We stopped by the Civil Rights Memorial Park on Jan 9, 2026 as part of Road Scholar's "The Civil…read moreRights Movement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham" program. Located south of the Alabama River, and dedicated (mostly) to the Selma marches veterans, this park marks the ending point of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. It is available for visit 24/7, and admission is free. After crossing the bridge, we waited at the monument area for every group member to be accounted for. Located by the main road (US-80 BUS), this area is rather small. The memorialized individuals are much fewer than the thousands that participated in the marches. No information was given as to when this park was first opened. (My guess is sometime in 2021, going by the date of the first review.) Nonetheless, we had some minutes to appreciate the plaques, sculptures and murals, as well as hear a brief statement by a local guide regarding some of the individuals. Then it was time to get on our tour bus and be on our way to the next destination. If more time was given, I would have explore further within the park to find out if there was more than just the monuments. Based on what I had seen, 3 stars will suffice. Definitely worth stopping when visiting Selma.

Beautiful spot where they honor those who should be honored!…read more It's right after you cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

A beautiful park (with access to the Cahaba River) in Marion/Perry County, Alabama. You could tell…read morethis place was once kept up, but many of the facilities have now been abandoned/are in disrepair, the grass/weeds are high and trails have not been managed. Such a shame!

The area is hard to get to, and some of the facilities have not been used in a while or need…read morerepair. If you watch where you walk and are mindful you can have a nice hike.

Small but excellent state park. Visit before the Montgomery politicians indefinitely close this…read more(and four other) state parks on 15 Oct 2015! This lovely park is currently staffed by very nice people. Grill out, picnic, play, hike, boat, camp, swim, etc. Enjoy beautiful natural scenery.

Let me just start off by saying we love camping, and have been to MANY campgrounds and I have never…read moreleft a complaint anywhere... But here goes!! There is goose poop EVERYWHERE!! The whole park is literally over run with geese! My daughter could not even go to the playground because it smelled awful and there probably wasn't a single inch of ground that wasn't pooped on. The playground equipment is very old on top of that and was a nasty wet mess. The lake water is the nastiest I have ever seen. I got in it once and immediately regretted it and went to take a hot shower. My daughter (who is 2) accidentally swallowed some of the water while swimming and ended up throwing up multiple times the next day. On top of all this, the bathhouses are FILTHY, in the women's side there were used razors, wads of hair, mold, an awful smell, and toilets that were unusable! My Dad and Husband said the men's toilets were the same way on the men's side. Also, we found many many hooks just laying on the ground. We also found old lures with fishing line everywhere just waiting for someome to step on them! (A goose we saw actually had a hook and line in its mouth!) This place needs a major cleanup. We will never be back and wish someone would have warned us before we wasted a camping trip here.

Half standing structures. Old abandoned buildings that look creepily intact. Bricks and windows…read moreready to fall apart. Out of nowhere some random stones and monuments. All 200 years old. Right away, I'm already engineering ideas and solutions in my mind to make this place more worth your time. Because it's an anthropologist's dream come true. A real ghost town. Legit eery looking stuff. But unless you are watching Nick Cage track down the treasure 'round here you are faced with too many things that frustrate your experience. It's not worth the drive. I get that Alabama's first state capital was carved out of the wilderness. BUT now that it's a present day state park they could do a better job carving out the roadways and walking paths. With map in hand, I drove halfway down to see several sites but the road was just too littered with big branches and rocks and who knows what else. Did a storm just blow through here? Unless you roll in with your 350 this road just doesn't work for visitors to pass through. I'm bummed that I had to turn around and miss more creepy stuff. Fix that. You have to stay off the grass. And there's so much of it. Is there a way to manage it a little bit? Well.. Ecologists celebrate ....because yes of course I stayed off the grass. But now how am I supposed to approach and see the speck of an image that is advertised. Bring binoculars. Don't harm the environment..but I wish there was some sort of path to see the old church (the one you CAN'T really see) and industrial towers (the ones that are the size of your thumb). Come here during halloween, folks. Shivering right now. When it gets into your head..it can be real creepy. Oh, and bring cash. Unless you carry checks any more the entrance fee is cash-only.

Wow! So glad that I found this place! I came here with my boyfriend and I am so glad that I did…read more This place is super creepy! So awesome though! We got here a little late due to the distance that we did not realize we had to drive. Make sure you allot yourself at least two hours to roam the quarters if you are an inquisitive bunch like we are! There is a lot to see and you have to drive around in order to get to each spot. The houses that have been preserved are so cool to look at! We spent a significant amount of time viewing each home and seeing how they were built while reading the placards outside of each point. Note: The lake behind or in between the park is really beautiful. Don't miss it! Tip: get here well before dark because when it gets dark, IT GETS PITCH DARK! Even our headlights were not as helpful as they could've been had we not been in those thick woods so late. Would I recommend? Absolutely! I already have. Will I be back? I plan to! I didn't get to see everything.

