This is one of my very favorite parks!! It's vast, clean/well taken care of, and just lovely. I…read morecould spend hours watching the ducks, and I LOVE feeding the fish :) Be sure and bring some quarters for fish food when you visit! It's really convenient having so many fun places to eat and shop within walking distance. Highly recommend this park (and the surrounding area)

Love, love, love! Such an absolutely beautiful park! Great views, so fun watching and feeding the…read morefish, and lots of seating. The only thing missing... a community feel. Restaurants, bars and stores are all a walk away from this beautiful space. Hopefully these places are integrated into the space in the future.

Thank you, John Hunt, for being the historic pioneer who, in 1805, built a cabin in Big Spring Park…read morewhere he and his family resided, and Mr. Hunt is considered the founding father of this fair city! Mr. Hunt was a Revolutionary War veteran, and you guess it - Huntsville was named for him! It's known as the "Rocket City" and its motto is "Star of Alabama." In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in what is now Alabama. I was conceived and born here. Mom birthed me at Huntsville Hospital. Crestwood Hospital would have been around at that time at its former location off Jordan Lane north of Bob Wallace across from the former Westlawn Middle School. I heart Huntsville! From its humble beginnings as primarily cotton farmland, which began at what is now MidCity to the west which was considered "the country" back in the day. Huntsville has really grown ya'll. In 2022, the estimated population was 227.5K folks, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in the state after the Birmingham metropolitan area. There were 142K people living in Huntsville when I was in high school. Enough backstory. What's to love about Huntsville? We boasted about the largest number of PhDs per capita for decades, and this may still hold true. This differentiates us from other towns in Alabama. In the early 1940s Redstone Arsenal (RSA) was developed. And the rest is history: NASA, U.S. Army, FBI, Missile Defense Agency, AMCOM and more are located on RSA. The growth from cotton fields to rocket development was phenomenal. And the last two decades have ushered in a huge influx of people. You can barely drive a block without seeing orange construction barrels and cones, along with the ubiquitous crane. Apartment complexes are the latest developments with fewer condos for purchase. This influx has nurtured local restaurants [Cotton Row, Commerce Kitchen, all the Church Street Family eateries/wine shoppes, Green Bottle Grille] and extensive chain restaurants, too. There are craft coffee cards to get stamped, craft brewery cards to get stamped, and more "trails" to follow including real outdoor hiking at Monte Sano State Park, my favorite - Green Mountain, and Ditto Landing. Various entertainment venues are now options in "Hunts Vegas" including Mars, the Orion, the Von Braun Center, and bars with stages both big and small. HSV has the friendliness of a small southern town, with the perks of a larger city. We have rooftop bars, and lovely patios, covered picnic pavilions and sports - the Trash Pandas are always fun at Toyota Field, the Havoc are a blast if you love ice hockey, and we have a soccer [European "football"] team now, and there's always the Dixie Derby Girls, who do roller derby. Don't forget the US Space and Rocket Center and Space Camp, the Huntsville Botanical Garden, the Huntsville Museum of Art, Burritt Museum, the Weeden House, Constitution Hall Park and Museum, Early Works, the Huntsville/Madison County Veterans Memorial Park, the planetarium, and the mixed-use facilities, Lowe Mill, Campus 805, Stovehouse, and MidCity [with more on the way!] You can find events and festivals here: https://www.huntsville.org/events/festivals/ A great destination picnic location is Ditto Landing. Bank fish, or launch your boat and enjoy the beautiful bridge connecting south Huntsville to Lacey's Spring. If nothing in Huntsville "whets your whistle" or you are just itching to get out of town, Nashville is just 90 minutes north, Birmingham is 90 minutes south, Atlanta is ~ 4.5 hours SW, and the white sands of Orange Beach are just 5.5 hours due south. It's a hop and skip down to New Orleans by car, and you can always opt for the train that departs from Birmingham. Just please, please, don't move here - we are getting "full up" with people! Hence the 4 versus 5 stars. Traffic is also really crappy since the infrastructure has not kept pace with the population growth. Another minus for the Huntsville metro area is the dire lack of public transportation. Regardless of various efforts [I'm looking at you "Shuttle" busses and not "Orbit" busses], this is an area Huntsville falls short, especially for those who are wheelchair bound.

