Cloudland Canyon State Park
122 Cloudland Canyon Park Rd
Rising Fawn, GA
A thousand-foot gorge sliced into the western edge of Lookout Mountain, with two thundering waterfalls at the bottom and long, layered views along the rim.
Cloudland Canyon is one of the great surprises of the Georgia mountains: a deep, rugged gorge carved into the western wall of Lookout Mountain, where the land simply falls away into a green chasm more than a thousand feet deep. Sitton Gulch Creek and its feeders have spent ages cutting down through layers of sandstone, shale, and limestone, leaving sheer bluffs, hidden waterfalls, and a shadowed canyon floor that feels a world apart from the sunny plateau above.
The park protects roughly 3,500 acres straddling both worlds, the airy rim with its long overlooks and the cool, wet canyon bottom with its creeks and cascades. It is the kind of place where you can stand at a railing and take in the whole gorge in a glance, then spend the next couple of hours climbing down into it to stand at the foot of a waterfall.
What Guests Love
- The overlooks along the rim, where the whole gorge opens up below in bands of sandstone and green forest
- The Waterfalls Trail down into the canyon to Cherokee Falls and Hemlock Falls
- Deep, cool hemlock groves along the creek at the bottom of the gorge
- A genuine wild-mountain feel this close to Chattanooga, with room to hike for hours
Worth Knowing
- The Waterfalls Trail is beautiful but steep, with a long set of metal staircases down and back up, so it is a real workout rather than a stroll
- There is a small per-vehicle parking fee, standard for Georgia state parks, so bring a card or cash
- The canyon floor stays cool and damp even in summer, and the stairs can be slick after rain, so wear good shoes
- Wildcat Cave in the park is a wild cave with seasonal closures to protect bats, so check current access before counting on it
Details
Rising Fawn, GA
Learn about Cloudland Canyon State Park
A gorge carved into Lookout Mountain
What makes Cloudland Canyon so dramatic is the geology. Lookout Mountain is a long, flat-topped plateau, and along its western edge the streams have worn a deep V-shaped gorge back into the rock. From the overlooks the elevation drops from over 1,800 feet on the rim to around 800 feet at the canyon mouth near Trenton, so you are looking down through hundreds of feet of stacked stone at forested slopes and creeks far below.
The layers you see in the walls tell the story of an ancient inland sea and the rivers that followed it, hard sandstone caps sitting over softer shale that the water cut away underneath. That is exactly the recipe for waterfalls, and the park has two big ones where side creeks tumble off the sandstone ledges into pools on the canyon floor.
The Waterfalls Trail and the canyon floor
The signature hike is the Waterfalls Trail, which drops from the rim down a long series of built staircases to two of the park's largest falls, Cherokee Falls and Hemlock Falls. Cherokee spills into a wide, deep plunge pool ringed by rock, and Hemlock, a little farther on, drops down a tall sandstone face into the gorge. In wet seasons they run loud and full; in a dry late summer they thin out, so spring and after-rain days are the showstoppers.
For a longer day, the Sitton's Gulch Trail continues past the falls all the way down through the gorge toward the canyon mouth in Trenton, following Daniel Creek through cool hemlock groves and past a string of smaller cascades tucked into limestone crevices. It is quieter than the falls stairs and gives you the full sense of walking the length of the canyon rather than just peering into it.
From private gulch to state park
Long before it was a park, this place was known plainly as Sitton Gulch, or Trenton Gulf, after the families who farmed and logged the valley below. Beginning in 1938 the state of Georgia bought up the land in stages from local Dade County families to preserve the gorge, and Depression-era crews from the Civilian Conservation Corps built the first roads, trails, and facilities before it opened to the public.
That early stone-and-timber craftsmanship still shows in parts of the park, and the land has only grown wilder since, with the forest recovering across the slopes and the canyon left to its creeks and waterfalls. Today it is one of the most spectacular units in the Georgia state park system, and a favorite jumping-off point for the wider Lookout Mountain country.
Visiting Cloudland Canyon
The main entrance is up on the plateau off Cloudland Canyon Park Road, a short climb from Trenton in the valley below and an easy trip from Chattanooga. A modest per-vehicle parking fee applies, as at all Georgia state parks. From the parking areas the rim overlooks are only a short walk, so even a quick stop rewards you with the big view before you decide how far to descend.
Give yourself at least half a day if you want to hike into the gorge. The Waterfalls Trail down to Cherokee and Hemlock is the classic, but respect the stairs, they are steep and the climb back is the hard part. Bring water, wear real shoes for the slick canyon floor, and take your time. It is a place that pays back the effort, a genuine mountain gorge hiding in a quiet corner of Georgia.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Rising Fawn
Lookout Mountain
About 15 miles
The long plateau that Cloudland Canyon is carved into, with scenic drives, overlooks, and the towns strung along its ridge toward Chattanooga.
Trenton
About 8 miles
The small Dade County seat in the valley below the park, the nearest town for gas, food, and supplies.
Chattanooga, Tennessee
About 30 miles
The riverfront city just over the state line, with the Tennessee Aquarium, Walnut Street Bridge, and Lookout Mountain attractions.
Little River Canyon
About 35 miles
A deep river gorge and national preserve across the Alabama line, with waterfalls and a rim drive of its own.