Georgia Natural Wonder #212 - Vogel State Park - Trahlyta Falls, Wolftown Creek. 574

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Vogel State Park - Trahlyta Falls on Wolftown Creek

We have been all around today's Georgia Natural Wonder and have cross referenced it in many post. It is about time we come here, so today we feature Vogel State Park and the Trahlyta Falls on Wolftown Creek.



We have really been detailed with County tangents on our last few post but today's Union County has already been covered with the Unnamed Peak on Wolfpen Ridge (GNW #71).



That is the 5th highest mountain in Georgia across the parking lot from Brasstown Bald (GNW #20).


Highest point in Georgia shows it's brass in the Fall.

There have been several of our Georgia Natural Wonders in Union County and several are short drives or long hikes from today's Wonder. Why just across the street is Helton Creek Falls (GNW #95).


Lower and Upper Helton Creek Falls.

Within a few miles up Highway 180 is Sosebee Cove (GNW #187).



Vogel State Park is a 233-acre state park located at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest.



We covered Blood Mountain in GNW #12. 



It became one of the first two parks in Georgia when it founded a state park system in 1931. Much of the park was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s.



The park features streams, a waterfall, and Lake Trahlyta. At 2,500 feet elevation it is one of Georgia's highest altitude state parks. The mountainous habitats surrounding the lake support a wide assortment of plants and animals.



Within the park are a series of hiking trails. These include the Bear Hair Gap Trail and the more strenuous Coosa Backcountry Trail, which leads up toward Blood Mountain and the Appalachian Trail near Neel Gap.



Vogel Park features camping sites, cabins, swimming, boating and other recreational activities.

Description and history

Vogel State Park is located 11 miles south of Blairsville on US Highway 19 in the north Georgia mountains. At nearly 2,500 feet altitude, Vogel State Park is usually cool during the summer months, and is one of Georgia's most popular state parks. Vogel features hiking trails, cabins and a 20-acre pond known as Lake Trahlyta, which was created when the Civilian Conservation Corps dammed Wolftown Creek. The lake is named for Trahlyta, a Cherokee maiden who is buried a few miles from the park at Stonepile Gap.


Princess Trahlyta grave.

We did a little history dive on her with (GNW #115).



The Corps workers, located at the CCC Camp at Goose Creek just north of the park, also built the first cabins, picnic areas and camping grounds at Vogel.



Vogel is Georgia's second oldest state park. The land comprising the park was donated to the state in 1927 by August H. Vogel and Fred Vogel, Jr. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The two were heirs to the Pfister & Vogel Leather Company, a Wisconsin tannery founded by Frederick Vogel.



The Vogel family harvested bark from oak and hemlock trees located on thousands of acres they owned in North Georgia. The bark was shipped to Wisconsin and used by the company for tanning leather. During World War I, a synthetic method to tan leather was developed so there was no further need for the north Georgia resources. The Vogels gave their land to Georgia to create the state park.



Vogel State Park Lake Dam, also known as Lake Trahlyta Dam, is a 52-foot high earthen embankment. The 600-foot long dam has a maximum discharge of 2,447 cubic feet per second. Its capacity is 522 acre-feet, although its normal storage is 210 acre-feet. It drains an area of 1,638 acres.



Facilities and activities

Vogel State Park hosts a variety of outdoor activities, including camping, hiking, backpacking, boating, fishing and swimming. The park includes 103 tent, trailer and RV sites for camping, 18 walk-in campsites, and 35 cottages. About 95 of the camping sites contain electrical hookups and water. Also on site are four picnic shelters and a group camping facility, a pioneer campground, backwoods primitive campground areas and hot showers.



The centerpiece of the park is Lake Trahlyta.



The lake has a swimming beach and boat launch for non-motorized watercraft, and offers seasonal rentals for pedal boats, kayaks, and paddle boards.



It contains bass and bream and is stocked periodically during each trout season with about 5,000 trout. Also at the park are a general store, miniature golf course and a Civilian Conservation Corps museum.

