Looking to hike the Sliding Rock Trail in Tallulah Gorge State Park? This is our experience (including a video going down the sliding rock!) and a few tips!
On Sunday, July 28th, we went hiking (Paige, Ashley, and I). Scott was out of town for work and we wanted to do something outside so we decided we would go on a hike. We went to Tallulah Gorge State Park (in NE GA) to do the Sliding Rock Trail. They only give out 100 passes per day starting at 8 AM and they do not give out passes if there is a chance of rain. There was only a 20% chance of rain when we woke up so we went ahead and made the hour drive and luckily they still had passes left! We were on our way after a quick overview and safety class. Yes, they tried to scare us away in the safety class!
Hike Date: 07/28/2013
The first adventure is going down 600+ stairs to get to the gorge floor and then you have to jump or climb across giant boulders to get to the other side. I bruised up my arm pretty bad on one jump but we all three made it to the other side. There was definitely strategy involved in making it, as you can see below.
There really is NO trail and there is no room for a trail because you are basically just beside the water and making your own way down. We all brought tennis shoes (actually hiking/trail shoes) and water shoes. We quickly changed into the water shoes in the beginning because most of the trail was wading through the water. We all had packs on and fell or slid into the water a few times. It was rough!
There was even a section where you literally had to crab crawl across a giant rock to get to the other side BUT it wasn’t that easy because it was slippery so it kept pushing us down towards the water so we were constantly trying to crab crawl and avoid being pushed into the water!
We finally made it to the sliding rock!
The sliding rock was a blast (video below) but it was a pain to get back out of the water. Our video didn’t take the first time so we had to go down twice. It was so slippery I think we probably burned 200 calories swimming and sliding and climbing rocks to get back out!
After we finished swimming we had to make our way back out of the gorge. That meant to go back the way we came (no thank you!) or take another route which consisted of climbing rocks at a steep incline. All I can say is that I am glad that my choice of cardio is walking at a 15 incline! It was a blast!
Video of Sliding Rock Trail in Tallulah Gorge State Park:
We had a great girls hiking trip!
TIPS FOR HIKING THE SLIDING ROCK TRAIL IN TALLULAH GORGE STATE PARK
- Pack water shoes (we quickly changed into these instead of our trail shoes)
- Pack a swimsuit (and towel if you really want one, we didn't pack a towel)
- Carry at least one pack
- As always, make sure you have plenty of food and water
Have you ever done the Sliding Rock Trail at Tallulah Gorge?
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