Blairsville Georgia loop drive to Anna Ruby Falls…

Blairsville is a great location for the lover of the outdoors. This mountainous area in the northern part of Georgia is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains. The scenery is breathtaking and even in the mornings when the fog and low clouds are clinging to the mountains the views are unforgettable. In addition we experienced some amazing sunsets making us more than glad we stopped here!

One thing we wanted to do was to explore the area surrounding Crossing Creeks RV Resort to see for ourselves what all it had to offer. One way to do this was for us was to drive a good portion of the Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway. Starting in Blairsville our loop would take us to Helen and then to the Anna Ruby Falls. From the falls we would return a different route to Hiawassee then back to Blairsville. This encompassed about 85 miles of driving and we knew this would give us a good feel for what was here.

Our first stop was a small pull out that was on the Appalachian Trail.Although we didn’t see any hikers this looked to us to be a great spot for a nice hike on a very famous trail. From there we drove to Dukes Creek Falls Trailhead. We read on the signage that the hike was only 1.1 miles to the falls so we parked and made the trek downhill to the falls knowing it would be all uphill returning.. The trail was in great shape and was very easy hiking. Several wooden boardwalk type walkways with stairs made it easier to traverse down (and up) without causing a great deal of erosion.

Dukes Creek Falls emerged as a very nice end point to the trail and we sat a good while to savor the views while listening to the sound of the roaring waters.. I noticed the vegetation was a bit different that the typical vegetation of the southeastern forests as more species of plants normally found in higher elevations were scattered about. It appeared it was still late spring here as the area was extraordinarily vibrant green!

We drove from there down to Helen, Georgia which is a Bavarian styled town reminding us a bit like Fredericksburg in Texas. Helen, however, is much more touristy and was rather crowded so we didn’t spend a lot of time there. We did, however, stop at the local bakery hoping to score some nice pumpernickel bread. They didn’t have any but we  purchased a nice large soft pretzel with spicy German mustard instead. Yum!

The last attraction we wanted to see this day was the Anna Ruby Falls located near Helen. I must say this was the highlight of the day. Anna Ruby Falls is at the meeting points of Curtis Creek and York Creek. These beautiful twin waterfalls were named Anna Ruby Falls after the daughter of the discover of them. They flow into Unicoi Lake in Unicoi State Park not far from the falls. . The short hike up the trail to see these incredible scenic falls really is a must do when in the area.

We then drove through the state park adjacent to the falls and checked out the beach area. We would have stayed longer but with time passing swiftly, we knew we needed to make our way back to Blairsville. What a great loop drive under our belts we felt there was no better way than to end it than a stop at Copeland's Burgers and Southern Eats for a frosty adult beverage and some of their unique smoky hot wings! Yum !

As I mentioned before, we are so happy we decided to make a stop in the Georgia mountains.  Our short visit left us thinking a return visit might definitely be in our future. We want to do some more hiking and exploring because  we cannot get enough of the lush green landscape and gorgeous panoramic mountain vistas...

NOTE: We are now in Hickory NC for a few days then we will move further east towards Raleigh NC.