budget,  travel

Noccalula Falls, Alabama

October 23, 2019 /

A couple weekends ago, we spent a long weekend in Alabama. As per usual, I had some outings in mind and one of them was Noccalula Falls. This waterfall cascades over 90 feets into a ravine. There is a 9 foot stature of  Cherokee Princess Noccalula at the top of the falls who according to legend plunged to her death instead of marrying someone whom her father wanted her to marry.

Now, Alabama has been in a state of drought for the past couple of months so the sight we were expecting of a beautiful waterfall was not what we saw. To say we were disappointed is an understatement.

If you look to the right, there is a trickle of water coming down. We joked that we should take a bucket of water and pour it down. However, our outing was not a wash (no pun intended): I didn’t realize that there is a Noccalula Falls park a little walk from the top view of the waterfall. The park includes a pioneer village, a trail down to the base of the waterfall, a petting zoo and a little train ride. The admission was 6 dollars for children 12 and up as well as adults and $4 for children 3 to 12.

I really liked the decorations at the entrance: we do not celebrate Halloween so I appreciated the fall/harvest decorations and thought they were very classy.

We took the trail down to the base of the gorge. The trail was dirt and gravel so while I should have worn a real pair of sneakers, my slip on sneakers survived the little hike. The view at the bottom was impressive with the large cave and the different rock formations on the way down.

The boys and our friend who accompanied us walk throughout the cave while I took one of the boys back for an emergency bathroom break (I tell sometime they just time things to make my life more difficult, lol).

As you can see, there was still water at the bottom of the ravine. Imagine how impressive it would look with the waterfall in full force and walking behind it. We will have to plan to go back!

Our favorite at the petting zoo was the llama who loved to eat! We each took turns. There was also a spot where you could walk in the rock formations at the top of the park (not in the gorge).

I think it is interesting that before I was married I lived 6 years in Alabama and had never visited this place. Just a reminder to be a visitor in your own state. There are so many places to discover.

We ended our trip with stop at Frios which had delicious popsicles! We had nutella, blueberry cheesecake, strawberry sorbet and orange cream!

Till next time,

A bientôt!

Please take a minute to subscribe to the blog to receive an email letting you know when a new post goes live. I usually post Monday, Wednesday and Friday but sometimes have a bonus post during the week. You can also follow me on instagram @chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

I link up with these fabulous blog link ups!

30 Comments