Student Hurt a Kinlock Falls

[cwhiker]

How many times does one have to say that its not safe to be on the edge of a cliff or Waterfall. I do not subscribe to the Decatur Daily so I can't read the full story but on Friday a Birmingham Southern Student fell off a cliff around Kinlock falls and is in serious condition at Huntsville Hospital

[Lesley]

You know, it is August... and it hasn't really rained much this weekend.  I don't mean to be a cynic, but college dude out for the weekend...are we sure he fell? Does anyone have a picture of Kinlock falls so we can see just how bad this fall was? I know

[dayhiker]

Here's another article:  http://www.tuscaloosanews..._man_critical__after_fall


Kinlock Falls isn't 50', but it doesn't say he fell from the falls.  I can't picture a camping site at the Falls area, but they said at the general area of Kinlock.  They must have been downstream from the falls?  Parker Falls would still be the Kinlock area, but someone would camp at the bottom of that bluff not the top.  I can't picture where they must have been.

[Joshua Szulecki]

There are plenty of 50' drops AROUND Kinlock Falls that are part of the Hubbard Creek Canyon.

You could fall around 50' off the ledges above the falls into the area beneath the falls. You could fall 50' off the small cliffs that box the falls in, which is certainly possible. You could also fall 50' off the cliff that runs about 100' from the road downstream from the falls, especially if you weren't paying attention. That cliff is a doozy, too. If you walk along the old roadway that runs from near the falls back to the current road, there are several spots that could be used as a campsite, as well as a few more feet up the road at the spot with no camping signs, all within listening distance of the falls.

[dayhiker]

Yeah, lots of tall stuff around there, just didn't know about the camping areas.

[Joshua Szulecki]

I've never seen anybody camping there, but I've seen signs of camping.

The one nice spot I saw is less than 25' from a cliff, so I sincerely hope nobody ever camped there. You get up to take a leak, and end up falling a few stories down into Hubbard Creek. It is located almost directly adjacent from the Kinlock Chute, which is that side waterfall downstream from Kinlock Falls.

[dayhiker]

Come to think of it, I have seen trash up there.  I'd forgotten about that.