North Region - Hiking Alabama: A Guide to the State's Greatest Hiking Adventures - page 386

Maps: USGS Huntsville, AL; DeLorme: Alabama Atlas & Gazetteer, page 19 D8;
free trail maps available at park office.
Trail contact: Monte Sano State Park, 5105 Nolen Ave., Huntsville, AL 35801;
[phone]; www.alapark.com/montesano
Finding the trailhead: From Huntsville on I-565 take exit 21, Maysville Road NE.
Head south on Maysville Road NE 1.4 miles and turn left onto Pratt Avenue NE.
Travel 2.7 miles and turn right onto Fearn Street NE. Travel 0.7 mile and turn left
onto Nolen Avenue SE. Follow Nolen Avenue SE 0.7 mile to the entrance gate,
where you'll pay your day-use fee. Continue straight on Nolen Avenue SE 0.4
mile. Come to a Y in the road and take the right fork. The hikers' parking lot will
be immediately on your right. GPS: N34 44.637' / W86 30.676'
The Hike
While the South Plateau Loop focuses more on the geology of the mountains, with
wonderful views from high bluffs, the North Plateau Loop shows more of the his-
tory of Monte Sano State Park but still provides nice views of the surrounding val-
leys and mountains and a waterfall.
Monte sano is a Latin term that means “mountain of health.” In the early 1800s,
with outbreaks of yellow fever, cholera, and malaria ever increasing, this moun-
tain became a refuge for ailing patients because of the crisp, cool mountain air and
clear mountain streams.
In 1827 Dr. Thomas Fearn established a colony here on Monte Sano for the vic-
tims of these epidemics. The lavish facility flourished until the advent of the Civil
War, when Union soldiers made their way south and laid the complex in ruin.
Following the Civil War, the area was rebuilt. The Monte Sano Hotel was con-
structed and the region flourished once again with tourists to the mountain until
the Great Depression arrived in the 1930s. President Franklin Roosevelt's Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC) arrived in 1935, and the rebuilding process began.
Cabins, picnic areas, horse barns, trails, roadways, and a public lodge were all
completed by 1938, and Monte Sano State Park was born. Because of all this con-