Located within the Chattahoochee National Forest, Dick’s Creek Falls is one of the 17 public waterfalls in Rabun County, Georgia. It is a popular sightseeing location and is accessible by both the Chattooga River Trail as well as the Bartram Trail. The waterfall occurs just below where Waters Creek and Dick’s Creek converge near Clayton, Georgia. Dick’s creek plunges over a granite mound where it falls about 60 ft before landing in the Chattooga River. The Chattooga River serves as the border between Georgia and South Carolina before eventually emptying into the Tugaloo River and finally Lake Hartwell near Savannah.
Rabun County is Georgia’s most abundant waterfall location. The region has many waterfalls because of a fall line that runs northeast across Georgia from Columbus to Augusta. This is a geologic boundary that marks the split between the hard igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont in the north and the softer, sedimentary rocks of the Upper Coastal Plains to the south.This fall line means that there is a sloping region that quickly loses elevation from north to south resulting in a series of waterfalls. The plateau like drainage areas in Rabun County makes it particularly susceptible to the formation of these waterfalls.
Sources:
“Dicks Creek Falls.” Dahlonega Visitors Center, https://www.dahlonega.org/things-to-do/waterfalls/dicks-creek-falls/.
“Dick’s Creek Falls-CNF.” Official Georgia Tourism & Travel Website | Explore Georgia.org, https://www.exploregeorgia.org/clayton/outdoors-nature/natural-attractions/dicks-creek-falls-cnf.
“Dicks Creek Falls, Rabun County Waterfalls, Georgia.” Explore Rabun, 26 Mar. 2019, https://explorerabun.com/blog/dicks-creek-falls/.
Waterfalls – New Georgia Encyclopedia. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/geography-environment/waterfalls/.
Fall Line – New Georgia Encyclopedia. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/geography-environment/fall-line/.