get up the next morning and day hike to the falls. Then back to our base camp for the night.
It's a nice trail and about the closest mountain trail from Augusta. It's even closer to Atlanta and this is why it's so popular. Most everyone we met was from the Atlanta area. Very different from most trails I've been on before.
I'd say go if you never been just don't go on a weekend. Especially if you plan on camping at the falls.
In the end it was fun. I'd go again.
We broke camp and hiked on to the first little waterfall and stopped for lunch. Lots of day hiker passing us all day. The trail itself is rated as high moderate. We had to get low to pass under a few outcropping rocks. Passed over a few creeks but feet stayed dry all the way.
The trail is nice as it passed through both the Piedmont and Mountain Eco-systems. One sandy part reminded me of South Georgia. It's in between two mountain parts of the terrain.
The rough part of the trail is right before you get to the main falls. Lots of rocks, roots, fallen trees, and mud.
I wasn't aware the falls was down in a gorge. So you have to walk along the side of the gorge wall and then descend the last part of the trail almost straight down to the gorge floor. This by itself isn't too bad for day hikers but for backpackers with a dog it was a little unnerving.
Plus we had about 10 day hikers waiting on us to do down and 10 day hikers waiting on us to come up.
It was a trail traffic funnel.
We made it into the gorge and although the beauty of the falls and sandbar was appealing, the crowd was not. It looked like a music festival campsite with all the tents and hammocks. Luckily most of the folks were day hikers.
Being in a gorge and the floor being limited, we had trouble finding a site to camp. We settled on a site on the beach. It was the site farther away from the other campers but closer to the day hikers. We knew they would be gone by dark. I guess there was about five different camping groups when we got there. One was a lady with about five young teenage girls. The others were mixed young to middle-aged groups. Lots of day hikers as well.
We set up our hammocks and flys. Then we went swimming a bit and had supper. We felt like we were in the center of the crowd and were giving a "camping demonstration." People were saying "are you sleeping under those things," as they couldn't see our hammocks.
We thought we were getting away from the other campers as well as we could on the limited gorge floor but for the rest of the afternoon campers and day hikers poured in. We kept saying "this has got to be it. It's getting dark." Some came in right before dark. Must have been about 10 groups before the madness stopped. Most were groups of only 3 or 4 but still it was overcrowded.
These three young ladies set up right next to us, then a group of three young couples set up right behind us. Their tent was about 10 feet from my daughter's hammock. Everyone was nice but it was a bit noisy.
Luckily the falls was so loud it drowned out their chatter.
The falls provided great white noise for sleeping.
Two groups had unleashed and unattended dogs running around. That was annoying. There was really no good place for a latrine. People were using the bathroom all over the place and not covering it up. There was toilet paper hanging over bushes next to the creek.
We did find a little trail halfway up the gorge wall to use for a latrine.
The rest of the campers left Sunday and we had Sunday night to ourselves. Day hikers poured in both days. Some would look at the falls for 5 minutes and leave. Others would hang hammocks and take a short nap. Most would eat a light snack. Some brought sub sandwiches and burritos. Most were nice and would ask questions about our campsite and hammocks, etc.
About half the day hikers would swim. It was a warm weekend. It rained a bit Sunday night starting about 1AM until 3AM. Monday was nice. No one there when we woke up. It was also less humid and a little bit cooler. We had a nice hike out only seeing a few day hikers.
I would suggest not going on a weekend. I think that in the future, if we go back, we will camp somewhere along the creek and day hike to the falls. There were a few nice campsites along the way that were scenic. You'd still have all the day hikers passing close to your campsite though. I'd still rather not go on a weekend even doing that.
We could hike in and set up camp at a spot for 2 or 3 nights before the falls. Then get up the next morning and day hike to the falls. Then back to our base camp for the night.
It's a nice trail and about the closest mountain trail from Augusta. It's even closer to Atlanta and this is why it's so popular. Most everyone we met was from the Atlanta area. Very different from most trails I've been on before.
I'd say go if you never been just don't go on a weekend. Especially if you plan on camping at the falls.
In the end it was fun. I'd go again.
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