Georgia trails · Panther Creek Trail

Panther Creek Trail

A 5.9-mile out-and-back in Georgia, with 781 ft of climbing. Reaches Upper Falls view. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

Open in the interactive map →

Length

5.9 mi

Elevation gain

781 ft

Difficulty

Hard

Max grade

33%

Steepest mile

+599 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

1.7 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Bikes

Horses

Managed by

U.S. Forest Service

Elevation profile

Most of the climbing sits in the first third — 57% of the ascent, between mile 0.0 and mile 2.0. It gives back about 691 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Upper Falls view (viewpoint)

Heads up

Stream ford: expect at least one unbridged crossing.

Getting there

Panther Creek Trail access — parking nearby, water. 34.69882, -83.41942 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:39 a.m., the sun rises at 7:05 a.m. and sets at 8:01 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:27 p.m. (EDT) — 12 h 56 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 11.9-mile round trip takes roughly 5 h 11 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:16 p.m. — 7 h 45 min before sunset.