Is Hiking Amicalola Falls State Park as Great as It Sounds?

Amicalola Falls is an 829 acre state park located near Dawsonville, Georgia. The park is famous for having the tallest waterfall in Georgia (729 feet) and having some pretty spectacular hiking trails.

A great way to enjoy this park is by staying at the Amicalola Lodge which is located inside the park after a very steep drive! The Lodge has modest, clean and functional rooms. Our room came with two delightful chairs on the patio where we sat in the evening watching bats dive and dart as they caught insects for their dinner!

It was a long drive to reach the Lodge so after we checked in we immediately headed out to find a hiking trail so we could properly stretch our legs. The first trailhead we found was literally right outside the Lodge and was for the Lodge Fitness Trail.

Lodge Fitness Trail

The Fitness Trail was pretty comical. Given the name we thought this would be a rigorous hike but the exact opposite was true. The trail is mostly paved and about a quarter of a mile long with little elevation change.

The “Fitness” part of the trail involved suggested exercises that you could perform as you learned about local wildlife. For example, at one station you could learn about Big Brown Bats and then do 20 jumping jacks. Bats are pretty cool but I don't think doing jumping jacks is going to make me look like one!

We got a good laugh out of the Fitness Trail, grabbed some dinner and then headed back to our room to enjoy an amazing sunset. FYI...the Lodge is designed such that all of the rooms face the mountains so all guests can enjoy the sunsets!

Amicalola Falls Loop Trail

The next day we got up and found the trailhead for the Amicalola Falls Loop Trail. This loop trail is about two miles long and has massive elevation changes. The unique aspect of the trail is that it is almost entirely composed of staircases!

Here is a video showing what it is like to hike this trail.

The views on the trail were stunning but the staircases made it feel like it wasn’t really hiking.

Creek Trail and Mountain Laurel Trail

We took a quick break after hiking the falls and decided we wanted to hike a more primitive trail. The easy decision was to start at the Creek Trail, hike for about a mile and then cut over to the Mountain Laurel Trail.

The Creek Trail was well marked with yellow blazes while the green blazes of the Mountain Laurel Trail made staying on the path easy. While the trails were well marked they were not what I would call easy. There was plenty of slipping and sliding and I ended up with a few bumps and bruises. No complaints though….overall it was an awesome hike through the woods and exactly what we had in mind.

Appalachian Approach Trail

The most famous trail in the park is the Appalachian Approach Trail and is sacred ground for a tribe of hardcore hikers. The Approach Trail is about eight miles long and takes hikers from Amicalola State Park to the top of Springer Mountain, the official starting point of the Appalachian Trail.

The Appalachian Trail (AT) is one of the most iconic hiking trails in the world. The trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and is over 2,000 miles long. Completing the full distance of the trail can take up to six months! There is tremendous camaraderie along the AT and the people who manage to complete the entire trail together share powerful lifelong memories.

We did not hike the full length of the Approach Trail as it would have been a 16 mile loop and we had already put in some serious mileage. The trail has some pretty steep inclines as it takes you up to Springer Mountain and one of the hikers we met said she saw some bear activity.

Great Park With Varied Trails

The take away we had is that the reputation of Amicalola State Park as a great place to hike is well warranted.

You can go on a silly short walk along the Fitness Trai, catch amazing views while hiking to the top of Georgia’s tallest waterfall or bustle about in the woods on more primitive trails. Once you get the hiking bug then you can always come back and hit the Approach Trail to start the greatest hiking adventure of all as you start a journey on the AT.