Saturday was a gorgeous day – beautiful blue skies and that perfect not-too-warm-not-too-cold that you occasionally get during spring here. Unfortunately for us, Saturday was also jam-packed with non-hiking activities so we scheduled our hike for Sunday, with its chance of rain. I had first planned to go north into Tennessee but it looked rainier there than here, so I hunted around for a slightly more southern option. On many of the “best hikes in North Alabama” type lists, Cane Creek Canyon Preserve in Tuscumbia is up in the top 10, but it’s described as being on private property and, well, that has always sort of put us off a bit. Would we have to call and coordinate in advance? We aren’t that organized. Would we feel like trespassers the whole time? Sure the landowners say it’s OK to come on out, but are there unwritten rules to that? How would we be sure we’d be welcome? I read a few more articles that reassured me a bit so we decided to go for it anyway. As it turns out, my fears were not only unfounded, they were absolutely ridiculous but I’ll get to that in a bit.
First, I need to tell you how to get there, and this is important. Google maps or directions you may find online will tell you to take 72 West through Decatur and out to Tuscumbia before turning left onto Frankfort Road. What Google doesn’t know, though, is that Frankfort Road is temporarily closed due to a landslide. Had we looked closely at the fantastic Facebook page Friends of Cane Creek Preserve runs, we would have known this, but we missed it. The Canyon Facebook page posted about the road closing March 11, and it was still closed when we headed that way ourselves. Luckily, it’s a simple matter to take an alternate route. Instead of turning at Frankfort Road, go just a little farther down 72 West to Hawk Pride Mountain Road and turn left there. Take this steep and windy road about 6 miles to Loop Road, where you’ll turn right. The road that leads to the preserve is 1.5 miles down Loop Road. There were helpful (though obviously temporary) signs to keep us on track, and it was a good thing because the road to turn onto is gravel and looks for all the world like somebody’s driveway or something. The house at the turn has a yard full of poultry cages, with chickens running free range along one side. Past the house, it is just fields and then a set of long narrow buildings that I first assumed were chicken houses, but turned out to be a nursery. There the road takes a slight right and signs posted reassure you that you’re still headed toward the preserve. Finally you come to a house and the road curves in front of it. There you will see a lovely kiosk with signs pointing you to parking in a field just beyond. We were the only car there.
Before we could even get out of the truck, a friendly voice asked if we’d been there before. We admitted that we hadn’t and this very nice gentleman welcomed us and led us to the kiosk to sign in. He explained that we’d check out a numbered laminated map, then return it to the drawer when we signed out. He asked how far we planned to hike, and handed us two pages (front and back) of trail descriptions to help us on our way. He showed us on the maps some of the options we had for our route, and some of the points of interest. He explained the markings on the map – where the fully stocked privies were (privies! on a trail!), and told us that the picnic tables at many of the shelters also had coolers of fresh water that he’d just put out that morning (free cold water stations! on a trail!). Stunned by all this hospitality and attention to detail, we asked if he was a volunteer or the property owner. He modestly told us he was the owner. This was Jim Lacefield, host extraordinaire. But more on him later. He had one more tip – he pointed to where we’d come back out if we took the loop we planned, and then sent us on our way.
From the parking lot, the hike starts off by continuing down the gravel road for a short distance until a trail heads off into the woods. More signs and a kiosk are visible from the road, so you can’t miss it. I should point out that the signs in the preserve are very detailed and informative! The trails don’t all have names, but frequent signs listing distances or directions to points of interest or numbered “Map Points” that correspond to the numbers on the laminated maps make it pretty unlikely that you’ll get lost. We were hoping for wildflowers, and we saw our first trillium almost at the start of the hike. A couple of clumps of nearly-flowering Sweet Betsy welcomed us onto the trail. Next up was a picnic shelter with its privy and a cooler of cold water – this only 300 feet up the trail! Just after the picnic area, the trail dips steeply down, heading toward the sound of tumbling water. We passed a few wildflowers on the way – Virginia spring beauty and poor man’s pepper.
