A few weeks back we went up to Lake Rabun to familiarize ourselves with hiking and some of the falls in that area. Minnehaha and Bad Branch were the two waterfalls that we saw that day. The other two falls we were going to see were Angel Falls and Panther Falls. Not to get confused with Panther Creek Falls which is further south than Lake Rabun. Both these waterfalls, Angel and Panther, are on the same trail. Kind of a two for one deal. You should note right now that when trekking to these falls, follow the street signs and map/ navigational directions to ANGEL Falls. Panther Falls is considered to be apart of Angel Falls trail. Beautiful as it may be, the signs lead to Angel Falls. But I digress….Angel Falls is off Lake Rabun Rd at the recreation area. When you turn into the recreation area it looks like a camp ground/ camper park there is a bulletin board to the right to pay for the CAMP park. It’s $14 to camp there. Follow the signs to the parking area at the beginning of the falls. There it’s $3 parking for the falls. Much better then the confusion that Carmen and I had at the entrance.
The trail is just under a mile, one way. It’s a slight incline to Panther Falls. Which is 600 yards before Angel Falls. So you may get tired quicker in the “getting there” part of this journey. However, the really neat aspect of the this trail is that it’s been somewhat landscaped. Stone steps, two benches one of them built of stone right into the side the hill, and several bridges. It appeared that there was some flowers planted too, but there has been a lot of flood/ wash damage. Several large trees were up rooted and lying in the middle of the stream. There were many spots along the trail that had trees canopying over us. I can’t tell you how many times I thought it would be cool to landscape a hiking trail. And here it is! Especially one that had so many twists and turns. Now I know some may say “That’s NOT hiking! It has to be in the woods with little to no trail.” I may like that idea, but I also liked this change of pace. This different thought of what one community has chosen for it’s falls was surprisingly nice. I say this because I got the sense that Angel Falls has been kept up by the local community.
Angel Falls hike is great for beginners that have taken a few hikes already. The slight incline makes for a great workout. However, when we got to Panther Falls we realized that we were losing light too fast. So we turned around and headed out of the woods. A much shorter and quicker walk in that direction. The slight downward trek helped push the tempo and we reached the car fairly quickly. Angel Falls will have to be for another time.
Enjoy the images. These images are of Panther Falls and the stream/river leading to it.
Blisters and Bunions 