Atlanta: Panther Creek Trail
Count five waterfalls--including one of Georgia's most scenic--on this 10.8-miler in Chattahoochee National Forest. Go midweek for more solitude.
Trail Facts
- Distance: 8.7
Waypoints
PCT001
Location: 34.69886, -83.41979
Head south from trailhead, trail crosses highway in first half-mile.
PCT002
Location: 34.695179, -83.412209
Hemlocks create tunnel high above rhododendron gorge. Listen for creek
PCT003
Location: 34.693726, -83.410881
Walls get narrow; make sharp L, climb 8 ft., crawl through wide cut in rock
PCT004
Location: 34.693336, -83.409935
To R of trail, a small but powerful waterfall slides around a rock wall. Keep heading SE into broad, flat plain where tributaries join Panther Creek
PCT005
Location: 34.679962, -83.399895
Go L off trail a few yds. and find a shaded creek bank overlooking swift water sluicing between two boulders
PCT006
Location: 34.678146, -83.399086
Pass large bend in creek
PCT007
Location: 34.676003, -83.387177
Upper Panther Falls tumbles down several short, wide drops, then maytags down narrow chute. Circle N and descend
PCT008
Location: 34.676414, -83.387672
More cascades: Lower Panther Falls drops a steep 50 ft. Nearby is 3-tent campsite with its own swimming hole. Stay, or continue N through three horseshoe bends
PCT009
Location: 34.677067, -83.382256
Steep ascent up ravine as trail turns from creek and ascends into poplars
PCT010
Location: 34.675446, -83.380638
Highest point on hike. Begin descent among tightly packed oaks
PCT011
Location: 34.6707, -83.369995
Join creek again; rolling singletrack enters hemlock stand
PCT012
Location: 34.667675, -83.364983
Trail ends @ confluence of Panther Creek and Davidson Creek on far end of bridge. Retrace steps to trailhead
Big, Big Falls
Location: 34.676815, -83.3871
Finally reaching the lower falls, Panther Creek tumbles from 50-foot tall ledges into foamy cascades and misty vapors. Great swimming holes around. ©Marcus Woolf
Wide upper falls
Location: 34.675819, -83.387177
The broad terraces of Panther Creek provide many watercourses. ©Marcus Woolf
Waterslide
Location: 34.693451, -83.409485
Here Big Panther Creek drops down and shoots along a rock formation. ©Marcus Woolf