The first natural point of interest is a waterfall. On the map, it’s just labeled “Waterfall” and the creek that creates it is “Waterfall Creek.” I’m not sure if it has another name. It’s a beauty – water rushes over a rock lip and down maybe 10 feet before hitting a shelf and then dropping on down to the base of the canyon, for a total of about a 60 foot drop. This was our first decision point. The shorter, steeper route took us across a footbridge, and then up a steep incline to the ridgetop trail. The longer, but easier route stays on this side of the footbridge. We opted for short but steep and crossed over the footbridge. We would have done that anyway, as the best views and pictures of the falls are from the rock ledge on the other side. There’s a steep little path off to the right after you cross the footbridge that leads down to the area where the first cascade hits. It’s more than just a ledge, though. It’s a 1500 square foot rock shelter tucked under the falls. We considered continuing on behind the falls to the trail on the other side that leads all the way down to the base of the falls, but thought we’d better save our energy as we were planning a pretty long hike already. A rare wildflower called French’s shooting star grows in this area, but we didn’t happen to spot any. We did see a lovely stand of sharp lobed hepatica, though, as well as some early saxifrage.
On the other side of the waterfall, the trail is steep, as advertised. Soon a trail splits off to the right, but the main trail continues straight up. We explored the trail to the right a short ways, hoping for a good view of the waterfall, but soon returned to the main trail and climbed the .25 mile up to the ridgetop. The ridgetop trail is just like it sounds – an easy, level amble along a graveled trail through the trees, with an occasional pop of color from a clump of violet wood sorrel. In a short .25 mile, we came to the next point of interest – The Point. Here again, we found a privy, a picnic table and cooler of water, along with a sign pointing towards the actual Point. There, we also found 3 stone benches lined up ready for somebody to come sit and take in the view, and it is a gorgeous view. Cane Creek Canyon is 300 or so feet below and stretches out to into the distance, with Waterfall Creek coming in from the right and Cane Creek coming in from the left. We sat and watched the birds soaring on updrafts for a few minutes, before making our next decision: take the Canyon Rim Trail for .25 mile or take the well named “Steep Trail” for a shorter trip down to the creek 300 feet below. We opted for the Steep Trail going down, and planned on taking the longer route back, thinking we’d have tired legs by the end.
The steep trail is, well, steep! It starts off with a thoughtfully placed set of steps, but after that it’s a scramble down some of the rockier patches. The initial steep drop soon levels off on a wide shelf of rock or a bench before making the final drop down to creek level. The bench is covered with wild cane plants, with a few wildflowers, like narrow-leaved vetch, scattered among the greenery.
At the bottom, we came to the Boulder Garden wildflower area. Our informative host had mentioned that this is one of the best spots to see the wildflowers, since they are growing on the top of large boulders scattered here. He explained that the deer eat up all the ones that are easier to reach, but they can’t get up on top of the boulders, so there is a lush carpet of flowers on top of each one. It was a beautiful sight. The boulders were just covered with trout lilies, trillium, may apple, hepatica, phlox and saxifrage. One spot on the ground between the boulders had protective cages around some green leaves, but I couldn’t tell what they were or why they were special.
After admiring the wildflowers, we made our way on down to the broad gravel path that is the East Cane Creek Trail and turned right, towards Linden Meadows Picnic area just a minute or so down the trail. The picnic area is across the stream, but there is a concrete bridge that makes the crossing no problem. What is now a picnic area was once the staging area for a logging operation. There is a roofed shelter with a comfortable swing, a couple of picnic tables (one under the roof, one out), the cooler of fresh water, and just a few steps down the path, a privy. This time, we decided to take advantage of the privy and I can report that it is very nice – it is clean and well stocked with toilet paper, and even has a dispenser full of hand-sanitizer. I’m telling you, this place is pure luxury for the outdoors! The trail to the privy actually continues on as the West Cane Creek trail, but we crossed back over the little concrete causeway to return to East Cane Creek Trail and continue our hike on that side.
