Hiking Amicalola Falls

Having recently spent over $800 on a gut-wrenching car repair, my objective last weekend was to take advantage of the beautiful early fall weather without spending an arm and a leg. Naturally, my first thought was to go hiking and as many folks in metro Atlanta will attest to, there aren’t a whole heck of a lot of places better than Amicalola Falls in Dawsonville, GA.

Located just about an hour and a half north of Atlanta, Amicalola Falls is a pretty popular hiking destination for those looking for an escape from the endless hustle and bustle of the city. Not only are there some beautiful waterfalls along the main trail, but if you can muster the eight and half-mile hike, you can actually reach Springer Mountain which is part of the Appalachian Trail which leads all the way to the state of Maine. In other words, it makes for a perfect day trip if you’re looking to get outside, get some exercise, and take in some truly gorgeous scenery.

My girlfriend and I were joined by one of her friends from work and her husband. We headed for the mountains at around 11:30 on Saturday morning and after taking a couple of wrong turns (GPS is kind of spotty up there – surprise, surprise), we made it there just a little after 1:00.

After gawking at the giant rattle snake in the nature center for a while (and the guy wearing the coon skin hat), we hit the trail. It started out pretty easy, but at about a mile in, it became a little strenuous as we made our way to the top of the falls.  At one point, we ran into a gentleman who must have been in his seventies who was literally running up the mountain as fast as he possibly could – it was pretty amazing considering that he probably could have beat me to the top on his worst day.

Amicalola Falls

When we finally made it to the waterfalls, we oohed and ahhed for a while, took a few pictures, and climbed up the remaining 400+ stairs to the top of the mountain which had some pretty amazing views of the valleys below.

425 steps to the top

View from the top of Amicalola Falls

The descent down was a much-needed reprieve from the workout we received on our way up and also provided awesome views of the landscape below.

All said and done, the hike might have taken just a hair over two hours, and before I knew it, we were back in the car and on the hunt for a bar-b-q place to replenish the calories we lost on the hike. Again, due to spotty GPS and cellular reception, we missed a few of the lesser-known, hole in the wall places (typically my favorite), but we did manage to make it to a small chain called Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q which really wasn’t bad at all (for a chain). I got some kind of double-decker sandwich with pulled-pork on the bottom and super-tender brisket on the top and needless to say, it hit the spot. As an added bonus, they had a bottle of Chipotle-flavored Tabasco sauce on the table which I had never seen before and after drenching my sandwich in it, I can honestly say that it’s probably one of the most delicious hot sauces I’ve ever had. It’s available by the gallon jug if you’re interested in buying some for a friend or family member (hint hint, wink wink).