From Monte Sano State Park that we visited in our last post, we headed about 80 miles east to DeSoto State Park. We weren’t really sure what to expect, but this park has quite a lot to offer. In addition to the campground where we stayed, there are cabins, a swimming pool (in season), a playground, hiking and mountain biking trails, and a store and nature center. There is even a zipline canopy tour with six sky bridges and six ziplines! Most of our time, though, was spent searching out the many waterfalls that are located all over this park!
The main attraction, and located about 7 miles away from the campground, is 107 foot tall DeSoto Falls. Near the waterfall is a nice picnic area and a dam that creates a safe space for swimming, boating, and fishing. There are several different viewpoints of the falls – some requiring a bit of a hike, and one near the picnic area that is just a short walk. Naturally, we went to all of them, and really enjoyed the different vantage points of seeing the waterfall from the bottom, the top, and somewhere in the middle. We even took a short extra trail to a deep rock overhang that created a cave-like area. To us, that formation was every bit as amazing as the waterfall. If you find yourself in the area, we highly recommend taking the Bluff Trail to see it!
In addition to DeSoto Falls, there are also numerous small falls located around the park, and we made it our goal to hike to as many of them as time allowed. We were able to visit Laurel Falls, Lost Falls, Azalea Cascade, Indian Falls, and Lodge Falls. Each of them was beautiful in its own unique way and none of the hiking was terribly strenuous, so it was a very manageable day. Of those five, we think our favorite was Lodge Falls because we were able to scramble on the rocks a little and get behind the waterfall.
Our time in DeSoto was a bit limited, so we weren’t able to get out in the surrounding areas to explore at all. We would have liked to see the small towns of Fort Payne and Mentone that are nearby, and we would have also loved to spend a day at the nearby Little River Canyon National Preserve. That just means that we will have to make our way back here in the future! We are looking forward to it!
So what have we learned from our visits to Monte Sano and DeSoto? That Alabama is much more interesting than we expected, and that it has taken us way too long to camp in this amazing state! We can’t wait to make a return trip!
Until next time!