Hiking

The park features four hiking trails, covering a wide variety of conditions, forest habitats and difficulties. These include the moderate difficulty 4-mile-long Bear Hair Gap Trail marked by green blazes. It begins and ends in Vogel, although most of the trail loops through the Chattahoochee National Forest.



The park also features a 1-mile Trahlyta Lake Loop Trail and the Byron Herbert Reese Nature Trail at .8 miles.




Reese cabin being restored few years back.

Walking trail around Lake Trahlyta

Also in the park is the Coosa Backcountry Trail, a strenuous 12.5-mile loop which climbs Coosa Bald (GNW #75) and Slaughter Mountain (GNW #73).


Coosa.


Slaughter.

The trail is marked with green blazes and is generally easy to follow. It fords streams on its lower segments before ascending Duncan's Ridge near the summit of Coosa Bald at over 4,000 feet elevation, where it joins the Duncan Ridge Trail. The joined trail then makes a descent, then climbs slightly to the summit of Wildcat Knob, then descends to Wolfpen Gap where it crosses State Route 180.



Across Wolfpen Gap, the trail makes a steep ascent up Slaughter Mountain, then descends to Slaughter Gap where the Coosa Backcountry and Duncan Ridge Trail split. From this point, the Duncan Ridge Trail leads directly to Blood Mountain where it meets the Appalachian Trail. The Coosa Backcountry Trail makes a steep 2,000 feet descent down the mountain and joins with the Bear Hair Gap Trail, leading back to the point of origin. The Appalachian Trail can also be accessed from nearby Neel's Gap, just a little higher up Blood Mountain on Highway 19/129; hikers can reach this area from the Byron Herbert Reece Trail.

Annual events

Annual events held at the park include a springtime Wildflower Walk, CCC Reunion, Kids Fishing Rodeo, Independence Day flag-raising ceremony and bicycle parade.



Mountain Music and Arts & Craft Festival held in September, Fall Hoedown, Duncan Ridge Trail 50K/30K Race and Christmas Tree Lighting.

Wildlife, flora and geology

Like the rest of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains, Vogel State Park and the surrounding area consists of many valleys, ridges and mountains formed by repeated plate tectonic movement and collisions, starting with the Grenville Orogeny nearly 1.5 billion years ago. The resulting landscape created diverse topology containing many different species of plants and animal.



The Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains contains low-to-high-grade metamorphic rocks. Many of the rocks of the Blue Ridge appear to be the metamorphosed equivalents of Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Others are metamorphosed igneous rocks, including Corbin metagranite, Fort Mountain gneiss, varieties of mafic and ultramafic rocks, and the metavolcanic rocks of the Gold Belt.



Much of the area resembles Pennsylvania in climate, vegetation and wildlife. The park is near the southern limit for eastern hemlock and eastern white pine. Coves in the area vary by elevation and topography, with second-growth oak and hickory more common in lower-lying areas. The surrounding forests contain rich, high-altitude flora including rare wildflowers and ferns, such as Persistent Trillium, which grows near Rhododendron. Nearby boulder fields by Blood Mountain include Dutchman's breeches, squirrel corn, waterleaf and other herbaceous plants.



The area is populated with white-tailed deer, grouse and raccoon. The deer population, which was extirpated by 1895, has rebounded since re-introduction by park ranger Arthur Woody during the 1930s. Over 100 species of birds inhabit or migrate through the area, including native songbirds such as the Canada warbler, Blackburnian, black-throated blue, black-throated green and chestnut-sided warblers. Also found are hawks, owls, woodpeckers, kinglets, thrushes, vireos, cuckoos, phoebes, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, brown creepers, wrens, tanagers, grosbeaks, indigo buntings and red crossbills. Migratory species are present during the late spring and early fall, making the area popular among birdwatchers The creeks surrounding the lake are rich with species of salamanders.

Vogel Museum

The park's Vogel Museum features exhibits, documents, photographs and memorabilia about the activities of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Vogel State Park and other parks in Georgia.



