Amicalola Falls Hiking Trail

Ranking: Difficult

 If I had to describe this hike in two words it would be: StairMaster. This hike consists of so many stairs that honestly you forget how to take stairs after a while. We did this hike as part of the approach trail to Springer mountain for the AT with all our gear.

     For those of you who have yet to read the AT Approach Trail post let me explain. When I am referring to our "gear," I am referring to our over-packed packs. The packs that were so heavy my knees would slightly yell in protest with each passing step. I was not prepared when I attempted this hike (barely had any body conditioning) and like I mentioned, our packs were too heavy. So that being said, it was very intense. But you need to take my description with a grain of salt. I am being very biased here since I was struggling in a battle against my gear and my shaky legs. I will say that everyone who we passed along the way seemed to be enjoying their hike and I can see why.

     The hike itself is a short one coming in at 2.1 miles round trip that consists of stairs that are side by side with a beautiful waterfall. As you climb, there are platforms where you can stop to take photos and rest. Pace, pace, pace yourself on this trail. I can't say that enough. If you aren't used to taking a million stairs at a time, this trail can be very hard. Before you go, I would increase your cardio and take the stairs instead of the elevator as practice. After the first outtake on this trail, the second time was so much better since I took the time to get into shape. Just saying... After taking that last glorious step at the very top, you are greeted with a spectacular view. Roaming mountains galore! So at this point you can ask yourself, were all those stairs worth it? I thought so, but that's entirely up to you.

     For those interested, you are also greeted by a parking lot with signs showing you the way to Springer Mountain.... Which is what we were wanting. I will say that yes, technically the start to the approach trail of the AT begins at the base of Amicalola Falls, but does it have to? Why do you have to complete a stair master workout and then start the actual approach hiking? I wish we could have started in the nice parking lot that we had discovered at the top and skipped the stairs. Although I wish that was a thing, I know that if you're going to hike the AT then you should be true to it. So with that in mind, when we redo our Approach Hike-Take Two- we will be climbing those stairs all over again.

     I cannot mention this enough: do not to do what we did and over pack. It will make your hike up all of those stairs hell, if not prepared.