On a very cold fall morning (actually, late morning as it was 11:45AM) I started what would be a super cool hike in Cloudland Canyon State Park in NW Georgia. NW as in the true corner of Georgia where it meets Alabama and Tennessee, in the Cumberland Plateau. A friend selected this state park, two hours’ drive away from Atlanta, for our Sunday hike. Excellent choice!
The state park offers several trails but the most epic one is the one that allows the hiker to properly appreciate the Cloudland Canyon: the West Rim Loop Trail. Oh, and worth noting the park offers fishing, horseback riding trails, picnicking and the like. For those not hard-core hikers, the Overlook Trail offers a way to see some of the beauty.
The West Rim Loop Trail
The trail actually starts with an in-and-out section that is about 1-mile+ long that crosses Daniel Creek. It is worth noting (and expressing gratitude!) that this state park is so well prepared for us hikers. It has excellent, readable signage (Iowa State University is a sponsor or supporter of these – thank you!) and very reliable trail markers (yellow for the West Rim Loop Trail).
Also, there are many well-prepared lookouts, many with very good and sturdy railings, and some vantage points just left open as nature set them up!
At the end of it (35 minutes later), it meets up with the loop part of the trail, about a 2-mile hike reaching about 1,900 ft altitude. We completely guesses which way to go once we got to the loop and we opted to go left.
Good choice. Though it starts with a long uphill, the left side offered a great view over a plain-like area and a town that I believe was Trenton, Georgia. At some point, the loop hit a rocky promontory sort halfway through and then the trail turned to face to east rim and rockface of the Cloudland Canyon.
Checking out rock formations
There are some magnificent rock formations of different sorts, which are also seen further south in the trails of north Atlanta.
Certainly, one can envision how the natives in the area used those formations for their shelter.
The walls of a grand canyon
Wow! What a spectacular and long canyon-face! Certainly that was the part to see after passing the mid-point of the loop! One is rewarded with many lookouts (in-and-out very short trails) to enjoy the view.
Overall, the West Rim Loop Trail is 5 miles long. It took us 3 hours with the stops we made on the lookouts, random photos and snack/water breaks. There were other hikers but far from “crowded”.
One neat thing is that there are yurts and cabins in this trail. I think it would be awesome to do an overnight or two and see the scenery at different times of day.
Oh, and there’s more! Waterfalls!
Once we finished the trail, we went to see Cherokee Falls which is near the entrance to the trail. It is a spectacular climb down stairs (with the subsequent climb back up!) to get to it. The path that is not a staircase is much easier to handle!
One passes a MASSIVE boulder hanging over the trail (with a bench under it).
The waterfall setting is well worth the trouble as were those at Panther Creek, another rewarding hike to a waterfall in north Georgia. My knees were a little sore when we finished the loop trail but, boy, did I make the right choice going down to see the waterfalls! The roundtrip to see the waterfall was a mile. Another mile roundtrip would have taken us to a downstream waterfall, Hemlock Falls. But, at 6 miles and my knees, I was glad to leave that for a future visit!
If I were to return, besides trying to stay overnight at a yurt or cabin, I would certainly do it a little earlier in the fall because the color change of the trees would only add another level of spectacular to what is already a spectacular setting!