I've been in Huntsville for 3 months now and love it. There is so much to do and see here. Of…read morecourse it's the home of the Space & Rocket Center and Redstone Arsenal. Land of opportunity for careers! I've had several interactions with the actual departments of the City of Huntsville as well. One was a frustrating experience dealing with the City Engineer to get my certificate Occupancy for my house. I had to contact the Mayors Office and they resolved the issue within a few hours. Since then no issues. I also have my utilities through the city. Interestingly enough, they combine electric, water, and trash here. Their electric rates have been through the roof during the winter. I guess we will see how it changes in the. Next couple months. Another pro - taxes are cheap and the city offers a homestead tax break for people who own their primary residence in the City of Huntsville.

This is a really neat little frozen piece of history. I happened to wonder upon it and started…read morereading all the historical markers. This is where the Alabama constitution was written before statehood. Very well preserved historical area!

Neat little village located in downtown Huntsville with well preserved buildings from the early…read more1800s when Alabama was holding its first state constitutional convention. The village was closed when we stopped by so we weren't able to go inside any of the buildings but this will definitely be at the top of my list on my next trip to Huntsville!

Nice every Thursday 5 pm mingle venue til mid October..back by popular request?…read moreSome German and domestic beers and wine - 16$ meals were good . Rec skip the desserts. Had a live band for an hour

Having lived in Germany for 11 years I am always looking for good German food ambience. Biergarten…read moremeet both for me. Excellent food and service! I highly recommend you give them a try, even if you've never had German food or Beer.

I love the Cambron Covered Bridge! Located atop beautiful Green Mountain on the Green Mountain…read moreNature Trail, it was built in 1974. This bridge is named after Joe E. Cambron, who was the Madison County Bridge Foreman from 1958-1974. Starting at the pavilion and hiking around, the bridge is located near the end of the 1.5 very easy trail. The Green Mountain Nature Trail is recognized as a Treasure Forest by the Alabama Forestry Commission, and it is also considered a Wildlife Sanctuary. The bridge is rustic as one would expect with numerous windows from which you can take some beautiful photographs of the lake and the park. It's especially pretty when we have beautiful fall colors!

Nice covered bridge in a peaceful setting…read more.. Covered bridges are scattered all around North Alabama and we had a glimpse of this bridge that took us back in time, when life was simpler. It's pretty cool... When we got to the bridge there was a kid fishing from one of the windows. Cambron Covered Bridge was built in 1974 and is located in Huntsville in Madison County AL. We walked on the wide gravel path that led to the bridge. The trail crosses the Cambron Covered Bridge surrounding Sky Lake. Entrance to the park is free, open to the public from 7a until 30 minutes prior to sunset. There are three large windows on each side of the bridge letting natural light in so it isn't so dark inside when you cross the bridge. Just below the windows are wooden benches. The bridge is picturesque and makes for great pictures, especially the black and white effect. I don't normally come across covered bridges too often... in fact, this may be my first time seeing one in real life (the covered bridge from the movie, The Bridges of Madison County, doesn't count). Review #1858

I have to admit I have not dealt with this company on a professional level. It is possible that…read morethey are amazing at what they do, however, I can tell you that as a human being the man that runs it (possibly the owner) is a jerk. I was in his parking lot on my phone trying to procure directions to a nearby business. I am new to the area so I was turned around. After a few minutes he came out and yelled at me telling me too get off his property because I was in his prime spot. No offer to help me find my way...and telling me I should be grateful...??? For what I am not sure. Then he stood there to make sure I was leaving. Yeah...I would not deal with him if he were the only option.

