Hiking de Soto Falls
Dec 1st, 2009 by Admin 1
Nearest Town: Dahlonega, Ga
Directions: From Blairsville, GA take U.S. Highway 19/129 south for 17.0 miles to campground entrance on right.
From Dahlonega, GA take Highway 19 north for 18.0 miles to campground entrance on left.
On Thanksgiving day we went out to eat at The Smith House in Dahlonega with our extended family. We all ate too much so everyone was up for a hike afterward. De Soto Falls is only about 20 minutes outside of town so we headed up there after dinner.
The de Soto Falls Trail begins at the bridge in the lower loop of the de Soto Falls Recreation Area campground in the Chattahoochee National Forest. This trail is short and easy . The Lower Falls are 0.25 mile downstream but the trail is steepest here. A short ascent up some switchbacks and you’re there. There’s a deck platform with benches to sit and take in the falls at both ends. 
The Upper Falls are 0.75 mile upstream from the trailhead so if you do both, you cover 2 miles in and out. This is definitely more of a scenic walk than a fitness hike but it is very relaxing and worth checking out. We had 10 children with us ranging from ages 1 to 12. The 1 year old was in a backpack, but we had a 2 year old on foot and he had no problem with this hike.
We have never camped here, but the camp area looked nice and clean with most of the sites running along Frogtown Creek. It is a good spot for car camping and we plan to check it out in the spring.
In the interest of full disclosure the above picture was not taken by us. Our camera is broken so we needed to pull one online. Once we get another camera I’ll head back up and snap a few of my own.
Just beware of the motorcycle noise from 129, it’s loud.
Thanks Ashlee. We didn’t notice it because we were there on Thanksgiving so there wasn’t as much bike traffic that day.
Admin
Thank you for your honesty about the photograph. As a photographer myself, I would like to add that often times if you ask for permission and post a link to the image it is much appreciated and often very welcome!
I just found your blog and recently started hiking…it looks like your site has a wealth of information and will be very helpful. I look forward to reading more!