Tallulah Gorge, Chattooga River & Oconee Foothills

The North Rim Trail stretches 1.6 miles along the edge of Tallulah Gorge — a 1,000-foot deep chasm carved through billion-year-old quartzite that ranks as one of the deepest gorges east of the Rockies. Karl Wallenda tightrope-walked 1,000 feet across the gorge before 30,000 spectators in 1970. The trail passes Hurricane Falls overlook and the Jane Withers Overlook, each providing vertiginous aerial views straight down into the roaring river corridor below.

A permit — limited to 100 people per day, obtained at the park office — grants access to the swinging suspension bridge 80 feet above the Tallulah River, then down to the gorge floor where billion-year-old Tallulah Falls schist walls rise on both sides. Boulder scrambles lead to viewpoints of Tempesta Falls and L'Eau d'Or Falls in one of the most raw and geologically dramatic gorge floors in the eastern United States.

The South Rim Trail provides a contrasting perspective across the gorge from the north rim, with overlooks of Tempesta Falls and L'Eau d'Or Falls from above. Combined with the morning's North Rim walk, the afternoon completes a full circuit of the gorge's viewpoints across 4-plus miles of rim hiking.

Georgia Power's Tallulah Lake, impounded by the 1913 dam that ended the gorge's era of natural waterfalls, offers lake swimming access and kayak launch points near the dam — a pleasant wind-down from a full day of gorge hiking before the short drive toward the Chattooga River country.

The Chattooga River forms the Georgia-South Carolina state line for 40 miles, flowing wild and undammed through one of the most pristine river corridors in the eastern United States — it was among the first rivers designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1974, protecting it from the hydroelectric development that tamed nearly every other river in the region. Section III, below Earl's Ford, contains Class III-IV rapids through dense forest that is virtually unchanged from the pre-settlement landscape; guided full-day rafting trips through outfitters like Wildwater Ltd take 4-5 hours to run the full section through a series of memorable rapids in an increasingly wild gorge. The river gained worldwide fame as the primary filming location for John Boorman's 1972 film Deliverance, starring Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight — the film transformed American river culture, created an entire industry around whitewater recreation, and brought the Chattooga's raw beauty to global attention in a way that ultimately strengthened the case for its Wild and Scenic designation. The Stekoa Creek confluence area and the Long Creek Falls tributary are accessible to non-rafters via foot trail for those not rafting.

Bull Sluice is a Class IV-V rapid at the Section III/IV boundary — a technical 10-foot drop into a powerful hydraulic that represents some of the most consequential whitewater in the Southeast. A viewing footbridge over the Chattooga just above Bull Sluice provides a grandstand view of the rapid, making it one of the most dramatic spots in the entire river corridor for non-rafters. The surrounding Sumter National Forest riverbank trails allow hiking along the Chattooga for miles through old growth-like forest.

A rustic country grocery and deli in the tiny community of Long Creek near the Chattooga — the best and most convenient option for a straightforward lunch in this remote river country.

Use the afternoon to explore a different side of Chattooga Wild & Scenic River — Section III — there's more to discover beyond the morning highlights.

Built in 1792, Oconee Station is one of the oldest surviving structures in South Carolina — a colonial-era stone blockhouse constructed as a frontier trading post and military outpost on the edge of Cherokee territory during the period of early American westward expansion. The surrounding 210-acre state historic site preserves the original stone blockhouse and an adjacent stone house built in 1805, set in a forest clearing that has changed little from the frontier period.

Arrive at Oconee State Park in the South Carolina Blue Ridge foothills as the forest evening settles in over the CCC-built log buildings and twin mountain lakes — a deeply peaceful arrival after a day on the river.

Oconee State Park was developed from 1935 to 1940 by CCC Company 4433, whose craftsmen built 19 rental cabins, two mountain lakes, a bathhouse, a community building, and miles of trails — collectively representing one of the finest surviving CCC park complexes in the American South. The 1,165-acre park sits at the edge of the Blue Ridge escarpment in Oconee County, where the mountains abruptly drop to the South Carolina Piedmont, producing a dramatically varied landscape in a small area. The Tamassee Knob Trail climbs 4 miles round trip to a rocky summit with sweeping views across the Piedmont and back into the Blue Ridge. Most significantly, Oconee State Park serves as the western terminus of the Foothills Trail — a 76-mile long-distance trail that traverses the mountain escarpment to Table Rock State Park, passing waterfalls, gorges, and backcountry wilderness with minimal road crossings.

Use the afternoon to explore a different trail, cool off at a swimming hole, or find a scenic spot to watch the sunset.

A well-regarded American restaurant in Walhalla, SC, the charming German-founded county seat near Oconee State Park, serving lunch in a relaxed setting before the afternoon's visit to Stumphouse Tunnel.

Stumphouse Tunnel is a 1,617-foot unfinished railroad tunnel blasted through solid granite beginning in 1856 for the Blue Ridge Railroad, intended to connect Charleston and the South Carolina coast to the American Midwest by punching through the Blue Ridge escarpment. Construction was abandoned when the Civil War's outbreak ended the project, leaving a massive 25-foot-wide, 17-foot-tall bore through the mountain rock that now draws 100,000 visitors annually as one of the strangest and most atmospheric historic sites in the Southeast. The tunnel interior maintains a constant 50°F temperature year-round with high humidity — conditions so ideal for aging cheese that Clemson University used the tunnel from 1941 to 1957 to cure their signature blue cheese, a practice that ended when the university built a proper curing facility. Walking into the granite bore is a powerful and disorienting experience: the mountain swallows all light and sound within 200 feet, the air chills immediately, and water seeps from the unlined rock walls. Issaqueena Falls — a 100-foot waterfall named for a legendary Cherokee woman who warned colonial settlers of a pending attack — is adjacent to the tunnel entrance and makes for a natural combined visit.

Grab a hearty dinner in downtown Walhalla before the 2.5-hour return drive to Atlanta — the small main street has a handful of diners and local spots. Stumphouse Provisions is just five minutes from Stumphouse Tunnel and a reliable choice for a filling meal to fuel the long drive home.