- Amicalola Falls State Park
Amicalola Falls State Park is an 829-acre (3.35 km²) Georgia
state park located between Ellijay and Dahlonega inDawsonville, Georgia . The park's name is derived from aCherokee language word meaning "tumbling waters". The park is home to a 729-foot (222 m)waterfall , making it the highest in Georgia. [Boyd (2001), p. 82] It is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia. An eight-mile trail that winds past Amicalola Falls and leads toSpringer Mountain , famous for being the southern terminus of theAppalachian Trail , begins in the park. Amicalola Falls State Park also offers many hiking trails, a guest lodge, Restaurant, cabins, a shelter for long distance Appalachian Trail hikers, a campground and access to the eco-friendly Len Foote Hike Inn.History
]
Amicalola Falls State Park was not developed at all until the
Georgia Appalachian Trail Club decided that the nearbySpringer Mountain would be where they would move the southern terminus of theAppalachian Trail fromMount Oglethorpe in 1958. An 8.5 mile long trail was blazed from the base of Amicalola Falls to the top of Springer Mountain so that Appalachian Trail hikers would be able to access the trail from a major highway.Today
Amicalola Falls State Park has four groups of trails within it, including the trail leading up to the top of the waterfall. The park has a full-time staff of park rangers, and has a lodge that serves as a starting point of Appalachian Trail hikers. The park also owns a nearby facility called the
Len Foote Hike Inn , a backcountry eco-friendly inn that is one mile from the Appalachian Approach trail and 4.4 miles from Springer Mountain. The inn is operated by a non-profit organization known as the Appalachian Educational Recreational Services, Inc. orAERS . [http://georgiatrails.com/places/amicalola.html Amicalola Falls, Gateway to the Appalachian Trail] , retrieved on2007-03-20 ]Notes
References
* cite book
last = Boyd
first = Brian
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Waterfalls of the Southern Appalachians & Great Smoky Mountains
publisher = Fern Creek Press
date = 2001
location = Clayton, GA
id = ISBN: 1-893651-08-8External links
* [http://gastateparks.org/info.asp?id=64&s=0.0.1.5 Georgia State Parks]
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