For the most Gorge-ous Fall Colors in Georgia...Hike Cloudland Canyon!

IN A NUTSHELL:   Known for its beautiful vistas, brilliant fall foliage, spectacular waterfalls, and incredible hiking trails, Cloudland Canyon State Park is perhaps the #1 "crown jewel" of Georgia's parks and natural areas.  An easy 2-hour drive from Atlanta, it's just south of Chattanooga, where over the millennia powerful streams have cut steep-walled canyons and waterfalls into the western side of Lookout Mountain.  On this fall day trip we'll enjoy a series of hikes to vista points along the canyon rim - also to the waterfalls deep inside the canyon via an amazing trail network and stairway.
Although I've billed this as a "D4" event at a "Moderate" pace (about 10 miles total between 10 AM and 3 PM) I'm sure we'll enjoy pausing often along the way to enjoy the amazing views, take photos, let everyone catch up, etc. - also to have lunch together from our day packs at an appropriate scenic overlook. (See "Items to Bring" sections below.)

CHOOSE ONE of these DRIVING OPTIONS (PRECISE DIRECTIONS and GPS DESTINATIONS for both meetup spots are given below.)
1. Drive Directly to the State Park's main Parking Lot where we'll all gather at 10:00 AM (new Standard Time!) beside the Restroom Building.
2. Meet me for Carpooling at 8:00 AM (new Standard Time) at the Busbee Drive Park & Ride Lot, just off the I-75 Chastain Road Exit north of Marietta.  To keep this from seeming so early, leave your watch on Daylight Time and meet us at 9:00 AM - then en route to the Park "fall back" an hour to our new EST!  :-)

ARTS & CRAFTS & MUSIC CELEBRATION (Sat & Sun, 10A-5P, in the Park):  Caution! Cars backed up at the Park entrance for this big 2nd annual event could possibly delay our ~9:30-ish entry into the Park, so don't dilly-dally en route up!  It will be in the Group Picnic Shelter area near the Park entrance and several thousand visitors may attend as they did last year.  Let's all do our best to be on time for our 10:00 AM AOC group gathering time (by the restroom building a mile north of the Park entrance) but if necessary we can delay beginning our hike a bit due to the possible vehicle backup.  (If you - or we - are running late we'll try to reach you by cell phone.) In any case, before returning home some of our carpool groups may wish to check out the "Celebration" (between 3PM and 5PM) esp. since it will also offer various FOOD items or sale.  Festival Admission is just $5 per carload of visitors, payable at the Group Shelter entrance.  Click here for more info in case you're interested:  Mountain Arts, Crafts & Music Celebration Website

MORE about CLOUDLAND CANYON STATE PARK:  Founded in 1938 it now boasts 3485 acres of amazing terrain with 1100 feet of vertical elevation between its lowest and highest points  The steep twin canyons cut by Daniel Creek and Bear Creek join one another hundreds of feet below the mesa-like mountaintop, forming the deeper, wider "Sitton Gulch Creek" canyon and numerous scenic waterfalls, cascades and pools.  (The photo above was shot from the Park's central overlook looking northward into the main canyon.)  For an excellent color Trail Map click this link:  http://gastateparks.org/Parks/images/cloudland/CloudlandCanyon-2013.pdf

For dozens of great Cloudland Canyon photos click this link:
http://images.google.com/images? hl=en&q=%22cloudland+canyon%22+photos&um=1&ie=UTF- 8&ei=o4R-S7z- PJPflAe4ouTEDQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum =1&ved=0CBcQsAQwAA

DIRECTIONS to CLOUDLAND CANYON STATE PARK MAIN PARKING LOT where we all meet at 10:00 AM (It's about 110 miles from the I-75/I-285 Interchange in NW Atlanta.  For a zoomable map & satellite view of our meetup spot click the square blue & green "Event Location" icon near the top of this article.)
1.  From the I-75/I-285 Interchange take I-75 North about 60 miles to I-75 Exit #320, "GA Hwy 136.
2.  Turn Left onto GA-136 West and carefully follow the GA-136 signs about 48 miles (through several sharp turns) to the Cloudland Canyon State Park entrance on your right.  (The Park entrance is on GA-136 about 0.8 mile beyond its junction with GA-189, the "Lookout Mtn Pkwy.")  More cautionary notes:  Along GA-136 pass through the towns of Villanow, Lafayette, and Cooper Heights, GA and climb up the steep eastern slope of Lookout Mtn.  Be esp. vigilant for the GA-136 signs when bypassing Lafayette:  There's a hard Right turn onto the Lafayette bypass (concurrent with 4-lane US-27) - then another hard Right followed by a hard Left to stay on GA-136 (leaving US-27) just 3 miles north of Lafayette!
3. Just after entering the Park pay the $5 cash parking fee at the roadway kiosk. (Some of you may have a current Annual GA DNR/State Parks Parking Pass which is equally valid. This might be a good time for a brief stop at the Park Visitor Center, via a short loop road to your right, and ask for a copy of their nice color Trail Map.  The Vis. Ctr. Phone No. in case you need it is 706-657-4050.)
4. Continue on the Park entrance road about 1 more mile (northward) and park in the main visitors' parking lot.  We'll all gather at 10:00 beside the Restroom Building.

GPS and GOOGLE MAPS USERS:  You may wish to augment the above written directions by entering the following Lat/Lon coordinates (as you would a street address) as your destination for our 10:00 AM meetup spot: 34.83473,-85.47988