Panther Creek Day Use AreaPanther Creek Day Use Area is ideal for picnicking, hiking and fishing. Stocked with trout, Panther Creek is a popular destination for all ages interested in learning how to fish a small creek. The creek has many easy-to-access fishing locations that provide hours of fishing enjoyment. The area also provides several covered group picnic locations as well as individual family-style sites right beside the creek. (NOTE: Due to the effects of Hurricane Ivan, the Day Use Area is virtually unusable as all but one picnic table is inaccessible. Please take extra care in the area as trees are still lying precariously as they fell. The footbridges across the creek and the inlet are still washed out and the covered picnic locations are not accessible. - Updated June 10, 2005.)
The Panther Creek Day Use Area and Trail provides free parking. As of June 10, 2005, a fee is not required for use of this site. Please visit the
Chattahoochee National Forest website for additional information. The park closes at 10pm every evening.
Panther Creek Falls TrailThe Panther Creek Trail follows Panther Creek through stands of white pine and hemlock along the steep, rocky bluffs of the creek. Passing a series of roaring cascades cut through solid rock, the treadway culminates in a waterfall at Panther Creek's junction with Davidson Creek.
From 1882 until 1961 a railroad known under a variety of names, most common of which is the Tallulah Falls Railway, carried passengers and freight from Cornelia to Tallulah Gorge and beyond to Franklin, North Carolina. The 98-foot trestle across Panther Creek was the tallest of the 58-mile shortline mountain run.
In this area the Tallulah Falls Railroad Trestle crossed the creek. Visitors who hiked the creek would stop at Turnerville and return. Although this pathway is designed as a point-to-point trail, from Panther Creek Recreation Area to Yonah Dam Road, it is recommended to treat it as an in and out because the western portion is better kept and less muddy than the eastern.
Until the early 1990's U. S. Highway 441 ran between the parking area and trailhead and crossing the road offered the most difficult part of the trip, especially on a Saturday in July. Now the road is Historic 441 and while cars still whiz by at breakneck speeds there aren't as many as there was a while ago.
The footpath immediately enters a wooded area only to open up for a four-lane overpass within a couple of hundred feet. The overpass is in the general vicinity of the Tallulah Falls Railroad trestle mentioned earlier. The trail then returns to the woods, following Panther Creek on a long, gentle arc. In this area there are a few side paths to the creek that are an easy trek. Also, the soil on this path is not the traditional Georgia clay. This area of the northeast corner of the state, technically part of the Gainesville Ridges, is geologically different than the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains and most of the state.
Shortly after the overpass Panther Creek cuts deeply from the path, often wandering more than 70 feet below down a steep drop. A well-worn access path to a cascade is a near vertical drop and more difficult to get up than may first appear. At the third outcropping the path makes a left turn, climbing through a small crack in the rock up 30 feet to the top of the mountain. Watch the trail's blue blazes carefully, for the path appears to continue. The word "trail" is barely visible on the rock beneath the crevice. We have missed the double blue blaze on the tree at the turn.
From this point on the trail hugs the ridge, following the creek. About halfway into the walk the trail regains the creek and takes on a new personality after crossing Panther Creek on a wooden bridge. The steep slopes have been replaced by flat bottomland and the noisy cascades are mere gurgles. A more diverse ecological community forms in the moist climate indicated by the ferns. Several tributaries join the creek, crossed by logs or well-placed stones.
Within a mile the steep cliffs return, with Mill Shoals Falls on the left. Panther Creek Falls is shortly ahead, almost directly on the Brevard Fault Line.
The trail south of the falls follows the creek briefly, and then begins to wind deeply into nearby coves.
DirectionsFrom Tallulah Falls, take US-23/GA Hwy. 441 South towards Cornelia. Go approximately 3 miles and turn right onto Old Historic Hwy. 441. The park entrance will be on the right with parking across the street, if needed. The western end of the trail begins across the highway from the Recreation area. The eastern end of the trail can be reached by driving west on Yonah Dam Road.
