Hike the Trahlyta Lake Trail to Trahlyta Falls

Lake Trahlyta in Vogel State Park offers a truly unique combination of natural beauty and opportunity for recreation.  The easy one-mile Lake Trahlyta trail circles the emerald colored lake and has a short deviation that leads to a calming, yet impressive waterfall.  

The trail starts on the edge of the lake nearest the parking lot and visitor’s center.  You can take the trail either direction, but I will walk you through it as if you were going counter-clockwise.  Once you start on the trail, you will follow along the lake, walking parallel to the entrance road into the state park.  On this side of the like you will find trees on both sides of you, although there are many clearings with awesome lake views. You will reach the opposite end of the oval-shaped lake after about 0.3 miles, where the trees clear up and there is ample open shoreline to fish from.  

On this short end of the lake, you will find the spillover.  This spillover passes underneath the trail, and leads to the waterfall on the right side.  You cannot really see the waterfall from this main part of the trail, so you will need to follow the signs to Trahlyta falls, where you will go along a short trail and down some stairs about 100 yards to a viewing platform which is about two-thirds of the way down the cascading falls.  You can further carefully navigate your way down the steep slope to make it to the base of the waterfall.  

Once you have gotten your waterfall fix in, head back up the side trail the way you came and continue your way around the loop counter-clockwise.  On the following longer stretch of lake, you will find some waterfront cabins and swing benches.  This is a great place to just sit and watch the sun glisten on the surface of the clear lake.  Before you make it all the way back to the parking lot you will find a small sand beach with an enclosed swimming area and canoes and paddle boats for rent in the warmer months of the year.  There is also a fishing dock and a pavilion in the same general area. 

If you find yourself in the area, I definitely recommend stopping in for this easy stroll around this beautiful alpine lake and waterfall.  Besides, can you really say you went hiking in North Georgia without seeing a waterfall?