Located within the Chattahoochee National Forest, Desoto Falls has three different sections of falls, all part of a stream that feeds into Frogtown Creek. The Upper Falls is an approximately 200-foot drop, the Middle Falls 90-foot, and the Lower Falls 35-feet. The falls are accessible to the public, with the hike being less than a mile. In addition to hiking, tourists can also camp at the Desoto Falls Recreation Area and fish in Frogtown Creek. Due to being part of the Chattahoochee National Forest, Desoto Falls has been minimally impacted by humans and urban development, as the area is protected from urban development and maintained by the park service.
Running through the Chattahoochee National Forest are the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range, which is the landscape that the Desoto Falls runs through. Likely created during the formation of Pangea, when the northern part of the African continent collided with the eastern part of the North American continent, the Appalachian Mountain Range is primarily composed of igneous and metamorphic rock. The Desoto Falls were created when water running from the top of the mountains, along with the sediment it was carrying, eroded away at the softer rocks, leaving behind sections of harder granite. Erosion is still occurring today, just at a much slower rate, as the exposed granite is more resistant to erosion than the rock that used to reside above it.
Sources:
Explore Georgia. (n.d.). Desoto Falls and Desoto Falls Recreational Area. https://www.exploregeorgia.org/dahlonega/outdoors-nature/camping/desoto-falls-and-desoto-falls-recreational-area
National Park Service. (n.d.). Convergent Plate Boundaries – Collisional Mountain Ranges. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/plate-tectonics-collisional-mountain-ranges.htm
Recreation.gov. (n.d.). Desoto Falls Recreation Area. https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/240242?tab=info
United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. (n.d.). Desoto Falls Recreation Area. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/conf/recarea/?recid=10524