Alabama,  North America

Best Waterfall Hikes In Northern Alabama

July 21, 2019 / 24 Comments

Once upon a time, a not so wise woman by the name of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, aka lead singer of TLC sang a song by the title of “Waterfalls”, where she instructed everyone as individuals not to go chasin’ waterfalls. While the song is dangerously catchy, and will now probably be stuck in not only my head but yours as well for the rest of the day, those infamous lyrics are the absolute worst. On my family’s vacation trip to Northern Alabama earlier this summer I spent the majority of my time doing just the opposite, and my trip was all the more better for that. I would never expect Alabama to have such beautiful hikes and waterfalls hidden throughout the state, but they exist, and they’re well worth the climb. So I’ve decided to summarize my own personal list of what I believe and found to be the best waterfall hikes in Northern Alabama, so that if you may find yourself somewhere nearby, you can go chase some on your own.

1) Caney Creek Falls

Caney Creek Falls


Okay, so this one is a little bit tricky. There is no legal parking anywhere near the trailhead, so you’re going to either have to break some rules and risk having your car towed/a hefty fine, uber to the trailhead from somewhere nearby, or my tactic: get creative. I won’t throw these individuals under the bus because they were incredibly kind letting me park where I did, but my hint to you is: southern hospitality is alive and real.

Once you’ve got the parking situation figured out, it’s all smooth sailing. The trail is a straight shot back to the falls. I will warn you, that there are some slippery rocks and tricky footwork necessary to safely hike down and I stress this because I busted my ass on a rock because I heard the falls, got excited, and stopped paying attention to what I was doing. One nasty bruise and a cracked iPhone screen later, I had reached my final destination.

One reason why I loved this particular set of falls so much, was the scenery. There’s plenty of water to swim in, it’s all relatively clear, and the forestry surrounding the falls and river is so jungle-like it almost felt like I was in a different country all together. You can walk behind the waterfall, and even step out to stand underneath it, and due to the parking situation, there was only one other family there at the time, so I pretty much had free-reign without overcrowding.

2) DeSoto Falls

DeSoto Falls

So this one was a bit more crowded. The drive to get there is lengthy, and you essentially must drive all the way through the state park to get where you want to be, but there isn’t really any hiking involved for this one. You park, and then walk down a set of stairs, and voila. I saw loads of people kayaking and swimming in the river upstream from the falls, but in order to swim below you’d essentially have to jump DO NOT DO THIS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD all the way from the top.

As far as aesthetics, this was by far the most pleasing to the eye. There are several sets of falls, that ultimately meet at the bottom joining into one big falls. Surrounding the body of water that makes up the river, is an almost canyon like structure. It’s absolutely magnificent. My least favorite part was the amount of foot traffic present while I was there. Too crowded to really enjoy myself.

3) Little River Canyon Falls

Little River Canyon Falls

This one was unique in its own way. There’s an overlook off the side of the road where I pulled into and parked. You hike down a paved path, which leads to a viewing point. You can see the falls, the bottom of the falls, and the area above the falls. If you walk all the way down the paved path, you can walk out over top the falls on what I imagine are very slippery rocks, so please be careful.

I didn’t spend much time here as I had my dogs with me (who most definitely would have pulled us over the waterfall) and it was raining. This was a really gorgeous view however. So if you’ve got some time, definitely check it out.

4) Stephen’s Gap Cave

Stephens Gap Cave

I’ve already covered this hike in a prior post, you can find the link here if you are interested in visiting. I include this on my list however, because the waterfall into the cave here is just so beautiful and like I’d mentioned before, this is probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited and really think anyone who is willing, ready, and able should check it out.

Naturally, time is always my enemy. There were a few other falls I wanted to check out while I was in the area, but just didn’t have the time to do so. I’ll definitely be trying to hit some of these on my roadtrip to move back up North, but if you’re interested, some other visually appealing waterfall hikes in the area include Sipsey Wilderness, and Peavine Falls within Oak Mountain State Park.

I’ve been lacking like hell on new content and upcoming trips, and a lot of that is due to personal factors in my home life, preparing for this move and starting school in the fall, and ultimately I just haven’t been finding the same inspiration and motivation that I’ve had prior. I’ve got about 5 weeks left here however, and a long long list of places I would really like to see before I leave, so I’m working on a new trip this upcoming weekend. Keep an eye out on my instagram @unfriendlyadvice for new photos updated on a regular basis, and subscribe for future updates.

I keep saying this and not actually acting on it, but I SWEAR there are lots of updates coming to my site, including the type of content I’m going to curate, as well as some new additions to connecting with all of you in a more intimate manner. Please continue to follow along so that you don’t miss a thing!

Before I end, I would also like to mention a few new promotional offers that some of my swear by companies have posted over the last week.

Grand Canyon West – a company who primarily focuses on adventure type tours and activities for those traveling within the area is having an END OF SUMMER SALE right now. If you’re down for some crazy and exciting whitewater rafting adventures use the promo code SMRFUN for 13% off.

13% Off with code SMRFUN for 13 weeks of Summer on 1 & 2 day Whitewater Rafting

This company also offers activities like skywalks, helicopter tours, river tours and so much more.

I hope you’re all enjoying your summer!
Until next time,
– C

Caney Creek Falls



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