The Legend of the Bootlegger's Truck at Amicalola

Hikers around Amicalola Falls trade a story about a rusting truck from the moonshine days, left where a driver lost control on a mountain track and swallowed by the forest since. It's a good story, and the moonshine era behind it is real history. What we can't do is point you to the truck. We haven't found a park, agency or historical source that documents it, so treat it as local legend. The rest of this post covers the history that makes the legend believable, and the real reasons to visit Amicalola.

The short answer

There's no documented, signed trail to a bootlegger's truck at Amicalola Falls State Park, and we don't recommend bushwhacking off the marked trails to look for one. Visit the park for the 729-foot falls instead: parking is $10 per vehicle, and the park is about 70 minutes from Helen.

The moonshine roads

In the decades around Prohibition and after, the back roads of the North Georgia mountains carried more than ordinary traffic. Small stills turned corn into untaxed whiskey in hollows and creek bottoms, and drivers hauled it to customers in Atlanta and Gainesville in cars and trucks modified for speed. Those drivers knew every curve of the dirt roads, and many ran at night to avoid revenue agents. Accidents happened, and a wrecked vehicle was something a driver had little reason to advertise.

The NASCAR connection

The moonshine story ties into racing history. Many early stock car drivers in the Southeast had driven liquor runs, and informal races on dirt tracks drew crowds in North Georgia before NASCAR was organized in 1948 by Bill France Sr. at Daytona Beach. Our post on how North Georgia shaped NASCAR goes into it. A wrecked whiskey truck on a mountainside makes a fitting legend for that world, whether or not any particular truck is still out there.

A word on looking for it

We've removed the coordinates that earlier versions of this post printed, because we couldn't verify them. Off-trail hiking in a state park is risky, and the park's rules apply to everything inside its boundary. Stay on marked trails, and leave any artifact you do find where it lies.

Visiting Amicalola Falls State Park

The real draw is the water. At 729 feet, the falls are what the lodge calls the third-highest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River. Georgia State Parks manages the park, and the lodge's site has rooms, dining and event details. The park also anchors the Approach Trail, an 8-mile climb to Springer Mountain, the southern end of the Appalachian Trail.

What else is in the park

Amicalola is more than one waterfall. The lodge's park page lists guided hikes, GPS scavenger hunts, 3-D archery, hatchet throwing, zip lining and trout fishing, so there's something to do even if the hike up isn't for you. The Approach Trail is the 8-mile route to Springer Mountain, where the 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail begins. Most visitors just walk part of it, then turn around.

You can also stay overnight. The lodge lists 57 rooms, 13 rental cabins and 24 campsites, plus safari-style tents, which makes Amicalola a workable base if you'd rather split the drive from Helen into two days. Remember that overnight guests pay the daily parking fee once per stay.

Timing your trip

Plan on about 70 minutes each way from downtown Helen, so it works best as an early start with the falls first, while the lot still has space. Fall color usually reaches lower elevations around the end of October, which lines up with Fall Fest on October 31; our fall color guide has the week-by-week picture. Save the waterfalls closer to Helen for another day rather than cramming them in, and keep the East Ridge Trail closure in mind when you pick a route.

If you're making a day of it, see our Amicalola Falls guide, our list of day trips from Helen, and the roundup of waterfalls near Helen.