Rhododendron Falls is the first in a pair of waterfalls located in a small, tight gorge below Chenocetah Mountain. About 30 feet high, this is a picturesque, stairstepping waterfall. Another nice waterfall lies just upstream from the brink, unseen from the base. Rhododendron Falls is located on an unnamed creek, which joins another unnamed creek downstream that eventually flows into Lake Russell. The Rhododendron Trail travels up this creek valley from the lake, passing several smaller waterfalls, but it does not provide direct access to Rhododendron Falls. To reach Rhododendron Falls, you will have to bushwhack up the side gorge for about 0.1 mile from the main trail.

Farther up the valley, the Rhododendron Trail ascends Chenocetah Mountain and passes through one of the largest stands of Piedmont rhododendron in the United States. Here you'll find a spectacular bloom of showy pink flowers from mid-May to early June, the namesake of Rhododendron Falls.

Although this waterfall is most commonly known as Rhododendron Falls, an old 1912 postcard identifies it as "The Cascade, Mt. Airy, Ga." A sign on Chenocetah Mountain identifies a "Cascade Falls" on the map, but this appears to refer to Trailside Falls downstream along the Rhododendron Trail. The waterfall described here is the original Cascade Falls.  

For detailed directions, see page 228 in Mark Ozboyd's "Waterfalls of Georgia" guidebook.