'JUMP IN THE CAR AND GO'
FROM PRIMEVAL FORESTS ON CANYON FLOORS TO MAN MADE LAKES, NORTHWEST ALABAMA HOME TO RUGGED NATURAL WONDERS
Walls of moss-covered rocks tower above the trail where Mike Bauer and his rescue dog Willow step between twisted tree roots and around stone slabs, following the path of a burbling stream on the floor of Dismals Canyon one morning in late summer. At the north end of the trail ahead of them, a family of four swims beneath one of the canyon’s two waterfalls and other visitors pad the mile-and-a-half trail to take in one of the country’s oldest primeval forests east of the Mississippi River.
There is rocks to clamber over and holes to peer in for kids or kids-at-heart and the dismalities - the inch-long bioluminescent “glow worms” from which the canyon gets its name - are just one of the bug species hikers will see as they squeeze between rocky passages or dip their toes in the stream. On the canyon floor, it’s easy to let the centuries fall away and imagine you’re walking through the Alabama of 200 years ago. The rock walls block sounds from nearby Highway 43 and even voices from the Country Store, where visitors purchase tickets and a trail map, three flights of wooden stairs above.
Aiding that feeling of being lost in time are the stories of the canyon itself. Carved into the earth by geologic events and draining waters over millions of years, it was home to Paleoamericans 10,000 years ago. Native Americans from the Chickasaw and Cherokee tribes lived there before white settlers moved into the area in the 1800s. A trail map provided to visitors tells stories of a 19th-Century outlaw who made the canyon his hideout and of religious rituals performed by Chickasaw Indians in the better-hidden parts of the forest floor.
For Bauer, a native of Panama City, Florida, an area still recovering from Hurricane Michael in 2018, the slice of nature in north Alabama’s woods provides a few days of much-needed respite.
“I just wanted to set up here and relax and recharge,” he said.
‘A RUGGED NATURAL AREA’
Bauer made reservations at the company’s campsite and is using it as a base to explore this forested area of north Alabama, long a destination for nature enthusiasts. A few miles south along Highway 43 is Bear Creek Canoe Run, which on weekends rents kayaks and canoes for an eight-mile trip along the creek. Just over the county line in Winston County is the 148-foot long Natural Bridge, the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies. A little farther east is the Sipsey Wilderness, part of the Bankhead National Forest and home to dozens of hiking trails and waterfalls.
The wilderness and nearby Smith Lake - a 21,000-acre series of man made waterways that zig-zags through Winston, Walker and Cullman counties - have become the stomping grounds of plenty of Golden Triangle residents looking for a good place to vacation or retire. While some have bought their own vacation homes, others rent cabins or find hotels and marinas near the lake, which has around 500 miles of shoreline over the three counties.
“It’s a very beautiful natural area, just a rugged natural area” said Columbus native Joe Boggess.
He and his wife Carol have a house on the lake in Winston County. By car, it’s a 25-minute drive to visit their friends Anne and Terry Freeze, who live on the other side of the lake in Walker County. By boat, Terry and Anne say, it’s only 10 minutes.
“They dammed up part of the Sipsey River and backed water up into all those little creeks,” Terry says as Anne dangles her feet in the water to demonstrate how the water is clear “almost like a swimming pool.”
“A lot of those fingers (that make up the lake) are just creeks.”
The water there is about 60 feet deep - it’s more than 200 in other parts - and their teenage granddaughter from Starkville can’t get enough of swimming and skiing in it, Anne says.
Like Joe and Carol, Anne and Terry are from Columbus and bought the lake house as a vacation home. It’s only about two hours from their home in Columbus, though they now live on the lake permanently, hosting visitors who come for the swimming, the boating and the fishing.
"One big thing for us when we were talking about getting a vacation home was [...] the decision for most people in the Columbus area, 'Do we get a place on the beach on the gulf, or do we get something else?'” Anne said. “When you go to the beach, you have to kind of plan in advance.[...] We decided we wanted a place you can just jump in the car and go to."
That part of Alabama - particularly the Sipsey Wilderness where he and Willow can take more walks through the woods - is what Bauer had his eye on for the remainder of his trip. For him, the region’s natural beauty is the place to go when he needs to get away.
“You just think, ‘Whoa, God made this,” he said. “It’s amazing.”
STORY BY ISABELLE ALTMAN
PHOTOS BY ANTRANIK TAVITIAN
