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By DAVID RAINER
Tired of the hustle and bustle of the holidays?
Ready to get away from it all?
There’s likely no place in Alabama better for a
little peace and solitude than Cheaha State Park
this time of year.
Settle in with a good book near the fireplace in one
of the 10 stone cabins or rent one of the six
chalets for a panoramic view from atop Alabama’s
tallest mountain. There are also 30 hotel rooms,
Bald Rock Lodge with 12 rooms that accommodate
multiple guests, as well as a restaurant with
observation deck on the mountain ridge.
“Cheaha is a unique park because it’s the highest
point in the state of Alabama,” said David Odom,
park manager. “The views and vistas in the park are
second to none in the state.
“And, it’s 18 miles to anywhere from here. The
nearest store is 18 miles away, except for the store
right here in the park. We are secluded.”
One of the first parks acquired by the state, the
park’s history starts in 1933. The original
buildings in the park were constructed by the
workers of the Civilian Conservation Corps and their
legacy can still be seen all around the park in the
many stone structures – cabins, Bald Rock Lodge and
the observation tower and CCC museum. All of the CCC
structures have been recently renovated with modern
amenities without spoiling the historic charm.
At 2,407 feet above sea level, that feeling of being
in the clouds is pervasive for those who enjoy the
stunning sunsets and the rise of the moon that seems
almost touchable.
“I think what people enjoy most about Cheaha is the
relaxed atmosphere of the park,” Odom said. “You’re
away from it all, away from the phone, away from the
TV.”
Yet, for those with adventurous spirits, there’s
plenty to offer, as well.
“We have several short hiking trails in the park,”
Odom said. “We have a real pretty half-mile trail
that goes out to Pulpit Rock. Then we have Rock
Garden Trail. There’s also a trail that goes under
Rock Garden and goes down to the lake. That’s a very
steep and rocky trail but a very beautiful trail.
It’s just not for the weak-kneed or faint of heart.
“We have mountain bike trails in the park with a
6.2-mile trail that’s mostly a real technical
single-track, a really pretty trail on the side of
the mountain. In July we have a mountain bike race,
one of the seven southeastern states points races.
The race here ends the season. It’s a 6-mile circuit
where they race around the top and side of the
mountain.”
One of the most notable additions to the park was
dedicated in 2000. The Doug Ghee Accessible Trail, a
handicap-accessible boardwalk 1,520 feet long that
terminates at Bald Rock, overlooks Anniston and
Oxford, as well as Talladega Superspeedway.
“One of the first people who got to go down it was
an 80-something-year-old lady from the valley who
used to come up here when she was a teen-ager,” Odom
said. “They would ride a wagon up the old roads and
then walk out to Bald Rock. She had married and
moved away. Her three daughters brought her up and
she rode her wheelchair out to the overlook, the
first time she’d been to Bald Rock since she was a
teen-ager.”
Also, the park is located in the middle of the
280,000-acre Talladega National Forest, which offers
hunting, hiking, camping. The national forest has
135 miles of hiking trails in the immediate vicinity
of the park. The Pinhoti National Recreation Trail
is more than 110 miles long with another 18-mile
section on the southern end that extends to the
Georgia line.
For those who prefer to “rough it,” Cheaha has 73
improved campsites, semi-primitive camping, and
primitive camping.
The flora in the 2,799-acre park is currently a
mixed pine-hardwood transition forest.
“The transition will be away from pine to hardwood,”
Odom said. “The predominant pine on the mountain is
a white pine, which is not good for pulp production.
The dominant oak up here is the chestnut oak. We
have the regular white oak, red oak, pin oak,
blackjack oak, all those, too. We have four
different types of hickory trees. We have a lot of
dogwoods, rhododendrons, mountain laurel. We have a
flame azalea that has a unique color, an orange
color that grows on the mountain ridge. It’s a wild
azalea that usually blooms in late April. People
have tried to transplant them, but they won’t grow
if you take them down into the valley.
“The dogwoods bloom around Easter and the mountain
laurels bloom in May, so we have a spring color
season, as well as a fall color season."
The abundance of oaks has produced a bumper crop of
acorns this year, which means the park is teeming
with white-tailed deer and gray squirrels, just to
name a few of the species that can be seen in the
park. Birdwatchers can also find plenty of species
to view from pileated woodpeckers to wild turkey.
The park’s peak season is during fall colors, which
usually starts the second weekend in September and
runs all the way to Thanksgiving.
“This time of the year, we get some travelers from
up north who have found the park and will come stay
with us a couple of days on their way south,” Odom
said. “In the spring, those same people will come
back by on their way north.
“All our cabins stay very busy until after
Christmas. We have one family from Louisiana with
relatives in the area that will bring a fully
decorated Christmas tree up in a U-Haul and stay in
a chalet.”
The high demand for the cabins and chalets requires
careful planning for those who want to stay in those
facilities.
“Our cabins and chalets are booked almost
year-round,” he said. “If they want a cabin or
chalet, especially during the fall colors, they need
to call three or four months in advance to book a
facility.
“We have some guys who stay here while they hunt the
national forest. We have some folks who just come
here to enjoy the lake and swimming pool in the
summer. And, of course, we’ve got people who stay
with us every spring and fall race at Talladega and
they book for the next race before they leave.”
For more information on Cheaha or any of the other
21 state parks, visit
http://www.alapark.com/ . |
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