By Jim Qualls

Previously toasted by Outside Magazine as one of the top rides in the southeast, Stonewall Falls Trail continually gets reviewed as a rider’s favorite. Recently expanded to offer about 11 miles, this trail is a classic mix of challenging climbs, beautiful remote scenery, wildlife, some technical sections, and 4 creek crossings. Ratings always depend on the riders involved: This usually gets rated moderate to difficult.

To The Trailhead
From Tallulah Gorge and Tallulah Falls on US Highway 441, go 2 miles north to left on Old Highway 441. Follow Old Highway 441 as it winds through the communities of Joy, Lakemont, and Wiley approximately 5.3 miles. Watch for the left turn onto gravel Forest Service Road 20—there is a sign for Stonewall Falls Trail and a small sign that simply says 20. Proceed up the gravel road just over a mile, stay to the right and park near the gate. Be prepared to pay $2 parking fee.

The Ride
Immediately a favorite since the first time I rode it, local mountain bikers are owed a debt of gratitude for what they have done. The loop is usually ridden counterclockwise: So, from the parking area and past the gate, its only a couple hundred yards on doubletrack to the left turn onto the new singletrack trail.

My first time riding Stonewall Falls Trail several years ago was on a cold February day—36 degrees for the high temperature. Back then you ground up winding gravel road for the first 3 miles until “above vulture level”, where you could look down on the birds and speculate whether they were staying close to keep an eye on you.

On that cold first time ride, and on repeat rides since, we found the trail offered all of the elements we wished for classic mountain biking. There’s some mud, narrow handlebar-wide stretches through the trees, mud, roots, rocks, switchback, open ridges through hardwood forests, tunneling stretches through dense rhododendron thickets, rocky technical descents, and loads of peace and quiet. Always hoping to see wildlife, I remember this was the first and only time I’ve ever seen ruffed grouse. We flushed up a couple over on the back side of the loop. The last mile offers 4 creek crossings, which my friends didn’t know about as we rode it that first cold winter day—most people find them more enjoyable on summer days. And there’s the namesake Stonewall Falls at the end of the ride: For some reason, my buddies didn’t want to linger at the falls with wet feet on that first cold ride, but most times you’ll want to take in the beauty of the falls, take some photos, maybe a dip in the pool at the base of the falls, and let the more pedestrian visitors you may see there in on a little of the fun you’ve had while riding this great trail.

You’ll Get Hungry—And Need A Place To Stay
Riders on strict, highly-calculated, Lance Armstrong-type diets will have their meals pre-planned and pre-measured. I, too, am gradually ratcheting up the strictness of my own diet. But let me recommend two of my favorite restaurants for great recovery meals after your rides (and for breakfast the next day), both of them on north on US 441 in Dillard, Georgia.

Friends from the days of my youth, Billy & Charlene Johnson offer wonderful food and desserts at Johnson’s Cupboard Café, 7388 Highway 441 North, in Dillard. I recommend the chicken pot pie and the apple pie a la mode. They also run White Hall Inn a very nice bed & breakfast across the road (which also features the Café). Tell the Johnsons I sent you.

Travelers to the region from all over the world also know about The Dillard House. Famous for its endless family style meals, the Dillard House offers a great view across the valley in Rabun Gap, as well as hotel accommodations, pool, trail rides on horses, and even a small petting zoo.

And That’s Not All
I recommend something cool to drink from Hillside Orchard Farms, just a mile or so south of the turn onto Forest Road 20 on Old Highway 441. They have every cider and jelly imaginable, plus much more—my favorites are the muscadine and scuppernong ciders and the moonshine jelly.

Downtown Clayton, north of Stonewall Falls Trail on Highway 441 offers a growing variety of accommodations, dining, shopping, and cultural events. Visit Rabun County’s website for loads of information.

And a couple of the many beautiful spots in Rabun County to visit while you’re there: Minnehaha Falls is oft-regarded as the most beautiful waterfall in Georgia. Also, Black Rock Mountain State Park in Mountain City is the highest elevation state park in Georgia, on the Eastern Continental Divide.

By Jim Qualls

We have many miles of great riding in Georgia, and BrownsGuides.com is offering an interesting forum to let more people know about it.

I’ve been riding bikes in Georgia most of my life, since way back in the late 1960’s on my banana-seated kid bike. Growing up outside of Roswell when it was much more rural, I enjoyed the freedom that bike gave me to roam around. Several years before the invention of the mountain bike, I rolled down dusty dirt farm roads, across fields and pastures, and through the woods to ever new adventures. Like the state song by Ray Charles, “Georgia” does “reach out to me”, calling again and again with another road to go down, another trail curving temptingly out of sight. Photo: Jim Qualls

Sometimes I ride “because its there”, other times because I’ve been there and loved it before. And I ride to keep fit.

I usually ride my road bike with friends and on organized group rides—there is safety in numbers, and the conversation is good. But my mountain bike is my personal favorite, maybe because of the type of riding I enjoyed doing as a boy, but also due to the type I most prefer now. Riding off-road proves more relaxing to me because I don’t have to worry as much about traffic—and I like where it takes me. No place on earth is better to me than a beautiful stretch of “singletrack” in the north Georgia mountains, alongside a clear, cascading stream, through the hemlocks and the rhododendrons. But I do also enjoy the road rides. It’s the places, the people I ride with, and even other joys that can be hard to describe. And I love that good-looking blue Klein road bike of mine: Nothing better than watching the sun glint off of its carefully waxed paint as I pedal down another road.

Home turf is Peachtree City, Georgia, and I will gladly share this unique place. We have over 90 miles of recreation paths here, in addition to our streets. There’s plenty to tell about in the counties closest to my home—Fayette, Coweta, Meriwether and southern Fulton.

I have ridden in many places in Georgia. On the road bike, I recently rode with a group from Peachtree City to the state capitol in Atlanta and back (76 miles) for the the 2008 Georgia Rides To The Capitol rally. Nearly 2000 riders, mayors, and other state leaders gathered to focus on bike-friendly roads, alternative transportation options, and a brighter future for us all.

You may have heard of the highly-acclaimed Bike Ride Across Georgia (BRAG)–I’ve ridden a day or so of it before: The first time was from Columbus to Thomaston, 63 miles, half of it in the rain. My longest ride so far, 115 miles from Peachtree City to Pine Mountain and Callaway Gardens to Warm Springs and back, was another great experience. There’s the Silver Comet rail trail that I have enjoyed for several years now, from the west side of Atlanta all the way to the Alabama line. And there’s what local cycling guru Steve Shackleford (of Bicycles Unlimited) bills as “The Funnest Ride In Georgia”, in the northeast counties of Habersham and Rabun. Oh, boy! The list goes on and on.

The mountain bike has taken me along countless miles of dirt roads, past the cow pastures that always get my attention, and even on the old Indian route called the McIntosh Trail. A repeat favorite is Dauset Trails near Jackson, with about 1500 acres of great middle Georgia beauty, alongside rocky streams and fern-covered coves. On the western border in Heard County are the privately-owned trails called Windridge Farm. On the coast, I’ve ridden all up and down St. Simons Island, from the lighthouse to Fort Frederica. I’ve even done a little riding in the edge of the surf of the Atlantic Ocean (not good for your bike).

My clear favorites are those mountain trails and roads. Stonewall Falls Trail in Rabun County, the Unicoi State Park trails and Smithgall Woods roads in White County are standouts. I’ll sometime tell about a great day of riding on the trails in Fort Mountain State Park, which ended with me having a life-changing crash on the paved road on our way back.

So much to tell about, and to hear about from others, too—we’ll do it right here on BrownsGuides.com.