🥾 ActiveDay trip · from Birmingham, AL

Cheaha State Park: Alabama's High Point

Cheaha Mountain at 2,413 feet is the highest point in Alabama, rising from the Talladega National Forest in the Appalachian foothills 75 miles east of Birmingham. The state park built around the summit offers the best mountain trail hiking accessible from Birmingham in a single day: the Bald Rock Boardwalk leads through a boulder-strewn heath to exposed granite outcrops with long views across the Talladega ridgeline; Pulpit Rock adds a steeper approach to a dramatic sandstone outcrop on the southern shoulder; and Lake Cheaha at the park entrance is a cold, clear mountain reservoir for swimming and paddling after the morning trails. The three elements — summit views, trail terrain, and mountain water — together cover the full range of what Cheaha offers in a well-paced day with the 75-minute drive each way.

Day 1 — Cheaha: Bald Rock summit boardwalk, Pulpit Rock trail, Lake Cheaha afternoon swim

Day 1 — Cheaha State Park

🚗 2 hr 30 min driving📍 3 stops

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Morning

🚗

Drive

Birmingham, AL → Cheaha State Park

1 hr 15 min

Bald Rock Boardwalk — Cheaha State Park

★ Reviews →

A paved boardwalk through a boulder heath leading to exposed Hillabee granite at 2,380 feet — Alabama's most accessible high-elevation viewpoint, with unobstructed sightlines across the Talladega ridgeline and the valley floors below. The exposed sandstone boulders and stunted mountain laurel along the boardwalk are characteristic Southern Appalachian high-country landscape. Morning is the best time before afternoon haze builds on the ridgeline.

~1 hr📍 See location

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Lunch

Pulpit Rock Trail — Cheaha State Park

★ Reviews →

A 1.5-mile round-trip trail from the park center to Pulpit Rock — a sandstone outcrop on the southern shoulder of Cheaha with views across the Hillabee Creek drainage and the ridgelines running south toward the Coosa Valley. The trail climbs through hardwood forest before opening onto exposed rock at the summit. More rugged and less crowded than the Bald Rock boardwalk.

🥪No food available here — pack a trail lunch.

~1 hr📍 See location

☀️

Afternoon

Lake Cheaha — Swimming & Paddling

★ Reviews →

A cold mountain reservoir at the park entrance fed by ridgeline runoff — a beach and swimming area with paddleboat and kayak rentals for the afternoon after the morning trails. The lake sits in a bowl below the summit with the surrounding hardwood ridges visible from the water. A good post-hike cool-down before the drive back to Birmingham.

~1.5 hrs📍 See location

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Evening

🚗

Drive

Cheaha State Park → Birmingham, AL

1 hr 15 min

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