Story by SportsterJohn.  Pics by SportsterJohn and www.ncwaterfalls.com

Sunday afternoon, time for a putt in the mountains.  The wife and I were camping with my club in N. Ga. over the holiday weekend. Since we didn't have any real activities planned for Sun afternoon, we decided to take a ride in the mountains.  We left Diamond Lure campgrounds about 1 and headed up 515 towards Blue Ridge. 515 is really nothing but a 4 lane which connects US 76 to I 575.  There is nothing special about the road but if you spend a lot of time riding in the mountains, you should be very familiar with this road. We stayed on 515 till we got to highway 5 in Blue Ridge. 5 is a mostly 2 lane road which will take you to Highway 68 right at the Tennessee state line. We took a left at the stop sign onto 68 and rode that past the copper mines till we hit highway 64. On a side note, if you want to go to the Dragon or the Cherahala skyway just stay on 68!  We went east on 64 and headed towards Franklin.  This section of 64 is mostly 4 lane.  It's not the best part of the road, however there are a few real nice sections with some sweeps and some mountains. One area has a 10% grade lasting about 4 miles.   We followed 64 till we got to Franklin which was about 75 or so miles from Copper Hill.  Once you hit Franklin, the good part of the ride starts. We took 64E/28S towards Highlands. The 12 mile section between Franklin and Highlands is nothing but hairpin and 15mph curves with waterfalls all over the place!  There are at least 3 waterfalls within 5 miles of each other right on 64 itself and many others in the area.   You do have to be very careful though because it can get congested with the waterfall watchers and hikers.  The first waterfall in the area is known as Dry falls.  There is an entrance on the right hand side to get to the falls.  Once you get to the parking area, there is a short walk to the falls.  These falls are very cool as you can walk under them.  The 2nd waterfall we hit is Cullasaja Falls which is about 250' high.  Be careful in this area.  There is not a parking lot for these falls, just a pull over on the side on the road.   The below picture which is of better quality than mine was taken from(http://www.ncwaterfalls.com).

Cullasaja Falls

After leaving Cullasaja falls we came up to Bridal Veil Falls on the right.  These falls are accessible from 64.  There is a bit of parking and you can also walk right up to these falls which was very nice since it was over 90 degrees out!.  After leaving the last of the waterfalls, we made it into Highlands which is a very nice little town sitting at an elevation of 4118 feet.  I know this because there are many signs there telling people this. We turned down NC 116 with runs between Highlands NC and Mountain City Ga.  This 20 mile long road is a very thin mountain road going up and down hills with a lot of sweepers and a few hair pins in it.  There are a few scenic over looks and some ski resorts along the road. Sky Valley is probably the most well known. 116 turns into Ga 246 and ends on highway 441 a bit north of Clayton.  We took 441 south till we got to Clayton and then went west on US 76.  76 runs across the state of Ga. about 10-20 miles south of the NC. and Tenn. borders. By this time, it was about 5pm and we were getting hungry.  Warning here folks, if you don't eat in Clayton, it will be a long time before you find another place to eat!  The stretch between Clayton and Hiawassee is pretty remote. The ride is nice though.  It is not hairpins and sharp twisties like some of the other N. Ga. roads, however it is very scenic with some nice sweeps and great views.

Highway 76

Finally we found a place to eat called Georgia Mountain Restaurant in Hiawassee.  Fantastic food at this place at country prices.  This means we got full meals for about $6 pp.  I would definitely hit this place again when I am in the area.  After eating, we continued down 76  through Blairsville, Blue Ridge then finally back to Ellijay.  Once we got to Ellijay, we jumped on 52 and headed back  to Diamond Lure to see what my brothers were up to.