A few weeks ago I planned a weekend day trip to several great spots to go hiking. Since I wanted to visit several places I decided that I didn’t want to travel very far from home. While I didn’t want to go very far, I definitely wanted to get some good views.
After looking at several different areas, we decided to aim our car about 2 hours away towards Helen, Georgia.
The first stop on the journey ended up being Anna Ruby Falls. I am pretty sure that I did this hike when I was a child. Unfortunately, it was so long ago that I could not remember what the waterfalls looks like. That would all change soon enough!
After a short 2 hour drive we made it to the Anna Ruby Falls parking lot.
The parking lot may have looked busy but there was plenty to see along the way that distracted from passing fellow hikers. The park wasn’t too busy, I mean it was the weekend after all. So this much activity was not surprising. The flow of hikers in and out seemed to help regulate the flow so everything went smooth.
After parking, we immediately headed to the Visitors Center.
I am a sucker for souvenirs from the visitor centers for parks that I visit. One of my favorite things to buy is a hat pin but unfortunately this park did not currently have any for sale. That did not keep me from buying some cool stickers and a Christmas ornament for my girlfriend.
After leaving the visitors center, we made our way to the trail head to find out all of our options for this hike.
After spending a few mins in the visitors centers and checking out the trail head we headed out towards the hiking trail where we were greeted by a very friendly statue.
One thing to mention is that this is not an interpretive hiking trail. It has a paved path for you to walk up. The park does take safety very seriously. They want you to stay on the trail at all times and you should plan your departure so that you will be leaving the park by closing time.
Despite, the options from the trail head sign we were definitely here to take the short 0.4 mile hike up to Anna Ruby Falls.
Even though the hike was on a paved trail and wasn’t very long, I love these nice little additions to the side of the hiking trail.
I thought that they were great since this waterfalls is such a tourist attraction. They look like the perfect place for tired beginning hikers to rest.
If you are not too distracted by these wonderful benches along the way, maybe you can look over to your left and check out some of the amazing views of the little stream running along side of the trail as you ascend up to the waterfalls.
All of this hiking has not been done in vein. Not only do you get the beautiful sounds and views of the flowing water beside the trail but as you reach the top, you get the wonderful view of seeing two large waterfalls convening into one stream.
It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful adventure. The views of this waterfall are amazing. It can be a bit busy at times but if you patiently wait your turn you will be able to get some nice pictures of the falls or just some fresh selfies for social media, whichever you prefer.
After spending sometime at the falls, we debated about hiking down through Unicoi State Park but decided not to because we were not sure where we would end up and we still had plans to hike to one more falls while we were in the mountains.
Conclusion
Anna Ruby Falls turned out to be a great trip. All you really need to do this hike is a comfortable pair of tennis shoes and a water bottle. At under .5 mile and with all of the trail side scenery, this would make a great scenic trail for a hiker at any level.
Check out my favorite photo that I shot while I was there!
Check out one of my favorite videos that I shot there!
Hope to see you all on down the road somewhere. Until then, be safe and happy travels!!!
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