This beautiful and moving memorial park is located on the northernmost end of downtown Huntsville,…read morejust off I-565. I've been there several times, and it's never crowded and parking is not a problem. I've taken Mom there several times, and she uses a "wheelie" walker, and we use the handicapped parking spots right up front when we take Mom. I learned so much about the park from the American Legion's website (for some reason the actual Huntsville/Madison county Veteran's memorial park website is currently down) https://www.legion.org/memorials/241757/huntsville-madison-county-alabama-veterans-memorial. For example I didn't know the bronze statues' models were actual Madison County combat Veterans. Nor did I know the right portal leading to the Alabama flag is a time capsule in which Veterans have placed personal artifacts, letters, and items reminiscent of their service and the wars they fought. It will be disinterred on November 11, 2062. The Patriot's Walkway is extensive, too and features the Aviator Statue, sculpted by local artist Dan Burch and modeled after Marine Captain James 'Trey" Wilbourn, III, Huntsville only Persian Gulf War casualty. It also features the 8 ft., 3 ton Revolutionary War Monument, dedicated to the 84 Revolutionary War soldiers who are buried in Madison County, which was relocated to the Huntsville Veterans Memorial park in October 2016. The Gold Star Families Memorial Monument was installed in Sept. 2020, developed by Herschel "Woody" Williams, one side of the monument states "Gold Star Families Memorial Monument, a tribute to Gold Star Families and Relatives," and the other side features a 4-panel story, with panels titled "Homeland, Family, Patriot and Sacrifice." Legacy Walkway Brick Pavers are available for purchase for 100.00 for 3 lines of engraving. I've purchased two of those and the process is so simple, and the staff who process these purchases is on top of it - you receive email updates and top notch paperwork including the exact location of the brick paver and a nice, suitable for framing certificate for the recipient's family. It's 2.00 to have the certificate mailed via USPS. The park opened in Nov. 2011 and I'm proud of the city of Huntsville's dedication to maintaining the park. The first issue in the news was the amount of typos on the early brick pavers that were installed. This was rectified. Around Christmas 2014, vandals put graffiti on the timeline wall and drove a 4-wheeler across the park, damaging the capstone. This vandalism resulted in the city of Huntsville installing security cameras in the park. Last month, around St. Patrick's Day, someone filled the main fountain with bubble bath. Kudos to the city for fixing all these issues. This park does not have picnic tables, however, there are some places to sit and plenty of nearby restaurants. I hope you will visit! It truly is a beautiful, moving place with plenty of interesting displays to explore, or just a quick trip to the main fountain area.

The Huntsville Veterans Memorial Park was dedicated to Veterans of Madison County on 11-11-11. It…read moreis a beautiful park with easy access from downtown Huntsville and from I-565. There is parking along Monroe Street. The park honors the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines and the Coast Guard. It houses a time capsule, two larger than life statues, an eternal flame and it is surrounded by brick pavers that you can dedicate to a veteran for $100 each. It is a wonderful memorial to honor the great men and women fighting for our freedom.

Having lived here all my life I was surprised I didn't know exactly where Wernher von Braun's Home…read morewas! Built for the von Braun family in 1958, he and his family moved to DC in 1970 and the Space and Rocket Center bought it in 1970. It's been owned by two families since. My sister and I drove to it last Monday and really enjoy the quick peek we got of it from the street. It is a mid-century modern, 2,633 square-foot house with a breathtaking combination of its original vogue and modern updates that respect its late 1950s design. This is from the article about it in the Redstone Rocket [https://www.theredstonerocket.com/news/article_e83fb8f4-1bb2-11ec-aa2c-978461564317.html] If you look the home up on redfin there are numerous phots of the home and property, including his concrete fallout shelter in the back yard, built in the days of Cold War when Huntsville's rocket braintrust was a prime target. [from Al.com https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/2014/12/wernher_von_braun_historic_hom.html] Big Cove road is quite windy and it has no shoulders. There is nowhere to park or stand and get a good photograph. Also, it's occupied so it's not like it is a museum. It's certainly worth a look though to get a glimpse into the life of this rocket pioneer who had such a huge impact on Huntsville, and the USA!

This is a quaint glimpse of what Madison, Alabama was like until the population and growth…read moreexplosion that hit this particular area. Main Street is a quiet and definitely has that small town feel to it. Like I said, Madison, Alabama has exploded in growth and population and I would consider the area around the stadium to be the new main area of Madison. Still, this is a very cool place to check out and I would definitely recommend here and I give it five stars overall. If you find yourself anywhere in the area, I would definitely recommend checking this glimpse into the past out.

Main Street is a small block or two in old Madison. It was the commerce hub when Madison was…read moredeveloped in the 1850s around a stop of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Main Street is home to the Main Street Café (which is the former site of a local prison and features a jail cell you can dine in) and Old Black Bear Brewery, Madison (which also has an Athens, AL location). Other Main Street-area businesses currently are Holtz Leather (store front is Sullivan Street), Murphy Homes, and the Lanier House Tea Room and Private Venue. Main Street is surrounded by unique 1800s period architecture including homes on Church Street. The gazebo and surrounding historical markers on Main Street are worth a stop, albeit brief, to check out! I agree with yelper John M.'s review! And, honestly, one can drive right by Main Street Madison, AL without noticing it. Since the Town Madison development has come into play, the area around the Toyota Stadium now offers many entertainment, dining, and housing options and is considered "Madison" also. Of course, Town Madison does not have the old school charm and coziness of Main Street, Madison.