A short guide to hiking and backpacking in Alabama

Alabama is a beautiful small southern state. The state is almost in sea level and the highest point is around few thousand feet which is not very high, nevertheless there are nice long and short hiking trails all over the state.

1- Long distance hiking or thru-hiking:

Pinhoti trail is a long trail. More information:

http://www.pinhotitrailalliance.org/

2- Long hikes:

Cheaha wilderness:

There are many trails in this region.

The Chinnabee-Skyway-Pinhoti loop is more common. Pinhoti section is well marked and more challenging than other sections. Chinnabee trail is very busy because it is mainly used for day hike.

Trails are a little confusing whenever you approach the river and usually you have to pass to the other side. Camping are permitted almost everywhere however there are many used campsites.

map: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd495949.pdf

Sipsey wildeness:

There are many short trails in this area you can join together to make a longer hiking trail. When it rains you may not be able to pass through the Sipsey river. The river could get very high. In my opinion trail 209 is the most beautiful part of the wilderness and it mainly follows along the Sipsey river.

Maps: http://www.sipseywilderness.org/sipsey_wilderness_maps.aspx

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd493196.pdf

Conecuh national forest:

Blue pond and Open pond are good starting points. There are campsites (not free) near these trailheads. I enjoyed the hot shower at the open pond campsite while I was camping in winter. It has very mild winter and winter is the best hiking time. The main problem could be the intentional burning by forest service which makes everything smells unpleasant.

Conecuh trail is a 20 miles hiking trail. I didn't find a high quality free map for this trail. There are many lower quality maps.