We walked a short ways down the wide gravel path admiring the wildflowers covering either side – blankets of may apples, rue, trillium, star chickweed, butterweed – before we got to the sign for Map Point 3, which pointed us to the left towards the Narrows and the Blue Hole. Had we continued straight, we would have left the creeks and headed toward the Westface Rock Shelter and the Hogback Boulders, but we had been advised to head for the Narrows, so we followed those instructions. The creek is a pretty one and the trail here is nearly level, with an amazing variety of wildflowers covering the ground on either side. This mile or so of trail is one of the prettiest that we walked along all day. Next we came to the spot called the Narrows, where Cane Creek cuts through an area of tumbled boulders forming whitewater cascades as the water rushes around them. It’s considered one of the more scenic stretches of the creek.
We continued on to the Blue Hole area. Here the main trail takes a sharp right and heads up towards the Hogback Boulder area. To get to the Blue Hole itself, we crossed a small meadow called the Blue Hole Glade at Map Point 4, then immediately turned left down a short side trail to get to the creek. It is a lovely spot, with a very nice “basking rock” that I tried out. We ate our lunch here, enjoying the little cascade just upstream of us tumbling into the blue pools of water. If it had been warmer, I would have been tempted to take a swim. The far bank was covered in what looked to be mountain laurel, so I’m sure it’s an even prettier spot when those are in bloom. At this point we consulted the map and our watch. We were making terrible time! All the stops to take in views, try out privies, and admire the wildflowers meant we were less than two miles into the hike, with a planned 5 more to go, and had already burned up 2 hours. The preserve closes at 5:00. We worried that we wouldn’t be able to make good enough time on the way out to make up for our pokiness on the way in, so we decided to put off our exploration of Devil’s Hollow, the Underbluff Trail and Karen’s Falls for our next trip. We plotted another route that would hopefully get us back to the parking area before it got too late.
From Blue Hole, we took a path that continued along the creek, but actually went off the preserve for a brief stretch. While this land is not a part of the preserve, it has been leased by the preserve, so there are no issues taking this trail. Soon we were back on preserve land again, and heading into the Old Beaver Pond Wetlands. This area had a very sandy footbed leading to yet another picnic area, with a roofed shelter, a privy, a water cooler, the (now usual) amenities. We continued on to the Steppingstone Bridge, but did not take it (yet). Instead we headed across another concrete causeway to the trail that headed uphill on the other side. We were making our way to a short loop that would take us past an old cabin site, and then up onto the North Devil’s Hollow Trail, under a rock outcropping called the Fin and then back down to the Steppingstone Bridge. This section of trail was less well-traveled than any we’d been on before, so there were a few small downed trees and just a generally less distinct footbed, but it was still very easy to figure out where we were and to navigate to where we wanted to be. However, the only named trail we were on was the North Devil’s Hollow Trail, so the best I can do here is tell you to take the first right after the causeway and follow this uphill until it tees, then go right. Follow this trail as it dips down towards the creek again at a different stepping stone bridge, but don’t cross it. Keep on the trail as it curves away from the creek and up the hill. Soon you’ll come to a sign pointing you to the old cabin site. It’s just a short ways uphill. The old cabin site turned out to be a large tumble of dressed rocks alongside the trail. We paused briefly and then continued up a pretty steep climb to get to North Devil’s Hollow Trail, where we turned left. In this stretch we saw flowering black cherry along the trail that paralleled the impressive bluffs above us. The intersection where we headed back down was a little tricky. There was a trail that led downhill to the right and another one that went right towards one end of the Fin. There was a sign for Devil’s Hollow Trail pointed to be most visible to anybody coming up the hill, so after consulting the map, we decided the trail to the left was the right one. The trail to the right was probably Behel Gap trail. The trail we took seemed like an old roadbed. It was very rutted, but easy to follow. Soon we came back to familiar territory as we recognized the spot where the short trail up from the steppingstone bridge teed. We’d gone right there. Now we were coming in from the left. We retraced our steps to the steppingstone bridge and headed on across and into a beautiful little flower filled meadow.
According to the map, we were on or at least near West Cane Creek Trail, but we had to head northwest for a short ways before we could connect with a couple of trails that would get us headed back in the right direction. This bit of navigation took us briefly along the creek, then steeply uphill to Map Point 12, where an arrow pointed us left towards Mushroom Rocks. These are rock formations that involve a stack of rocks, smaller at the bottom with a larger rock cap on top. They do look a bit like mushrooms!
