Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Maps: USGS Guntersville Dam, AL;
DeLorme: Alabama Atlas & Gazetteer,
page
19 H9
Trail contact: Tennessee Valley Authority Reservation, PO Box 1010, Muscle
Shoals, AL 35662; (256) 386-2601; www.tva.gov
Special considerations: The cave can be dangerous. You can enter the first 100 to
150 feet; after that special permits are required and you must be an experienced
caver. Contact the TVA for more information.
Finding the trailhead: From Guntersville at the intersection of US 431 and AL 69,
take AL 69 south 6.1 miles. Turn right onto CR 240 / Union Grove Road. Travel
2.3 miles and turn right onto CR 50 / Snow Road. Travel 2.7 miles. The parking
lot and trailhead will be on the left. There is a yellow steel pole gate here, gravel
parking area, and enough room for at least 20 cars. GPS: N34 25.116' / W86
24.276'
The Hike
I really don't like clichés, but in this case I'll make an exception: Good things do
come in small packages, especially when you're talking about the Cave Mountain
Loop.
This hike is located in a small tract of land owned and managed by the Tenness-
ee Valley Authority (TVA) just southwest of Lake Guntersville and Guntersville
Dam. The tract is one of thirty-one small wild areas managed by the TVA. These
areas are the result of a project started by the agency in 1976, the National Herit-
age Project. With the support of the Nature Conservancy, the project was designed
to conduct studies on how to protect threatened and endangered species of wildlife
and plant life in environmentally sensitive sites. Cave Mountain is one of those.
The property itself is small in size, only 34 acres, but within its boundaries
there is a wealth of natural beauty to explore. The Cave Mountain Loop meanders
around the top of the trail's namesake mountain using a generally rocky path
along the north side and the ridge. All along the route you will see oak, basswood,
hickory, eastern red cedar, yellow poplar, common persimmon, and sugar maple
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