Need waterfall suggestions...

[sam4msu]

My son and soon to be daughter-in-law are visiting from Louisiana next week.  She is an avid photog but not such an avid hiker.  I would love to take her to see and photograph waterfalls and try to get her into hiking.  What are some good falls that are easy to access from a trailhead.  I assume that the Sipsey is the closest place to Huntsville to get to fairly easily accessable falls.
Thanks for any suggestions you all can offer.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Sounds like Upper Caney Creek Falls, and maybe Kinlock Falls and Kinlock Chute. Upper Caney is not in Sipsey, it is just slightly outside the wilderness but still in Bankhead National Forest.

Directions to Upper Caney Creek Falls (GPS helps):
http://www.alatrails.com/...-dayhike-unofficial-trail
http://waterfalls.szulecki.com/al/uppercaney.html

Directions to Kinlock Falls:
http://waterfalls.szulecki.com/al/kinlock.html

Upper Caney is about a 1/2 hour leisurely hike, or 15 minutes with some speed. There is some steepness, so be prepared to sweat on the way out if you are going in August, but it is an easy hike. You can visit Lower Caney Falls too, but it is a hike for more experienced hikers, imo, because there is a tricky spot that a totally inexperienced hiker might foul up on. Except in the fall after a heavy rain, I don't see lower caney as worth it.

Kinlock Falls is pretty boring, imo, but lots of people like it and it is litterally FEET from the road, but it isn't without any physical effort. Just listen for it, and you'll find it, but if you go on a weekend, you can use the parked cars above the bridge (at the curve) to find it. If you are bold, you can head downhill and downstream, and you'll find a neat little chute a few hundred feet downstream from the main falls, but only with decent rainfall.

There are plenty of other options in N. Alabama, you can consult my website, or Scenic N. Alabama (if you own it) for ideas, and then ask any questions here. High Falls in DeKalb County is also pretty cool, with an arch that the water sometimes flows through. I can give directions for that too, and there is just a walk on a path to get to it, no real hiking.

[Rob]

Josh, Not being familiar with those falls, what do you think one could anticipate for water flow?

[PastorLarryT]

What about Noccalula Falls in Gadsden?  Some trails to hike if desired (down in the canyon) but many photo ops from the rim too.

[Nalgene Ninja]

2 more options that are non-waterfalls.

Monte Sano's Stone Cuts trail
And Cathedral Caverns, feels great to go on in a 60 degree cave on a 90 degree day.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Upper Caney varies heavily but never runs dry. I would say that around August it will be low, about where it is in the B&W photo on my site, but I don't really know current streamflow conditions, because I haven't been in Bankhead since May.

Kinlock flows well most of the time, and is about the best bet in Bankhead for decent waterflow year round, because Hubbard Creek is pretty large.

Noccalula Falls isn't a bad idea, either, but if you go there then you might as well drive the extra miles and hit DeSoto Falls as well. The falls are nice, but the park destroys some good photo angles, and there tends to be a crowd on weekends. In the spring, there are always baby ducks swimming above the falls. That could end in sorrow.

[sam4msu]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions...I will update with where we go and how it goes...

[Joshua Szulecki]

Sam4msu,

I've got photos of all the suggested falls in my Photo.net portfolio.

Mousing over the photos should tell their names, but here are the one's in this thread:
De Soto Falls: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7250578
Kinlock Falls: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6982662
Kinlock Chute: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7250767
High Falls: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4009402
High Falls: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4009394
Noccalula Falls: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4009501
Upper Caney Falls: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3823389
Upper Caney Falls: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6982653

[McDowra]

Actually I would recommend turkey creek falls, its only 240 feet off of cranal road. Plus you have the old mill site there

[Joshua Szulecki]

McDowra,

DOH! I totally forgot Turkey Foot!

I don't recommend the direct Cranal Road approach, because it is slick and steep and becoming heavily eroded, but rather the Sipsey Picnic Area approach. That way you see all three non-seasonal waterfalls, and the seasonals if you are lucky.

Sam,

Basically, you go to the far side of the Sipsey Picnic Area, walk under the Cranal Road bridge, and follow Turkey Foot Creek upstream along the well-worn path. If one of us hasn't already posted directions, I can, or you can find them in Walking Sipsey, which your local library *might* have.

[McDowra]

If you go that way you walk by a 36 chevy which is cool, not what you expect to find in the middle of the woods

[Joshua Szulecki]

Isn't it a Ford?

The story behind the vehicle is pretty funny, because only the body is still in the canyon. The story goes that back when the road was closer to the canyon rim, a driver was going a bit fast on that old gravel road, and rather than turning as the road and driver demanded, it continued on straight, landing in the canyon. The driver allegedly retrieved most of the vehicle's parts via mule, but the body was too much to carry out.

It is told pretty well in Walking Sipsey, by Jim Manasco, as mentioned previously. It is painfully out of print.

[McDowra]

we got no idea