High Falls State Park in Alabama

September 14, 2022

On Monday (September 12), I was feeling ready to try a short, level trail hike. The reviews I read for High Falls State Park talked about the easy trails.

The park also allows dogs, so we decided to take Nox and a picnic lunch. We packed Costal Cheddar Cheese, crackers, heirloom cherry tomatoes (from the farmers’ market), ginger beer, and muscadines and scuppernongs for our picnic lunch.

We drove down some beautiful small country roads to get to the park. They had a gate and a welcome center. I took the picture of the gate from the inside the truck through the windshield, so please forgive the poor quality of the picture. We parked under a pecan tree in the parking lot.

Once we signed in, Bruce went and got Nox from the truck. We walked down a road to a pavilion. There was some information about High Falls at the pavilion and several toads.

We went along the trail to the left of the pavilion and discovered a picnic area with a playground. We thought we would be able to see the falls, but they were not visible through the trees and bushes. Nox enjoyed the smells. I did not go down much of the trails in the area since they had lots of roots and rocks. I did not want to twist my ankle again.

We walked back to the pavilion and followed the road to the left of the pavilion. There was a trail to an overlook. That trail was not smooth, but I felt it wasn’t so rough that I couldn’t navigate it with care.

It was so worth it. We got a stunning view of the falls. There is an arch you can see the falls through.

We then walked back to the road and to the foot bridge. The footbridge was built on the stone pillars from a covered bridge that had burned in 1952.

We crossed the bridge and went down to the water.

We walked back over the bridge. Since the boards were close together on this bridge, Nox didn’t have any fears about this bridge. She happily crossed it both ways. She was getting a little tired.

Once we crossed the bridge, Bruce took a trail down to the rock at the top of the falls. I just couldn’t risk my ankle on that trail. I wait at the top of trail by the bridge with Nox. While I was waiting, I discovered an easy trail down to the rock just to the left of the bridge.

Once Bruce came back, I told him I found a way to get to the rock and I wanted to go down. We both went down to the rock with Nox. I was able to get close to the top of the falls. On the way back, we saw a five line skink.

Nox enjoyed the rocks and the water here. The water was shallow and not moving fast where Bruce walked her.

After the walk, we washed up and Bruce got our picnic cooler from the truck. We sat under the pavilion by the parking lot and enjoyed our food. Nox sat by my feet, hoping for some people food.

Once we were done eating, we packed up, tossed our trash, harnessed Nox into the truck, and left the park.

On the way out, I noticed they had a tent camping section.