Little River Canyon

Good Morning! After all the rains, we finally had two wonderfully beautiful weekends back to back. It is easy to take the rain during the week as long as we get weeks to play.

Like many, I chose to take advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to one of my favorite spots in North Alabama knowing that the rainfall would have had a dramatic effect on it; Little River Canyon and the very picturesque majestic Desoto Falls. For those that have never had the pleasure to take a trip to the area and Lookout Mountain it is truly one of Alabama’s great scenic wonderlands. About an hour or so north east of Huntsville and near Fort Payne, Little River Canyon is a national preserve and part of the US National Park Service.

Little River Canyon Rim Parkway (Al Hwy 176) runs along the 16-mile-long canyon and offers many overlooks to capture the very majestic nature of the canyon, When the water is flowing with abundance it offers a breathtaking view of the canyon and Little River Falls.

Once I finished photographing the canyon I decided to head through Desoto Park via the cliff bluff road with its amazing westerly view and then on to Desoto Falls. Many of the photographs that I had seen taken of the falls over the past couple weeks were truly amazing, With the waterfall in full force it appeared to be less of a waterfall and more like a mountain of water converging on top of itself. I have a dear friend that has two cottages that directly overlook the falls and I was hoping to catch up with him.

To my surprise Balpha was home and invited me over. The view from the back porch of one the rental cottages on VRBO is truly spectacular. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the water in the canyon has subsided and the falls were back to a more manageable and beautiful flow. Desoto Falls is one of tallest falls at 107 feet and one of the most public and visited falls in the state of Alabama. Balpha owns two cottages that are side by side and directly look tout at the falls. Cliff House (#1213591) and Canyon Falls Cottage (#1335112) are both listed on VRBO and are well kept secrets, well at least until now. If you are looking to visit Mentone and wanting a “room with a view” look them up. Many thanks to Balpha and Bruce for their very generous hospitality.