Cloudland Canyon State Park
Cloudland Canyon State Park – Rising Fawn, GA
On the second weekend of September, Jesse and I decided to go on a hike at Cloudland Canyon State Park in Rising Fawn, Georgia. This is in the northwest corner of Georgia and is close to the Tennessee border. We have hiked Cloudland Canyon two times. On both of these previous occasions, we did the Waterfalls Trail. Although this is the most scenic trail, it is extremely difficult. This is the only trail I have thrown up on! I know it’s embarrassing, but those stairs coming out of the canyon are no joke.
Luckily, Cloudland Canyon has 64 miles of trails! For this weekend hike, we decided to do the West Rim Loop Trail. This is a 5-mile lollipop trail. Unfortunately, we got to the park fairly late in the day and did not start hiking until around 3:45 pm. We finished hiking at 5:30 pm and covered 2.69 miles of the trail. If we had gone earlier, we would have easily been able to finish all 5 miles.
This trail starts at the main trailhead at the top of the Canyon. Luckily, there is only one staircase on this trail. The West Rim Loop Trail is marked with yellow blazes. The trail breaks away from the Waterfalls Trail and takes you along the far left of the canyon. It then curves around, and before you know it, you are looking at your starting point from across the canyon!
This trail partially follows Daniel Creek, which is the creek that forms the waterfalls in the canyon. As you follow the trail, you also pass by giant rock formations and a cave. You also hike behind the yurt campground. If you are camping there, you have convenient access to trails from the campgrounds. This trail is very rocky and rooty, as well. But that being said, there are several flat parts of the trail.
Early Fall Colors at this North Georgia State Park!
One of our favorite parts of this hike was seeing the early fall color! Of course, North Georgia’s higher elevations cause leaves to turn earlier than other parts of the state. This was not a full-blown fall color experience, but it was exciting to see some of the trees starting to turn.
We turned around on our hike at the beginning of the West Rim Loop’s lollipop loop. After finishing our hike, we decided to hunt for a brewery nearby. Rising Fawn is a small town of under 5,000 people. There is not much in the town, but it is not far at all from Chattanooga – it is only 39 minutes away. This is a longer drive than we typically do for a post-hike beer, but we definitely deserved a cold one after that hike. We ended up at Five Wits Brewing Company!
Tips for your trip:
- Make sure to stop by the visitor center and interpretive center on your visit to Cloudland Canyon. You can learn about the local wildlife of the canyon at the interpretive center.
- The most popular trail at Cloudland Canyon is the Waterfalls Trail. But if you hike it, be aware that it is extremely hard. It is comparable to hiking down Tallulah Gorge. Think twice before you do this trail – and if you do, take plenty of breaks and try not go on a hot day.
Cloudland Canyon State Park
122 Cloudland Canyon Park Road
Rising Fawn, GA 30738 (Google Map)
gastateparks.org/CloudlandCanyon
GPS Coordinates: N 34.8402630 | W -85.4828810
Elevation: Varies from 800 to over 1,800 feet
Cloudland Canyon State Park Trail Map (PDF)
