May 19, 2015
| Today’s hike was on the Raven Cliffs Trail and Dukes Creek Trail in White County, GA.
HIKERS – Suzanne Belflower, John Bellamy, June Bellamy, Jenny Bell, Mike Bell, Karen Brown, Joe Collins, Greta Driggers, Jim Driggers, Pam Euliss, Bill Hunt, Bob Magee, Dick Metzgar, Trushna Nadig, Tony Presley, Joe Raguckas, Sandy Robson and Vic Robson. TRAIL INFORMATION – Two beautiful trails located in White County, GA north of Helen on the Richard Russell Scenic Highway. Raven Cliffs is 5 mi round trip as it follows Dodd Creek up to the massive rock cliffs called Raven Cliffs and Falls. The Falls flows between a large crack in the cliffs. The Dukes Creek Trail is only a couple of miles south of the Raven Cliffs Trail. It is a 2.2 mi. round trip hike down to Dukes Creek Falls. There are actually two falls here. The 150 ft. cascading falls is formed by Davis Creek and a shorter very noisy falls is formed by a combination of Dodd Creek and Dukes Creek. It all comes together beautifully with great view points from a long boardwalk with viewing decks. We rate the hikes mostly easy to moderate. Very careful footing is required as you climb up a steep slope at Raven Cliffs (if you decide to hike up to the split in the cliffs). Directions: Take GA 75 north from Helen for 1.5 miles. Turn left onto GA 356(75 Alternate) and travel 2.3 miles to the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway. Turn right and travel 2.8 miles to the trailhead and parking area on the left. The Dukes Creek Falls parking area is about 1.5 miles before Raven Cliffs on the left. Another great day for a hike! Mostly fair, mild with temperatures ranging from 67-75 with a nice breeze. Hiking distance – 7.2 miles. WILDFLOWERS IN BLOOM: Cow Wheat, Golden Alexander, Mountain Laurel, Cinquefoil, Flame Azalea, Robin’s Plantain, Solomon’s Seal, Rattlesnake Weed, Partridge Berry, Flowering Spurge, Foam Flower, Bluet and Galax. BIRDS IDENTIFIED: Birds: black throated green warbler, cerulean warbler, chestnut sided warbler, Vireo, hooded warbler, Kentucky warbler, pine warbler, and Eastern Phoebe.
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