When people hear Lookout Mountain, they often think of Chattanooga. However, only three miles of Lookout Mountain are in Tennessee. There are thirty-one miles in northwest Georgia and a whopping fifty miles in Alabama. That’s right, Alabama has more acreage of Lookout Mountain than Tennesee and Georgia combined!
These highlands, with their cool mountain forests, refreshing springs, and tumbling waterfalls, are perfect for escaping the sweltering southern summers. We’ll show you our nine-step plan for a perfect summer escape on Alabama’s Lookout Mountain.
Rent a Cabin
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
If you believe Transcendentalists, the first step to living deliberately is to get a cabin in the woods. If nothing else, it sure beats sleeping on the ground. We stayed at the Airbnb 5-star rated Forever View cabin, eleven miles down the county road from Little River Falls.
The cabin’s expansive porch was perfect for watching summer rains blow over the valley and the internet was surprisingly fast. Plus it was close enough to town to pop in for dinner and well spaced between De Soto State Park to the north and Weiss Lake to the south.
Visit Fort Payne
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Indeed, Forever View was more luxurious than Thoreau’s Cabin on Waldon Pond. However, it was still close enough to pop into town for fresh cookies or to have your mother do your laundry, especially if she lives in Fort Payne.
Fort Payne developed along the rail line from Chattanooga to Birmingham, which is now I-59. It was an important city to the Cherokee, including being the home of Sequoyah, a silversmith who created the Cherokee syllabary.
The city is still a fabulous watering hole for weary travelers, with several quality local restaurants and excellent grocery stores. We stopped by Roadside’ Que for a plate of BBQ nachos and felt like we stepped into a retro Colorado lodge. It seemed like they turned all my childhood skis into furniture, and we even got to sit in a chairlift seat from A-basin that I am sure I have sat on at some point in my life, lol!.
I asked the owner, Justin Christman, if it was an homage to Cloudmount, Alabama’s only ski mountain a few miles up the road. As it turns out, like me, he grew up in suburban Denver, so this felt like bringing a little piece of home with him to Alabama.
See Little River Falls
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Little River Falls is a 45-foot waterfall on the Little River. We were lucky that it had recently rained, so the water was up. These are high-volume waterfalls, with a record flow of 11,000 cubic feet set in the spring of 2014.
It’s only a short walk from the parking area to Little River Falls. It’s beautiful to look at, but if you want to beat the summer heat, take the 3/4-mile hike to Little Falls (aka Martha Falls, aka Hippie Hole), where you can splash and swim to your heart’s content.
The first 11 miles are the best and so good that you’ll probably want to drive this as an out-and-back.
Drive Little River Canyon Rim Parkway
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Northeast Alabama is a land of scenic drives, but the Little River Canyon Rim Parkway stands above the rest. It’s an 11-mile National Scenic Route above “the Grand Canyon of the East.”
During the Summer, the overlooks and Mushroom Rock are beautiful, but there probably needs to be more water to get Alabama’s tallest waterfall, Grace’s High Falls, pumping.
Fish Weiss Lake
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
We took advantage of Forever View’s location and drove south toward Weiss Lake for a day trip. The lake has 30,200 surface acres and is known as the Crappie Capital of the World. If you leave early enough, you can get your casts in without sacrificing paddling time.
Paddle Terrapin Creek
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Terrapin Creek feeds into Weiss Lake, with several commercial outfitters providing kayak rentals and low-cost shuttle service. We went with the Redneck Yacht Club so we could have lunch at their Creekside Cafe at the takeout.
It was a fun paddle, with a couple of challenging sections, especially on “The Beast,” our Walmart special tandem kayak. We recommend taking the short paddle to the Creekside Cafe because it helps all these activities fit into a single day and avoids a funky portage right after the Ellisville Bridge.
Explore Yellow Creek Falls
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Yellow Creek Falls is a hidden 100-foot waterfall that requires boat access. We launched “The Beast” from Yellow Creek Falls Fish Camp and did the short paddle to the falls.
Little Creek created a beautiful swimming hole where it entered Weiss Lake, and the falls were accessible by a 1/4 mile trail on the left side of the creek. Even though it was short, the hike was moderately challenging, and there was a lot of poison ivy on the final approach. There’s definitely enough poison ivy to pre-treat with an ivy blocker and shower with dish soap ASAP. There’s a beautiful fishing dock by the kayak put-in if you want to try a few casts on Weiss Lake before returning to your cabin.
Hike De Soto State Park
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Desoto State Park is six miles south of the namesake De Soto Falls, offering its own set of hikes and cascades. The easiest hike is to take the Talmadge Butler Boardwalk to Azalea Cascade. It’s a flat boardwalk that shouldn’t take more than an hour to complete, including stopping for pictures and crossing the road to see the slightly more impressive 20′ Indian Falls. Check out the 2.3-mile Laural and Lost Fall loop hike if you want more hiking.
View De Soto Falls
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
De Soto Falls are over 100′ tall and have generally good flow. You can see the top of the falls from a short walk from the top-side parking area or take a 2-mile out-and-back trail to get to the bottom. Note that the trailhead for the lower falls is 1/2 mile outside the top-side park area.
Since it was summer and we had The Beast with us, we chose to paddle the Little River and explore. We passed the famous and much-photographed boathouse and saw many more private docks and Camp Laney. About 1 1/4 miles upstream, we reached a dam just past the AL-117 Bridge. The De Soto Park rents kayaks by the hour, and it’s possible to do this trip in 2 hours, but it will likely take you 3 hours to complete it.
Final Thoughts on Summer on Alabama’s Lookout Mountain
Photo Credit: jenn Coleman.
Fort Payne and Mentone are the closest highlands to Huntsville and Birmingham and not too far from Atlanta (~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 not a “touristy” Chattanooga’s Lookout Mountain 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. Many choices are available, but we loved staying at The Forever View Cabin and would definitely stay there again!