North Georgia Day-Cation, Summer 2025

It’s summer, Wally is on break from school, and I have a day off from the store, Magnolia Moon, so I said, let’s do something! Maybe run up to Dahlonega for lunch and a hike. So, Wally started planning—he loves to plan trips and investigate trails.

After our morning caffeine, we drove the hour up to Dahlonega, famous for its gold mines and expulsion of the Cherokee in the 1830s. Now, it is a cute tourist spot within easy reach of Atlanta, an inviting town square of boutiques, antique stores and restaurants, wineries, and easy access to hiking trails. Breakfast at the Foothills Grill, a local establishment with the quirks of rural Georgia, log cabin look, sign on the wall asking customers to not fiddle with the AC vents, color photos of the landscape decorating the walls, folks gossiping into the late morning. I had the buttermilk pancakes with blueberries and Wally went for the Lotsa Meat Omelette—five different meats laden in their greases. We also got their famous Cinnamon Roll—a bit heavy and ordinary. But a good meal to get us going.

We are in the foothills and hills of North Georgia here. Lots of winding roads, trees, vacation cabins tucked away, pleasant valley pastures, small brick houses and mobile homes. Yards decorated with rusted out pick-up trucks. Some Trump signs.

Our first hike, Dick’s Creek Falls. To get there, we had to go around Trahlyta’s Grave at Stone Pile Gap, a traffic circle around the supposed grave of Trahlyta. According to legend, the Cherokee princess Trahlyta was kidnapped by a rejected suitor, Wahsega, taken far away and lost her beauty. As she was dying, Wahsega promised to bury her near her home and its magic springs. Custom arose among the Indians and later the Whites to drop stones, one for each passerby, on her grave for good fortune (Georgia Historical Society). We did not get a chance to lay a stone on the pile to commemorate Trahlyta, but I noticed housing subdivisions named in her honor.

Then, we followed an increasingly narrow and then gravel road marked with No Trespassing, No Fishing, and No Hunting signs, drove through a murky pothole, and finally got the end of the road at the gravel Georgia Forestry parking lot. A quick walk got us to the falls, pretty without being grand. Serene, and then I heard a child squealing and saw a small family, Dad, Mom, kid, playing in the shallows below the falls, their towels and floaties scattered on the rocks while they splashed around. A perfect place for a private, cool getaway.

Next stop, Desoto Falls Trail. This was our long trail (about 2 miles)—first to the upper falls and then the lower falls. We took our walking sticks with us. I find a hiking stick helps with balance as I step over rocks and tree roots and clamber up or down sets of steps or boulders. I remarked to Wally that this was our first out-of-town hike since his heart surgery almost a year ago. Our walks around town have been mainly on flat boardwalks that are part of the Big Creek Trailway. Since we went sightseeing on a Wednesday, there weren’t too many other folks out. But as we were sitting on the bench at the falls viewing point, a mom and her three young adults came up to admire the view. She apologized in her loud voice for blocking our view and promptly plopped her large self on the bench, taking up some of my space. Getting up from my seat, I discovered that someone had moved my walking stick. That was the signal to leave the now not so serene spot and head to the lower falls, only to be met again by the mom and her crew.

Even so, it was good to be hiking again, under the canopy of trees, some rhododendrons still in bloom—white petals and pale pink stamens—fern and moss, some random mushrooms, fallen trees on the ground. The sounds of birds chirping, vireos that Wally identified on the Cornell Merlin app, cicadas to let you know that it is really summer, the gurgle and splash of the water, the crunch of our shoes on the path. Even though we were consistently in deep shade, the sultry, steamy air had us getting a bit steamy ourselves.

Going to the Desoto Falls, I was reminded of the time that Cameron and her Girl Scout troop in Auburn spent the night in the Desoto Caverns near Birmingham. Groups can rent out a room in the cavern for an overnight adventure—and what an adventure it became as some creeper kept spying on the girls and beckoning them to follow him to other side rooms. The adults were all on the alert. Not much sleep on that outing.

After our hike at Desoto Falls, we drove to Neels Gap, a waystation for Appalachian Trail hikers. It is a rock building, probably built in the 1930s. In the trees at the entrance to the center, hiking boots flung by trail finishers dangled from the trees, as if they were the fruit of some mountain species. There was a scant “interpretive” center that sketched the history of the Trail and a store where folks can buy tee-shirts, camping gear, and food. We got some diet cokes and a bag of Doritos, much needed after our hike, and then we were back on the road, around and about the hills and lakes.

Our last stop was the Loop Trail around Dockery Lake, a short, flat trail around the lake to finish off the day. It is a remote site, off another gravel road, with some basic picnic and camping sites for folks. We saw only one tent tucked under the trees. A very quiet spot.

Then home.