Unicoi State Park near Helen, GA

Welcome to our online travel scrapbook! The last time I visited Unicoi State Park, I was about 10 years old. I went with my parents and we stayed in a barrel cabin. I thought it was great fun to climb up to my own sleeping loft in the cabin. This time, I visited with my husband in a travel trailer and found it great fun to imagine how run down those cabins must be by nearly 50 years later.

I've been back to Helen many times since then, and for a while it was an annual New Year's destination with cousins to stay in their cabin. But, this was my first time back at Unicoi since I was a child.

We enjoyed our time. although we didn't participate much in the offerings inside the park other than the campground. There wasn't anything particularly special about the campground other than a nice lake to walk around. We could have done the archery range - maybe next time. 

Back in the 1970s, Helen, GA was really fun. Maybe it was because I was a child and all of the Swiss-Alps-themed places seemed magical, but I think it was more than that. There were more interesting shops - places where you could buy woolen goods and Bavarian things, not just T-shirt shops. Helen still has a glass-blowing shop, and maybe 2 other good stores, but most of it is very kitschy. My last fun trip to Helen included tubing down a river, and I highly recommend that if you go, go when it's warm enough to play in the water or when you can dance and drink beer at Oktoberfest. Otherwise, plan on spending your time hiking and doing things outside of Helen. 

We spent a weekend here at the beginning of May 2022, just before we brought our daughter home for her first summer after starting college. Little did we know that it would probably be her last summer at home. 😭

We kayaked the little lake nearby, but didn't find good places to kayak. If we go back, we'll go in the summer, leave the yaks at home, and plan to go tubing. We hiked though! Here's where we went.

Ana-Ruby Falls

Ana-Ruby Falls is an out-and-back trail of about 1 mile that takes you to a beautiful double falls. It's a little steep in places, but it's PAVED the whole way. On Laura's Mountain Goat Scale, this is a 1, meaning you don't have to have any mountain goat skills to hike this trail. As long as you can walk uphill on a paved path, you're good. The steepness of this trail will get your heart pumping, but it's otherwise an easy hike.

(Quick explanation of Laura's Mountain Goat Scale. I'm past 55 and no athlete and no mountain goat. I can walk all day, but rocky - rooty - steep paths that require mountain goat agility are scary now that I don't have the balance that I did in my 30s. Most of the trail ratings that I find are either very vague ((moderately challenging)) or they include distance in the way they calculate difficulty. My scale is solely based on how afraid I am that I will fall and hurt myself. Level 1 means no mountain goat skills required. Level 5 means that the trail is rocky/rooty/very steep in places, requires some scrambling or treacherous stream crossings, and/or has a drop-off right by the trail. Level 5 means that this is the most mountain-goaty trail I'm willing to hike.)

 

Dukes Creek Falls

Dukes Creek Falls is a fairly easy hike of about 2 miles that takes you to a beautiful waterfall. On the Mountain Goat Scale, it's a 2. I did it in tennis shoes with no problem. 

DeSoto Falls

Our 3rd hike of the trip was to DeSoto Falls. Also about 2 miles, and also fairly easy, it was a 2 on my mountain goat scale. 

If we go back to this area, we might try some more difficult hikes.

The Cottage Winery

We like to follow up our hiking with a winery! Fortunately, the area had plenty to choose from. We decided on The Cottage Winery, and enjoyed our post-hike reward!