Day Hike to Panther Creek Falls (in the Cohutta Wilderness)

Come join us for a dayhike in the the beautiful Cohutta Wilderness. Our hike will begin at the southern end of the East Cowpen trail otherwise known as Three Forks Mountain (3500 Ft). At 2.3 miles, we’ll take the Panther Creek trail, which is a 3.4 mile interior trail in the Cohutta Wilderness. This trail has some very rugged, downhill rocky sections more towards the falls, which is better described as a boulder field.

Once to Panther Creek falls, we'll break for lunch, take time to explore and take pictures. Our journey will continue downward past the falls and follow Panther Creek downstream, which ends at the Conasauga River. We'll ford the Conasauga River and head upstream where we cross the river 18 more times. This eventually leads us away from the river only to be meandering through a wandering maze of rivulets, which are the headwaters to the Conasauga River. The last .2 miles ascends very sharply out to Betty’s Gap where a couple of our vehicles will be waiting for us.

This hike requires an approx. 3 mile car shuttle approx., so we'll need 2 confirmed drivers in addition to the trip leader who will be driving.

We'll be keeping a moderate pace (a minimum of 2.5 mph).

Hiking mileage: approx. 10.6 mile day hike

Hiking poles will be required for river crossings.

You need to have previous D4 hiking experience for this hike. River crossings can add another layer of difficulty, so you must be in good physial shape.