The next stretch of trail took us back down to the creek briefly, but then we spent quite a while hiking up above the creek, and then back down again, only to go back up once again along the Hooper Shelf Section. It was pretty, but I do think I prefer the trail on the other side, both because it’s nice and level and because we saw many many more wildflowers. Hooper Shelf is again in that area that is land leased to the preserve, but it’s just as clearly marked as any other part of the trail, so there was no trouble there. One section of road right before a beautiful meadow was an absolute mud pit, but it was easy enough to walk along the edge and stay mostly mud free. We saw squaw root and a single pennywort in the trail on this stretch, so watch your step!
At Map Point 13, a trail leads off to the right that goes back off the preserve property to Hooper Falls. By this point we were a bit tired, so we opted to skip that until another time as well. Continuing on, we came to another old cabin site, but this one had a surprise for us! Hidden someplace in that area, those of you who may be geocachers just MIGHT find an ammo box. We are occasional geocachers ourselves, so we signed the log book and hid the box again before heading on down the trail.
We continued on, but now the trail steadily headed down towards the river. At Cucumbertree Hollow, there is a causeway/bridge that must often have water flowing over it. It did today, and was moss-covered and a bit slippery, but very navigable. On the other side, a sign warned folks coming the other way about the slippery bridge, but we had no such warning on the side we approached from! Finally, we arrived back at Linden Meadows, where we broke out some trail snacks, refilled our water bottles, and sat in the swing for a spell. It was lovely.
After our refreshing rest, we continued making our way back towards the parking lot, but stayed on West Cane Creek Trail for another .3 miles before crossing over again at a beautiful little bridge designed to funnel water through the center in a pretty little cascade. After crossing the creek, we were meet with a daunting uphill climb on the broad gravel East Cane Creek Trail. (The perceived steepness might have had something to do with how tired our legs were at this point, though). This led us directly to the final major point of interest on our hike – Tree Fern Cave. Tucked under a lip of rock at the top of a bluff, this ancient Native American rock shelter and archaeological site is home to a wet-weather waterfall, plus rare wildflowers. We didn’t spot the wildflowers, but we did enjoy the waterfall and the rock shelter behind it for a few minutes while we caught our breath.
The final leg of our adventure led us to the bluff above the rock shelter and onto the South Boundary road. This is another wide gravel road, with pine forest on one side and farm fields on the other. It’s level and a much-appreciated easy walk. After about .4 miles, a sign points left to a steeper “shortcut” to the parking lot, while the trail continues on a presumably gentler but longer route to get to the same spot. Predictably by this point, we took the short, steep option and were soon in sight of the house and parking area again. This time, the lot was pretty full. I counted about 20 cars. Our trek had taken us over 5.8 miles of the trails in the preserve, according to our GPS track but there is so much more to see!
As we walked up to the kiosk, Jim Lacefield jumped up from where he was sitting with a group of friends in Adirondack chairs under a tree and asked us about our hike. We started to tell him all about it, and rave about all the wildflowers we saw, but that was all set aside when he noticed a man waiting to talk to him. It turns out the man’s wife has a breathing problem of some sort and was stuck out on the Point. She didn’t think she could get back. Mr. Lacefield jumped into action and fired up the ATV to go and get her. We signed out, put our laminated map back, and drove off already planning our trip back.
The Lacefield family have lived on the property next to the canyon since 1979, when they bought about 40 acres of land. Over the years these schoolteachers, now retired, managed to come up with the funds to buy 700 acres of undeveloped canyon land and preserve it so that future generations could enjoy it. Not only have they invested their hard-earned money, but these are the same people who put in 15 miles of trails, keep them graveled and maintained, clean and stock the privies, empty the trash cans, and fill the water coolers. I’m certain they’re the same folks who put together the trail descriptions, and who came up with the idea to have the laminated maps to loan out. As wonderful as the natural beauty of the Cane Creek Canyon Preserve is – and it is just gorgeous – in my opinion, the real Alabama Treasure that I found is the Lacefield family.
Woodlands and Waters 