The CCC Museum provide plenty of summertime activities for everyone. The Civilian Conservation Corps was key in early development of the park, constructing roads, park buildings and the dam. Today, their handiwork is still seen throughout the park, with 85 year old park-architecture well preserved in the visitor center and cabins. The museum was built in 1996, under the leadership of John Derden, who gathered together many of the CCC tools and photographs. Museum artifacts best illustrate the daily life of the CCC worker at the park, displaying their sleeping accommodations, eating utensils, clothing and meager paychecks.


Enrollee John Derden In Front of the 1935 Chevrolet Stake Body Truck that He Drove.

Trahlyta Falls

Trahlyta Falls is on the property of Vogel State Park a few miles south of Blairsville. There’s a $5 fee to park, and the falls alone aren’t worth the admission. However, there are paddle boats, mini golf, and other campy things to do at the park, so you can easily make a whole day of it. The falls sit below the dam that was constructed to create Lake Trahlyta.


TRD's daughter with a boyfriend past.

Even though waterfalls below dams don’t typically have good flows, Trahlyta Falls stays pretty consistent. The falls drop down several stepping stones, which creates a lot of character for the falls as they bounce down the slope. I don’t know if it’s the amount of shade or if the rocks are colored this way, but the rocks along the falls look black, which really illuminates the white water as it tumbles down the falls.



A short spur from the lake trail on the northeast end of the lake leads down the base of the 110 foot Trahlyta Falls, a gorgeous stair-step waterfall. Informal paths follow along the creek bed from the base of the falls, a pathway that's lined with rhododendron and towering trees.

Directions:

From the intersection of US 76 and US 19 (The Glenn Gooch Bypass) in Blairsville, head south on US 19/29 for 10.7 miles and turn right into Vogel State Park.



Find a place to park on the left side of the lake (if you’re looking out from the visitor’s center).

Hike Description:

Follow the trail down the lake all the way to the dam. The spur trail leading down to the falls will be on the left and descends down the mountain for a few hundred yards. For some reason, the park decided to construct a wooden viewing platform directly in front of and somewhat on top of the falls, meaning there’s a good 10-15 feet of the falls you don’t get to see.



Although there’s a scramble path to the creek bank at the base of the falls, the viewing platform completely obstructs any view from the base.

All Trails

Experience this 0.7-mile out-and-back trail near Blairsville, Georgia. Generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 17 min to complete.



This is a popular trail for birding, hiking, and trail running, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day.



The best times to visit this trail are April through September.



Dogs are welcome, but must be on a leash.


I have only visited this waterfall from a distance. The pull off along Highway 19/129.

That was short and sweet compared to my latest post. Let me tangent a bit on the Georgia Natural Wonders that can be visited from this State Park. Just over Neel's Gap going back down Highway 129 into White County are three.


Desoto Falls (GNW #94)


Boggs Creek (GNW #82)




Waters Creek (GNW #43)

If you go up Highway 180 back to Suches, it opens up


Woody Gap (GNW #121)


Long Creek Falls (GNW #109)


Sea Creek Falls & Coopers Creek (GNW #111)


Toccoa River (GNW #199)


Falls on Walden Creek & Pigeon Roost Creek (GNW #115)


Waterfalls of Camp Merrill and Camp Wahsega (GNW #107)


Noontoola Creek (GNW #113)


Little Rock Creek Falls (GNW #105)

If you head up 129 to Blairsville, you can scoot off on the Richard Russell Highway (GNW #27) That takes you down to Helen and all those Wonders down there.


Dukes Creek Falls and Raven Cliffs.

You have the Track Rock Gap Archaeological Area GNW #214 going north to Blairsville.



Also up in Hiawassee is Bell Mountain GNW #164



Vogel is the Central Headquarters for North Georgia exploration and well Hell every North Georgia Natural Wonder is within driving distance so come on up. Today's GNW ladies are what else, Vogue Gals for Vogel State Park.