What a beautiful place to bring your pet your family, your children I would highly recommend so…read moreunique. I did not even know this existed.

While smaller than assumed if you find it on Trip Advisor or similar app, it really is a cool…read moreexperience. Watch your map or you will drive past it...as we did. The bamboo is thicker than you can get a hand around, sometimes needing two and must be 30' in the air. The main path is fairly small with a straight back path and loop around a bog, however there are multiple paths off to the sides that allow you to 'get lost' in the foliage and peace. It's obvious that local families come often with kids and dogs as the kids know all the secret entrances and spots to get down ravines if you find your inner adventurer. 20-30 minutes is about all you can do without stopping to sit or observe, but it was well worth to jaunt off the highway to see if you are driving through.

Very beautiful small little town. Glad we made the stop and looked at some history.read more

The hubby wanted to take a relaxing spin so I'll do one for the team.... I'm not your typical…read moreoutdoor fan., but hey it's hubby's day .. It's great watching God's nature, hearing the chirping of several different birds and watching the boats pass by with the drivers speaking as they sail down stream..... Very nice area for family gatherings, and there's also a pic nic area, and dog park!!!

Despite its name, Cooters Pond is a nice little park centered around a lake. It is a nice place to…read moreunwind for a bit and a place to leave the problems and stress of the day behind. All in all, I would definitely recommend this particular park.

I called to make sure there was space to camp before riding 5 hours on a motorcycle with my son who…read morewas excited to see the goats and movie set. The gentleman that answered the phone said there was space and told us to try to be there before dark. We arrived at 6:30pm, which was after dark, and were told we couldn't camp because he had locked the gate. It would have been helpful if he had told me on the phone not to bother coming if we were going to be there 30 minutes after dark instead of saying "try to be here before dark". We are now in a hotel in Montgomery. Thanks a lot.

Jackson Lake Island is amazing, especially if you are a fan of Tim Burton's Big Fish…read more You enter through a gate, and there is an entire process for paying and then obtaining the gate code. Luckily, we paid, and were then calling the phone number to get the code, when someone who was camping pulled up behind us and put the code in for us. The small road bridge leading from the main land to the island was a little scary for me. Good thing there wasn't a car coming the other way, or I would have freaked out even more. This land is wonderful. I could see the appeal to kayak, fish, or have a picnic here, or even camp here. We stopped at the bathrooms first, and they are clean and provide running water. On our drive to the town of Spectre, we ran into the goats. We were driving down the road and all of the goats were coming at us. We put the car in park and enjoyed the goats. One goat even jumped up on my door to say hello. They are fabulous and very friendly. When we exited the vehicle at the Spectre movie set, a super friendly goat was charging at me, I immediately went into the car and the goat approached my boyfriend. All the goat wanted was some pets. And that's what he got. They are like large dogs. There are swing benches around the lake and it is nice to sit and enjoy the scenery. Watch out for goat poop. That is the only bad thing. The goats keep the island well manicured and provide the best entertainment and are adorable.

A great place to go for some nature time. The falls only had a small flow when I was there but in…read morethe spring there would be a heavier stream.

Sunday, March 9th, Tony and I drove the 20 miles north to Oak Mountain State Park to see the…read morePeavine Falls. We had to hike out and even do a little rock mountain climbing to lower ourselves down to the top of the falls. I even had to lean out on some rocks to take pictures.. This was a very hard climb and my heart was really pumping on this hike but it felt good. The falls were lovely.

This is such a beautiful park! I recently heard about the faces carved into the trees and decided…read moreto check this wonder out. First, I don't live in this town but this park kept popping up on my feed as an uncommon wonder in Alabama, only 45 minutes from my house...how did I not know this?! Anyways, I took a nice ride to the town of Montevallo. Immediately, I saw families playing in the water, walking their dogs, sitting on the colorful swings, fishing and playing volleyball. What a great park to play, exercise and just enjoy yourself. There are plenty of benches and tables to sit, eat a meal, play board games, cards and/or relax and watch the flowing water or the bubbling waterfall. Now, let's get to the wonder of these tree carvings. Each tree is a unique piece of art. I can only imagine what goes through the minds of children as they walk through and see the faces and creatures that are so pronounced in these carvings...the stories that are formed in their little minds. Such a place to stretch your imagination! Anyone living in the area should definitely check out this park. I can only imagine the fun that takes place on this beautiful property.

We love Orr Park!! It's a great place to go see famous Tinglewood art. The river running through is…read moreclean and beautiful. Nice walking trails and clean bathrooms.