When people hear Lookout Mountain, they often think of Chattanooga. However, Lookout Mountain is only three miles in Tennessee. There are thirty-one miles in northwest Georgia and fifty miles in Alabama. That’s right, Lookout Mountain in Alabama is larger than the states of Tennessee and Georgia combined!
With its cool mountain forests, refreshing springs, and cascading waterfalls, this highland region is perfect for escaping the heat of the South. Here's our nine-step plan for the perfect summer escape on Alabama's Lookout Mountain.
Cabin rental
If you believe in transcendentalism, the first step to intentional living is to get a cabin in the woods. If nothing else, it's certainly better than sleeping on the ground. We stayed in Forever View Cabin 5 Stars on Airbnbeleven miles on a country road from Little River Falls.
The cabin's wide porch was perfect for watching the summer rains blow over the valley and the internet was surprisingly fast. Plus, it was close enough to town for dinner and well spaced out. Between De Soto State Park to the north and Weiss Lake to the south..
Visit Fort Payne
In fact, Forever View was more luxurious than Thoreau's Cabin on Waldon Pond. Yet it was still close enough to go into town to buy fresh cookies or have your mother do your laundry, especially if she lived in Fort Payne.
Fort Payne developed along the Chattanooga to Birmingham railroad, now Highway 59. It was an important city to the Cherokee, including being the home of Sequoyah, the silversmith who created the Cherokee syllabary.
The city is still a great place for weary travelers, with many quality local restaurants and excellent grocery stores. We stopped there. roadsideWe had a plate of grilled nachos and felt like we had walked into an old Colorado lodge. It looked like they had turned all of my childhood skis into furniture, and we even sat on an A-basin lift seat, which I'm sure I've sat on at some point in my life, hahaha!
I asked the owner, Justin Christman, if this was an homage to Cloud Mountain, Alabama’s only ski mountain just a few miles down the road. As it turns out, like me, he grew up in the Denver suburbs, so I felt like I was bringing a little piece of home to Alabama.
See Little River Falls
Little River Falls is a 45-foot waterfall on the Little River. We were fortunate to have had some rain recently, so the water level was high. These are high volume falls, with a record flow of 11,000 cubic feet in the spring of 2014.
It's a short walk from the parking area to Little River Falls. It's beautiful, but if you want to beat the summer heat, you can take a 3/4 mile hike to small waterfalls (also known as Martha's Falls, also known as the hippie hole), where you can swim and have fun.
The first 11 miles are the best and so good you might want to drive it back and forth.
Driving on Little River Canyon Rim Parkway
Northeast Alabama is a land of scenic drives, but the Little River Canyon Rim Parkway stands out from the crowd. It's an 11-mile scenic drive above the “Grand Canyon of the East.”
During the summer, the landscape overlooks Mushroom Rock It's beautiful, but more water is probably needed to make it the tallest waterfall in Alabama. High Grace FallsPump.
Fish Wise Lake
We took advantage of Forever View and drove south to Weiss Lake for a day trip. The 30,200-acre lake is known as the Crappie Capital of the World. If you leave early enough, you can get your catch without sacrificing paddling time.
terrapin creek paddle
The Terrapin River empties into Weiss Lake, where several commercial companies offer kayak rentals and low-cost shuttles. We went with Redneck Yacht Club so we can have lunch with them Creekside Cafe When eating out.
It was a fun paddle, with some challenging sections, especially on “The Beast,” our double kayak from Walmart. We recommend taking a short paddle out to Creekside Cafe as it helps fit all of these activities into one day and avoids the awkward boating just past the Ellisville Bridge.
Explore Yellow Creek Falls
Yellow Creek Falls is a 100 foot hidden waterfall that requires boat access. We took The Beast boat from the Yellow Creek Falls fishing camp and took a short paddle to the falls.
Little Creek created a nice swimming hole where it entered Weiss Lake, and the falls were accessible via a quarter-mile trail on the left side of the creek. Although short, the hike was fairly rough, and there was a lot of poison ivy on the final approach. There is definitely enough poison ivy to pre-treat with an ivy preventer and wash with dish soap as soon as possible. There is a nice fishing pier next to the kayak launch if you want to try a few shots at Weiss Lake before heading back to your cabin.
Trip to De Soto State Park
Located six miles south of the eponymous Desoto Falls, DeSoto State Park offers its own set of hiking trails and waterfalls. The easiest hiking trail is to take the Talmadge Butler Trail to Azalea FallsIt's a flat walk that takes no more than an hour to complete, including stops for photos and crossing the road to see the most impressive of all, the 20-foot Indian Falls. Take a look at 2.3 mile Laural and Lost Fall Loop Hike If you want to do more hiking.
View of De Soto Falls
De Soto Falls is over 100 feet tall and generally has a good flow. You can see the top of the falls from a short walk from the parking area on the upper side or take a 2-mile round trip trail to the bottom. Note that the trailhead for the lower falls is located a half mile outside the park area on the upper side.
Since it was summer and the beast was with us, we opted to paddle the Little River and explore. We passed the famous, much-photographed Boat House, saw several private docks, and Camp Lane. About 1 1/4 miles upstream, we came to a dam just past the AL-117 bridge. De Soto Park rents kayaks by the hour, and this trip is possible in 2 hours, but will likely take 3 hours to complete.
Final Thoughts on Summer at Lookout Mountain in Alabama
Fort Payne and Mentone are the closest highlands to Huntsville and Birmingham and not far from Atlanta (about 2.5 hours), especially if you do the Weiss Lake activities along the way. It's not as developed as Blue Ridge or Helen and it's not the “touristy” Lookout Mountain of Chattanooga with Rock City and Ruby Falls. There's plenty to do, or you can choose to do nothing at all. The real trick is finding the right cabin. There are several options, but we loved staying at the Forever View Cabin and would definitely go back!
Hi! We’re Jen and Ed Coleman, aka Coleman Concierge. In short, we’re a Gen X couple from Huntsville sharing our stories of amazing adventures through transformative, experiential, activity-based travel.
