We traveled north out of Milledgeville on Hwy 441 (a nice 4-lane divided highway most of the way) into the North Georgia mountains.
It was a cool, overcast day but there was no rain and we had a good drive.
We crossed the state line into North Carolina,
and about 10 miles later we reached the small town of Franklin, in the shadow of the Smoky Mountains. The Great Outdoors RV Resort was right off Hwy 441 north of town, and we were soon set up on our site on the upper level.
We planned our stop in Franklin in order to visit our RVer friends, Kris and Dan, who now have a home in Franklin. They recommended the Great Outdoors to us, and it was a great suggestion – it’s a very nice park – neat, clean, with excellent facilities.
So, after a couple of days getting caught up on work, we planned an afternoon excursion with Kris and Dan into the mountains to see Dry Falls and have dinner in Highlands, NC.
Our drive along the Gorge Rd followed the Cullasaja River, and the recent rains resulted in a pretty significant flow of water.
Our first stop along the river gave us a pretty good indication of how the falls would look.
The trees along the river are starting to show signs of spring, but the absence of too many leaves allowed for a good view from the overlook.
We continued along the twisty-turny climb up the mountain road, and before too long we reached Dry Falls.
We stopped at the Overlook for our first view of the roaring falls, and a group selfie!
Tom & I and Kris walked down the path toward the falls.
The view from halfway down – getting closer to the falls.
Kris stayed there to take pictures of Tom & I when we reached the walkway that goes behind the falls.
As we got closer, the roar of the falls got really loud, and we could feel the mist in the air.
By the time we got behind the falls, we were getting pretty wet!
Kris got some pictures of us at the bottom.
Tom waving
Both of us behind the falls
Tom kept going, but I stayed behind the falls, getting some pictures of the rainbow over the river,
and a couple selfies!
Tom was photo-bombing me!
Then he joined me for a photo . . .
Dry Falls was an amazing waterfall, and definitely not dry!
Leaving the falls, we continued up the mountain. Just before reaching the town of Highlands, we spotted the lake that creates the beautiful waterfall.
Highlands is a cute little town, with plenty of nice hotels and shops.
We walked through several of the shops that were open, and introduced Dan & Kris to Kilwin’s . . . mmm . . . chocolate!
I also found one of my favorite shops – The Spice and Tea Exchange. I picked up a few spices that I was running low on, and Kris picked up a few, too.
We had pizza for dinner at The Pizza Shop, and it was very good. After walking around a little more, it was time to start back down the mountain. We decided to take another road home, into Dillard, Georgia . . . and it was a pretty exciting drive! We had some really steep grades and some extremely tight curves . . . but it was fun!
We stopped at an overlook about halfway down, and had a nice view of the North Georgia Mountains. Yep – Georgia has mountains!
It was a good location to take a couple more pictures of the Jeep!
There was water running down the rocks across the road.
We continued down, and at the next overlook we could see Dillard, GA in the valley below (including the other RV Resort that we had considered staying at).
It was a great day for a drive in the mountains! Thanks, Dan & Kris for showing us around!
We were in that area about a month ago. We loved it. I hope you had a great time.
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