Since we never get out and about much on trips up to Atlanta, this time we took a trip out to Amicalola Falls up in the North Georgia mountains, near Dawsonville. I forget where I started googling around looking at waterfalls in GA, but probably something in the book I’m currently reading got me looking around for outdoorsy things to do while we were up there.

The falls are actually the tallest of all the waterfalls in Georgia, with a 729-foot drop!

The drive out was about an hour and fifteen minutes, so it’s easy to get up there for a day trip from Atlanta. We got there about noon, with completely clear skies and gorgeous weather in the mid- to upper-fifties. Couldn’t have asked for anything better. We first started off checking out the visitors’ center real quick to get a map and see what they had, then we drove to the base where there’s a reflecting pool, as well as the Appalachian trailheads. We hiked up probably halfway, where there’s a footbridge to walk over. That first half grade isn’t too steep, but after that point it goes almost vertical and it’s all stairs on the wooden boardwalks they’ve constructed ascending the face of the mountain. We opted not to do the hike all the way up, mostly since that would mean having to do the descent, too. I was wearing Elyse in her carrier, and that’s actually worse (and somewhat dangerous) to walk down the treacherous stairs with low visibility over her, plus the weak knees after a while. We drove up to the summit and looked out over the valley — gorgeous view.

After leaving Amicalola, we drove over to Dahlonega just to stop in the downtown area and see what was up during the holiday season. It was super busy around the town square, and we didn’t do much but grab some coffees, walk around the block, and pop back into the van for the drive back into town. Elyse sat with her first Santa!