Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Maps: USGS Fort Payne, AL;
DeLorme: Alabama Atlas & Gazetteer,
page 27 A7
Trail contact: Little River Canyon National Preserve, 4322 Little River Trail NE,
Ste. 100, Fort Payne, AL 35967; (256) 845-9605; www.nps.gov/liri
Finding the trailhead: From Fort Payne at the intersection of AL 35 and US 11,
take Fifth Street southeast 0.4 mile and turn left onto Wallace Avenue NE / AL 35
South. Travel 7.3 miles. Turn right onto AL 176 / Little River Canyon Parkway.
Travel 1.3 miles (you will pass the Little River Canyon and Lynn Overlooks on
the left). The parking lot and trailhead will be on the right. GPS: N34 23.003' /
W85 37.752'
The Hike
So there we were, my wife and I, driving along heading to Little River Canyon to
do research for another hike. I was looking forward to getting back to the canyon,
but I'll be honest, I wasn't looking forward to the steep 0.75-mile climb down the
canyon wall to the river and the subsequent climb back up.
We turned onto Little River Canyon Parkway, passed the Little River Canyon
Overlook and the Lynn Overlook, and then we saw it—a trail kiosk. I had never
noticed it before. So we pulled into the parking lot and, lo and behold, there was a
trail: the Beaver Pond Loop. Turns out that this is a really nice 1.4-mile lollipop
loop—just a walk in the woods if you will, but a great little place to take your kids
or for you birders a good place to break out the binoculars.
The trail is located on the plateau above the canyon so you won't have any
canyon views here, but what it does give you is a serene walk through a wetland
habitat forest with wildflowers like yellow false foxglove and pale-spike lobelia
and trees like bitternut, pignut, and shagbark. The trail is especially pretty in
spring and early summer when azaleas are in full bloom, forest grasses and ferns
are deep green, and sections of the footpath have a deep, soft green bed of moss.
If you walk the trail at the right time of year, wild blueberries will be found
growing alongside it. Most of the time you would be discouraged from picking the
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