Toccoa Falls is a 160-foot plunge waterfall on Toccoa Creek in Stephens County, Georgia, dropping free off a cliff in the middle of the University of Toccoa Falls campus. A short path from the campus gift shop leads to the falls, and the creek above them was the scene of the 1977 Kelly Barnes Dam disaster, which killed 39 people.
The falls
Toccoa Creek leaves the lip in a single free fall onto the rocks below. Lidar puts the drop at about 160 feet, less than the 186 feet reported by the university, city and most guides.
Getting there
The falls sit on private university land at 107 Kincaid Drive and are not managed by the City of Toccoa. Entry is only through the Gate Cottage gift shop, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and noon to 4 p.m. on weekends. The City of Toccoa lists admission at $2 for adults, $1 for seniors and $6 for a family of four or more, with children 6 and under free. From the gift shop a 100-yard gravel path leads to the falls; the city and county describe it as handicap accessible. A parking lot sits by the gift shop, across from a small lake.
When to go
Visits are possible only during gift shop hours, and the university may close the falls around holidays and school breaks, including the last two weeks of December and spring break in March. It advises calling ahead on 706-886-7299, ext. 5215.
On site
Swimming, wading, fishing, climbing and hiking are not allowed at the falls, and leashed dogs are welcome. A memorial to the victims of the 1977 flood stands downstream on campus.
History and name
The name comes from the Cherokee Tagwâ′hĭ, which Wikipedia translates as either "Catawba place" or "beautiful"; the university gives "beautiful." Ethnographer James Mooney recorded a Cherokee story of a woman seen walking under the falls who then appeared at the top, taken to be one of the Nûñnë'hï spirit people. The school on the site was founded in 1911; Toccoa Falls College became the University of Toccoa Falls on July 1, 2026.
The Kelly Barnes Dam, a 38-foot earthen dam about 2,000 feet upstream, gave way at 1:30 a.m. on November 6, 1977, after days of heavy rain. Some 176 million gallons of water poured over the falls and through the lower campus, killing 39 people. The dam was never rebuilt.
Nearby
Glen Falls, also on Toccoa Creek, is about 0.3 mile away, Henderson Falls about 1.6 miles and Panther Creek Falls about 5.8 miles.
Distances are straight-line.