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Little River Canyon

The Little River is the longest mountaintop river in the United States, flowing for most of its length atop Lookout Mountain in northeastern Alabama. Little River Canyon is also home to the deepest canyon in the southeastern United States, and is a major draw for rock climbers and white water paddlers throughout the southeast.

With an annual visitation of only 300,000, Little River Canyon National Park is arguably one of the most under-appreciated parks in the United States National Park system. A visit to this park feels more like Tennessee than Alabama, with its cliffs and scenic views.

Little River Canyon National Park was created on October 21, 1992 to protect this spectacular system of rivers, canyons and plateaus of the lower Appalachian Mountains. Little River does not have any dams and does not pass through many man-made or impacted areas. It is one of the wildest cleanest rivers in the southeast. Sandstone and boulder cliffs rise up over 600 feet in some places from the river base.

There are three main units of Little River Falls State Park.There is a moderately-sized parking lot at the base of the waterfall. This scenic area is best visited after recent rainfall. Canyon Mouth Park is a day-use facility with picnicking, hiking and wading with a sandy beach. Picnic tables, grills, toilet facilities, and fishing are all available. Eberhart Point has a ¾ mile hiking trail that leads down into the scenic canyon. All three features are connected by the 23 mile long Canyon Rim Parkway that begins at Canyon Mouth Park.

Little River Canyon National Park is adjacent to Hidden Lake, DeSoto state park and is close to Russell Cave National Monument, Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia, the Cloudmont Ski Resort, and the eastern unit of Talladega National Forest.