Located within the city limits of Augusta, 20-foot Rae's Creek Falls is a rarity for this region. It's the most significant waterfall found near Georgia's second-largest city. This picturesque stairstepping waterfall lies along Rae's Creek below Lake Olmstead and the Augusta Canal, just before this creek flows into the Savannah River. Rae's Creek Falls doesn't seem to be of fully natural origin, and its surroundings have seen many anthropogenic changes. 

Known as the only industrial canal in the US South to remain in continuous use, the 13-mile Augusta Canal was built in 1845 to harness the Savannah River as a source of water, power, and transportation for the city of Augusta. Constructing the Augusta Canal across Rae's Creek — a large, rushing stream — proved a significant obstacle. The solution was to pass the canal through an aqueduct over the creek.

When the Augusta Canal was expanded in the late 1800s, Rae's Creek was dammed above the canal to form Lake Olmstead. The dam diverted the main flow of the creek into the canal while the lake retained excess water. After several major floods, two new flood control structures were built during the Great Depression: 1) a stone spillway connecting the canal to the original channel of Rae's Creek, and 2) a sluice releasing water from the canal down what is effectively the new, diverted channel of Rae's Creek. The waterfall is located on this latter channel. 

Rae's Creek Falls always has some flow, but the flow intensity depends on the volume of water being released from the Augusta Canal. In the summer, the waterfall often teems with dozens of people cooling off in its rushing waters. Below the aqueduct, the waterfall spills into a large pool, which visitors use as a swimming hole. Rae's Creek Falls can be reached with an easy 0.2-mile hike from the Lake Olmstead Trailhead. A scramble path leaves the main trail along the canal levee and follows the creek down to the bottom of the falls. 

For detailed directions, see page 415 in Mark Ozboyd's "Waterfalls of Georgia" guidebook.