Cloudland Canyon Georgia

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The month of May brings back thoughts of travel. Last year we traveled out west... up the Oregon coast and back. It was a wonderful almost three month trip! Today I'm not going to talk about that trip. If you want to know more about that trip head over to my blog Wandering About. At the time the blog was just to share with family, but I've since made it public. There are not pictures within the blog itself because I found out that I just could not edit pictures fast enough for that. There is a link at the blog to the pictures that I took on the trip... well to 368 of them. I took about 2000 pictures!

The trip I'm tell you a bit about today is to Cloudland Canyon State Park that we took in May of 2005.

Cloudland Canyon State Park is 3,485 acre park located on the western rim of Lookout Mountain in Georgia. The park straddles a deep gorge cut into the mountain by Sitton Gulch Creek, where the elevation differs from 1,980 to 800 feet. The land once known as Sitton Gulch, was purchased by the state of Georgia in sections, beginning in 1938. A project of Civilian Conservation Corps which built the first facilities and signs in the park. Until 1939, the year the park was opened, the only access to the area was through Tennessee or Alabama. That year Georgia began work on Highway 136 to connect U.S. 41 to the park.

On the Rim of the Canyon Looking towards the Valley

The flowers were beautiful. They dotted the views along the canyon trails, the meadows and roadside.

Mountain Laurel

Rhododendron

Blackberries Blooming in the Meadow

I really wanted to be there when the berries ripened... now, thinking about this; I want some warm blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

Near this meadow is disc golf. I've never played... because I can't throw a Frisbee worth a darn :-) It looks like fun for those that can.

The Upper Waterfall

To the left of the top of the falls is a bush of rhododendron. The water is clear and cold. A place to linger after the 0.3 mile hike. A bit strenuous hike, but not bad if you are in good shape... hey I made it with my asthma, but kinda slowly on the way back :-) There is a lower waterfalls, but this is as far as I thought I could make it.

There are other hiking trails... that aren't so strenuous... where you can find all sorts of flora and fauna.

Fire Pink

Some Daisies.... or at least something similar.

Fungi Growing on a Tree

A Closer Look at the Fungi

Yes, I find beauty in fungi :-) I find them interesting and beautiful, but I don't dare eat any because I don't know enough about them... there may be poison.

There are forest creatures to watch. They do have deer, but I didn't manage to catch any on camera. I also remember there being a lot of snails on the path to the campground bathhouse one morning. Another time that I didn't have my camera. Some people take there cameras to the bathhouse, but not me :-)

Chipmunk

I love watching chipmunks. Unfortunately we don't have them down here in SW Georgia. We fed this one a little bird seed. He entertained us when we were at our campsite... which there was so much to go see that we didn't spend much time at.

White-Breasted Nuthatch

This nuthatch was hard to catch a picture of... he would grab a seed and quickly hide in the trees. I remember seeing many more birds, but I'm not good at taking bird pictures. These pictures were taken when my Sony f717 camera was brand new. I was just getting to know my camera.

Cloudland Canyon State Park is a great place to stay or visit. I'm not getting paid for any this. I enjoy our state parks.. Georgia's greatest assets in my opinion.

Facilities:

• 73 Tent, Trailer, RV Campsites ($23-$25)
• 30 Walk-in Campsites ($12)
• 11 Backcountry Campsites ($6/person)
• 16 Cottages ($120-$140) -- #6 and #7 are dog friendly ($40 per dog, max 2)
• 5 Picnic Shelters ($35)
• 1 Group Shelter (seats 175, $125)
• Pioneer Campground ($40)
• Group Lodge (sleeps 40, $175)

Activities:

• Hiking - 4.8-mile West Rim and Waterfalls Trail, 2-mile backcountry trail and new 6.5-mile Sitton Gulch Trail.
• Picnicking
• Tennis
• Disc Golf ($2)

There are also all sorts of places nearby to visit... I promise I'll show some of them later on.