DS19 and I will be visiting in October, and although he finds the Honors College and its programs appealing, he isn’t sold on the location, mostly because we’ve never been to that part of the country before. He is nature-loving Colorado boy who loves hiking, so I thought if we could find something that is a good representation of the outdoorsy experience around UA we could do it as part of our visit to help him get a better sense of the area. Maybe within an hour of campus?
Thanks and Roll Tide!
Try Oak Mountain State Park near Birmingham - about an hour from Tuscaloosa. The Blue Trail to King’s Chair overlook is a nice hike. It’s not Colorado, but the tail end of the Appalachians are pretty in October. Mountain biking in this park is awesome. Closer to Tuscaloosa, Lake Lurleen State Park is ok, but Oak Mountain is much better for hiking.
Tannehill, and Oak Mountain State Parks, are the closest as far as I can remember, but not too far away are beautiful Little River Canyon, and Cheaha Mountain. There are several other mountains but Cheaha has the highest elevation. Alabama is filled with great lakes and rivers. Alabama is still not as visited as one would expect given the beauty, but it keeps the trails and locales quiet, which I like.
Does he like White water rafting? Depending on rain quantity, he can easily find it in Little River Canyon. Lots of hiking too. Bear Gryllis filmed an episode in the wild of Little River Canyon. If he just wants to go tubing, he can find that near Tuscaloosa at Tannehill for sure.
Little River Whitewater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx9h6QPMMII
Little River Canyon De Soto Falls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWlWtpYyyYY
Little River Canyon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbO7i5H2AMk
Does he like cliff jumping? this is at Lake Nicol near Tuscaloosa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a_fEQciJFA
Many other vids on youtube for many other nature spots in Alabama, particularly North Alabama.
Here is another place for cliff jumping called High Falls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iml_E9IZdUc
Alabama also has a lot of incredible caverns in the northeast part of the state.
The northernmost part of campus is the Black Warrior River, which he can row or kayak. There is a beautiful trail alongside it all the way to downtown.
Also look at Ruffner Mountain, just a 15 minute drive from BHM airport - try the Quarry Trail and Overlook for a view of the city, and add Possum Loop for more mileage and Ridge and Valley Trail for a workout.
Thank you all for the suggestions!
While this doesnt’ qualify as a “hike”, many students can be found walking/jogging/biking along the River Walk. River Walk is a lovely paved trail along the Black Warrior River which sits on the north side of campus. The RiverWalk is very pretty and LIGHTED for safety. It’s over 4 miles long.
https://visittuscaloosa.com/one-and-only-tuscaloosa-riverwalk/
As a Western person used to being surrounded by mountains, I can confirm the “concern” is psychologically valid! When visiting, one of the first things my son did say: “There are no mountains anywhere”. Out here, we always use them as a point of reference; it is a bit jarring to look up and not see any.
So, your plan to demonstrate what is available outdoors is excellent, and you got great advice above. There is a ton of outdoor opportunities. I will also confirm that the River Walk is awesome, mostly because it is so convenient, especially to the dorms at the far north end.
If he enrolls, as an honors student, your son might also be interested in the “Outdoor Action” week before school starts as a freshman. They perform various service activities (mostly centered on water ways and water management this year) focused on the outdoors.
Roll Tide!
I belong to a hiking club in the Chicago area. One of the tips I got from other hikers in the group is — when visiting relatives or traveling — and you have the itch to hike — Google hiking clubs in said area, and check out Meetup in said area.
One of our club members has made friends with people in a Meetup hiking group in Florida, and now when he goes to visit his sister or mom, he has people he can go hiking with.
Have fun and good hiking!
@DavidPuddy “As a Western person used to being surrounded by mountains, I can confirm the “concern” is psychologically valid! When visiting, one of the first things my son did say: “There are no mountains anywhere”. Out here, we always use them as a point of reference; it is a bit jarring to look up and not see any.”
This is it exactly! DS already qualifies for the Presidential Elite scholarship and will most likely be a NMF, so the scholarship money is absolutely head-turning. Add to that the Honors College and the potential for RRS and Blount and it is certainly a school that deserves a visit, and to us that means more than just the campus. We’ll just have to see if it is too far out of his comfort zone.
I really appreciate all the tips–We’ve already looked at some of the videos. I think I saw that there is some sort of student hiking/camping/outdoorsy club as well. If DS chooses UA, I think that Outdoor Action week looks right up his alley.
@Colorado19and22
Same situation here, PM me if you have any other questions.
My D is a freshman and stayed on campus over labor day weekend. Yesterday her and her roommates went and swam in the lake and jumped in off a “cliff” - that’s outdoorsy for us! She said it was a “5” minute drive from campus which could mean +/- 20.
I’ve shared this thread with DS and he’s exited by the suggestions. I think in his head he was thinking that lower elevation equaled no good hiking. Also, when he first saw the comments on cliff jumping, it took him a second to connect it to jumping into water! He was like “isn’t that dangerous? People get hurt falling off cliffs” :)) We watched the video and he gets it now.
I live in AL and don’t think the hiking is great. But, as said above, there are lots of lakes and rivers, and if he could get into mountain biking there is a lot of that. My cousin was a member of the hiking club and they took some weekend trips to the TN/NC border for better hiking and said it was a terrific way to get to know other kids and the hiking was good.
It is pretty shocking how many people even within Alabama have never been to Little River Canyon in the NE of the state. One of the reasons why could be its relative remoteness from interstate roads. NE Alabama is really special. Waterfalls, caverns, mountains, rivers, white water rafting even.
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions! We visited two weeks ago, and DS found the area and campus very comfortable. He actually commented “It feels a lot like home–well…except for no mountains”. Of course, it was October–let’s see how he feels about it in August!
We were able to get to Oak Mountain state park and it was really nice, we also stopped another place close by there, Moss Rock Preserve (I think). It had a neat boulder field, and while there wasn’t enough water for the waterfalls to be impressive, it was still lovely. I think DS realized that elevation gain isn’t necessarily as important as he thought it was.
When he gets on campus he might look into the activities offered by the Rec Center.
https://urec.sa.ua.edu/outdoor-recreation-news/trips-and-clinics/
They recently had a hiking trip to the Sipsey wilderness where you can see waterfalls. Funnily enough they’re going skiing and ice climbing in CO in December!