North Region - Hiking Alabama: A Guide to the State's Greatest Hiking Adventures - page 350

Maps: USGS Columbus City, AL; DeLorme: Alabama Atlas & Gazetteer, page 26
A2; free trail maps available at camp store
Trail contact: Lake Guntersville State Park, 7966 AL 227, Guntersville 35976;
[phone]; www.alapark.com/LakeGuntersville
Finding the trailhead: From Guntersville at the intersection of US 431 and AL
227, take AL 227 south 6.6 miles. Turn left onto Aubrey Carr Scenic Drive.
Travel 0.2 mile and turn left to stay on Aubrey Carr Scenic Drive. Travel another
0.2 mile. The trailhead will be on the right. The parking lot is gravel, with room
for 7 cars. GPS: N34 23.095' / W86 12.374'
The Hike
Just after dawn on April 27, 2011, what the National Weather Service classified as
an EF-2 tornado swept across the town of Guntersville. The main area in the path
of the storm (that only lasted four minutes) was Lake Guntersville State Park.
When the storm had passed, the park had major damage. Cleanup in the area was
estimated to be at $2.5 million. In seconds the lodge and campground were
severely damaged and over 5,000 trees were snapped like matchsticks; 65 percent
of those were near the park's golf course.
The good news, however, is that the trails were quickly reopened after the
storm, due to the hard work of state employees and volunteers. A couple years
later I revisited the park to hike the trails for this edition of the topic and found it
back in operation and almost back to normal. The sad part, however, is that not
everything is recovering so quickly, including some of the hiking trails where the
recovery will take years to take hold. One of those trails where you can still see
the damage is along the Waterfall Trail.
The trail has always been one of my favorites, and it was a sad experience re-
hiking it. The northern part of the trail looked more like an area where a nuclear
bomb went off than the thick hardwood forest I had remembered. But as I walked
the trail, the waterfall was still very pretty tumbling over the rocks after a good
rain, and the damage served as a backdrop reminding me of the power of Mother
Nature. After walking it the trail was still a favorite and a fun, educational hike for
individuals and families.