One-tank trip: Cathedral Caverns

Caverns, canyons and cascades — the northeast corner of Alabama is the place to carve out an adventure with Mother Nature’s blessings. From a 14-acre underground world to a 104-foot cascade, the Yellowhammer State’s mountain lakes region is a paean to the great outdoors — and it has plenty of indoor attractions, too, to satisfy your cultural cravings.

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Kathy Witt

Cathedral Caverns is Alabama’s newest state park, in Woodville. The park lays claim to one of the largest cave entrances.

• One-tank trip to Fort Payne, Ala.

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Spelunkers’ delight

Alabama’s newest state park, Cathedral Caverns State Park in Woodville, contains a magnificent cave that spreads across 14 acres, and it lays claim to one of the largest cavern entrances, stretching 126 feet wide and 25 feet high. Here is a spelunker’s paradise featuring massive forests of stalagmites, ceilings dripping with stalactites and fields of stippled and striated column formations.

Established as a park in 2000, the caverns shelter Big Rock Canyon, Mystery River, a 45-foot stalagmite column called Goliath, Stalagmite Mountain and the Frozen Waterfall that “looks like the south end of a northward traveling herd of elephants,” park manager Danny Lewis said.

Hikers’ haven

DeSoto Falls, in DeSoto State Park on Lookout Mountain in Fort Payne, is where the west fork of the Little River plummets into its own rugged canyon for a dramatic 104-foot cascade. Named after the brash Spanish explorer (who, according to legend, discovered it in 1540 during his gold explorations of the New World), the rushing falls are truly spectacular.

The park has a number of overlooks on Scenic Drive to view the falls, plus eight miles of trails that take you along the west fork of Little River. A 360-yard, handicapped-accessible boardwalk blazes a path to the beautiful view of the Azalea Cascade, a scenic splash in comparison to DeSoto Falls but sweetly situated on Laurel Creek, which flows over some rocks into a large pool of water.

The Little River Canyon National Preserve, also in Fort Payne, shows off the deepest gorge east of the Rocky Mountains, one containing spectacular scenery on a 14,000-acre spread that begins at the base of a 45-foot waterfall. With its breathtaking waterfalls and hundreds of rare species of plants and animals, the canyon was carved over millennia right into the heart of Lookout Mountain.

“It’s the only place a river begins and ends in a mountain,” said Larry Beane, a ranger with the National Park Service.

Lake-view luxury

Just 45 minutes from Fort Payne and 40 minutes from Cathedral Caverns is Lake Guntersville State Park, an ideal retreat for the outdoor enthusiast.

Situated in the lower foothills of the Appalachian Mountains along the shoreline of the 69,000-acre Guntersville Reservoir and flanked by stands of Southern pines and hardwoods, the park is home to Resort Hotel Lodge and Suites, which was recently renovated to the tune of $25 million. It now offers an amenity-laden choice of hotel rooms and suites, as well as fully equipped cottages and chalets, plus fine dining, Internet service, an 18-hole championship golf course, seasonal water activities and hiking. It comes by its majestic views naturally and is a haven for wildlife, including many species of birds such as the kingfisher, herons and the American bald eagle.

Every Saturday, guided nature hikes depart from the Country Store or park office for a morning exploration of the woods along gentle to moderate trails and lasting about two hours.

IF YOU GO

Getting there

Alabama’s mountain lakes region is about a three-hour drive from Atlanta, traveling west to Oxford and then north to Guntersville, Ala.

Where to stay

• Resort Hotel Lodge and Suites. Rates start at $89. Lake Guntersville State Park, 7966 Ala. 227, Guntersville, Ala. 256-571-5440, www.GuntersvilleStatePark.com.

Attractions

• Cathedral Caverns State Park. $10 adults, $5 children 6-12, free for children younger than 6. Open 7 a.m.-sundown daily. 637 Cave Road, Woodville, 256-728-8193, www.alapark.com/CathedralCaverns.

• DeSoto State Park. Open sunrise to sunset. $1 per person. 13883 County Road 89, Fort Payne. 1-800-568-8840, 256-845-5380, www.desotostatepark.com.

• Little River Canyon National Preserve. Open sunrise to sunset daily. Free. 2141 Gault Ave. N., Fort Payne, 256-845-9605, www.nps.gov/liri.