Amicalola Falls

Amicalola Falls is commonly cited as not only the tallest waterfall in Georgia, but also among the tallest east of the Rocky Mountains. Usually cited as dropping 729 feet as it cascades from a tiny lake within its namesake park, the falls in reality are considerably smaller than has been assumed, and though a formal survey by the World Waterfall Database has not yet been conducted, we can look at multiple sources of readily available information to conclude the height of the falls has long been exaggerated. The USGS Nimblewill 7-1/2 inch Topographic quadrangle indicates that the elevation at the top of the falls is somewhere between 2500 feet and 2544 feet (the elevation of Amicalola Lake, just above the falls) above sea level. If the falls were to drop 729 feet as reported, that would put the base of the falls at around the 1800 foot level - which is three-quarters of a mile away from the top of the falls, near the park entrance. The pond at the end of the park access road is situated at approximately the 1930 foot level, and is situated about four-tenths of a mile away from the falls, so even if the falls were to extend all the way to the pond, there is still an additional 125 feet in elevation change that is suddenly missing, and with an average pitch of only 3 degrees, the stream in this section is not going to qualify as part of the falls. The base of the falls however appears likely to be situated well upstream of the pond at the end of the road, so the valid elevation change which can be associated with the drop of the waterfall should be less still simply based on this. But going further, we can look at the Stairs the climb adjacent to the falls. Signs along the trail next to the falls indicates that there are 600 steps that climb to the top. Assuming each step is conforming to the maximum allowed height of 7-3/4 inches according to ADA guidelines, the stairs will gain a total of 387.5 feet of elevation as they climb adjacent to the falls. Given it is unlikely that there is no additional elevation gain in between the multiple flights of stairs, but it does not appear likely that there is an additional 350 feet worth of gain in there, as the bulk of these stairs are found immediately adjacent to the steepest part of the falls. In reality, based on the topographic data available to us at this time, it appears likely that Amicalola Falls is closer to 400-450 feet tall in all, with its tallest drop standing perhaps 200 feet tall on its own. While this knocks it out of Georgia's top spot, it can still be easily argued that it is the best waterfall in the Peach State.