Emery Creek Trail
Mileage: 6 mi round-trip
Elevation Gain: 700'
Most of the hiking I've done since moving to Atlanta has been in North Carolina, and particularly, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, the drive to these areas is significantly longer than to North Georgia, so I decided to find some nice spots closer to home that would be feasible for day trips. I saw that the weather for April 18th was going to be extremely overcast, leading to good conditions for waterfall shooting. I had only seen several pictures of the Emery Creek area, but it was promising enough to go explore.
The Emery Creek Trail begins east of Chatsworth, GA. A gravel road continue past the Holly Creek day-use area, and immediately before a sharp switchback in the road is the trail head. The Emery Creek Trail leaves the small parking lot, heading east along the right bank of Holly Creek. Holly Creek is larger than I expected, with many cascades plunging into deep, clear pools. I would imagine that in the summer this area is extremely busy. The trail continues for maybe 0.5 miles up Holly Creek, usually far above the creek on the right. Eventually, the trail and rive emerge at the same level on a small rock bank. To continue along the Emery Creek Trail, you must first ford Holly Creek (I wouldn't want to do this if there had recently been a large amount of rain). There are some thigh-deep fording locations across the creek from the obvious campsite. Immediately after crossing Holly Creek, the trail crosses Emery Creek and continues upstream.
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| Typical crossing of Emery Creek |
My goal for the trip was to get some good waterfall shots in early spring conditions. Spring had definitely arrived to the North Georgia mountains by this point, though most of the fresh leaves were still in the tops of the trees rather than the understory. Quite a few different types of wildflowers lined the trail.
The Emery Creek Trail follows what seems to be an old road or rail road. The area was pretty clearly logged in the past, as many parts of the forest are still dominated by pine trees. The trail fords the river several more times before climbing an unused forest road on the left hand bank. The trail quickly descends back to the river, continuing the never-ending crossings. The lower stretches of Emery Creek are relatively calm, and all of the crossings are easy. In the summer, it might even be possible to cross in places without even getting wet. Some old rusty junk is passed along the trail, along with a hard plastic cooler that looks like it was destroyed by a bear (obvious tooth/claw marks).
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| First Emery Creek falls |
After about 2 or 2.5 miles, the trail crosses the river one more time, and a well-signed spur trail points to the first Emery Creek Falls to the left. The Emery Creek Trail diverges from the creek, and begins climbing a small feeder stream to the right. The first Emery Creek Falls is reached after about a hundred yards along the side trail. The falls cascades down many rock terraces, eventually flowing into a deep pool at the base.
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| Upper portion of the first falls along Emery Creek |
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| View from the top of the first Emery Creek Falls |
Some off-trail stream hiking is needed to continue to the other falls. A guidebook I have on hiking in the N. GA mountains explicitly does not recommend hiking off-trail here. I think this is poor advice - if you're careful, the off-trail hiking is relatively easy. Thankfully, the overcast skies led to fantastic waterfall pictures, even in the middle of the day. For those looking to make this an overnight trip, there are several good camping spots near the base of the first falls.
Continuing up and to the left of the first falls is the easiest path to the 2nd falls. Once the top of the 1st falls is reached, the 2nd falls is immediately visible. The falls is a single cascade flowing over a smooth rock face, with several smaller cascades beneath. There is another great camping spot here, between the first and second falls. Beyond this point, the ravine narrows significantly, reducing good camping places.
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| First view of the 2nd falls along the Emery Creek Trail |
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| 2nd Emery Creek Falls |
Continue above and to the left again, and around the second falls. Above this falls, the creek is essentially a continuous cascade of different varieties. I found that the easiest path is usually to the left of any obstacle, because the mountain is very steep to the right. The rock underneath many of the cascades is slick, so be careful if you choose to hike up any (even small) cascades.
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| Small cascade between the 2nd and 3rd falls |
The distance between the 2nd and 3rd falls is the largest distance between any of the falls. The 3rd falls is shrouded in rhododendrons, which is good for reducing light during the day. The falls has two distinct tiers, and unfortunately there aren't too many interesting foreground compositions beneath this falls due to a fall tree.
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| Third Emery Creek Falls |
Once again, scramble to the top of this falls via an easy route to the left. Above this falls, the fourth Emery Creek falls is visible. This is probably the 2nd tallest of the 5 falls, and is very close in size to the first. The first picture shown below is a blend of two pictures; a darker exposure was hand-blended to obtain better detail in the falls itself.
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| Fourth Emery Creek falls |
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| Fourth Emery Creek falls |
The fifth falls is immediately above the fourth, and is a smaller 'double' falls; I found that this falls was easiest reached by going to the right of falls #4. A relatively deep pool forms at the base, before cascading down to falls #4. A short hike above and to the right of falls #5 takes you back to the Emery Creek Trail, where a right hand turn will take you around a small ridge and down the feeder stream valley. Falls #2 - #4 can be heard (and sometimes seen) far below the trail to the right.
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| Emery Creek falls #5 |
I tried some macro shots of wild flowers on the trail on the way back to the car, but I had a lot of trouble with my two available lenses to get good, close shots. I guess I'll just have to save up for an actual macro lens!
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