We drove from Eufaula to Gadsden, Alabama on Sunday, June 26th. We got detoured because of road construction and somehow ended up driving through a ghost town, closed military base community. It was like a switch was flipped one dayand the community was vacated including all homes, businesses, schools, and churches....very spooky.
Arriving late afternoon, we were just in time for a big storm at the RV park check-in. Fortunately, the storm wasn't too bad, so we were escorted to our site after the storm blew over. Below is a picture from our site. The RV park, River Country, is built on a peninsula into the Coosa River.
After getting settled at our site, we were hungry and after all it was our 40th wedding anniversary. We inquired at the park office for recommendations. The office manager said definitively, Catfish Top O' the River Seafood Restaurant. Well, Linda doesn't like to look at a fish let alone it eat. We called and were told they had a good steak, so we were off to dinner.
Dinner was great (even Linda's steak), so we enjoyed our 40th anniversary. The next day we'd go exploring nearby state parks.
Cheaha sits in the foothills of the Appalachians with the highest point in Alabama at 2,407 feet. We finally got some relief from the heat since we left Florida. Spending the day on the mountain in somewhat cooler weather was welcomed. The park has a lodge with hotel rooms and a swimming pool. We enjoyed hiking around the top of the mountain.
We also had a chance to visit a nearby water fall, Devil's Den after hiking along a stream. Linda hiked part way, but decided to return to the trailhead to photograph things around the stream. I pressed on to the falls where I found teenagers jumping off an overhang to the side of the falls into the falls pool.
On Tuesday, the 28th we visited Little River National Preserve and nearby DeSoto State Park, which both lie north of Gadsden. Little River runs along the top of Lookout Mountain, which is located just south of Chattanooga. It is said the river is longest mountaintop river in the U.S. Over eons the river has carved out a canyon along the top of Lookout Mountain.
Views from the canyon rim road, which runs along the western rim were spectacular. In the fall with the changing colors of the leaves must be something to see. Even at mid-summer we still enjoyed our tour.
We moved on to visit adjoining DeSoto State Park. The entry to the park has a beautiful curvy road.
After visiting the park for the afternoon, we drove through the campground. The state had just reburbed all the sites, facilities, and bath houses. We inquired on site availability and found out that they had a great site for us for the next couple of days. We decided to move from Gadsden to DeSoto. Below is our site.
DeSoto has a lodge, swimming pool, country store, a fine campground, and miles of hiking trails along the Little River. Tim took advantage of the hiking trails, while Linda shopped at a nearby farmer's market.
DeSoto Falls is located just north of DeSoto State Park. Above is a picture of the upper falls.
The lower falls as pictured above has a much higher fall into a beautiful pool with high banks on each side. The falls location was also the site of a minor skirmish during the Civil War. Slightly upriver from the falls is an abandoned dam built for generating electric power for nearby towns built in 1925. At the end of my hike I stumbled across the church below. Why was it built connected to a huge rock? Don't know.
DeSoto State Park is close to Lake Guntersville State Park and the space city of Huntsville, so we decided to visit them both the next day.
