Tallulah Falls in Rabun County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)

Karl Wallenda

Tallulah Gorge

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 27, 2008

1. Karl Wallenda Marker

Inscription. In 1970, Tightrope walker, Karl Wallenda, used this tower to walk across the gorge. He walked from this overlook to the tower on the South Rim. During his walk, he did two headstands.

Erected by Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Entertainment • Notable Events. A significant historical date for this entry is July 18, 1970.

Location. 34° 44.33′ N, 83° 23.315′ W. Marker is in Tallulah Falls, Georgia, in Rabun County. It can be reached from Jane Hurt Yarn Drive one mile east of U.S. 441. Marker is located beside the Wallenda tower ruins, on the Tallulah Gorge Rim Trail in Tallulah Gorge State Park, about 1/10 mile east of the Visitor Center and parking lot on Jane Hurt Yarn Drive. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 338 Jane Hurt Yarn Drive, Tallulah Falls GA 30573, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Georgia’s and he Mountains in the Golden Corner. It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in

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the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Tallulah Falls Railway and Depot (approx. ¼ mile away); Richmond Walton McCurry Memorial Forest Park (approx. 2½ miles away); Lake Rabun (approx. 3.4 miles away); Lillian E. Smith (approx. 8.6 miles away); The Unicoi Turnpike (approx. 8.6 miles away); Rabun County Korean War Memorial (approx. 9.7 miles away); Robert H. “Bob” Vickers 1908 - 1984 (approx. 9.7 miles away); Rabun County Confederate Monument (approx. 9.7 miles away).

Also see . . . Karl Wallenda’s Walk Across Tallulah Gorge-July 18, 1970. The huge crowd watched as Wallenda gingerly stepped along a 5/8-inch-thick steel cable, strung more than 1,000 feet across the Gorge. He interrupted his walk with two handstands.

Karl Wallenda Tower image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 27, 2008

2. Karl Wallenda Tower

(marker visible beside tower)

After 18 minutes, he hopped off the cable on the other side, where his wife handed him a congratulatory martini despite the fact that Rabun County officially was dry. One of the towers embedded in a concrete platform that held the wire is still visible along the trail on the north side of Tallulah Gorge. (Submitted on April 10, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 27, 2008

3. Karl Wallenda Tower

(marker partially obscured behind tree trunk)

Tallulah Gorge image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 27, 2008

4. Tallulah Gorge

(looking east from near marker)

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 27, 2008

5. Tallulah Gorge

(Karl Wallenda tightrope-walked across the gorge here)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 7, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 10, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 587 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on April 10, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.