Dismals Canyon: Awe-Struck in NW Alabama

A view of the stone walls and Dismals Branch creek as it meanders through Dismals Canyon.

This last weekend I visited Dismals Canyon in Northwest Alabama. Traversing the canyon floor felt otherworldly, as if I had just sunk my X-Wing in Dagobah, and Yoda could be training Luke just around the next bend! A surreal experience once you safely pass the rickety stairway to the bottom of the canyon (seriously, guys, stop building fountains and spend that money on the stairs.)

A rather poor photograph of the paper map provided by the Dismals Canyon ticketing desk at the park. — A rather poor photograph of the paper map as provided by the Dismals Canyon ticketing desk at the park.

Anything But Dismal

I had heard Dismals Canyon brought up in multiple conversations the last few months but didn’t give it much thought. The name doesn’t do it much justice, but the canyon itself is anything but dismal. Instead, it’s an easy 1.5-mile hike through behemoth sandstone structures and caves that seem almost alien.

The water is amazingly still and clear, like something I would expect to see in Washington State, not Alabama. The area is home to rare glow worms called Dismalites, found in only a handful of locations worldwide.

Night tours of Dismals Canyon are available, but they had already stopped for the summer, so I didn’t get to check that out. However, the photos look amazing, and on their website, they have a night tour schedule starting next month.

A photograph of the Foot Bridge near Weeping Bluff.

Why is it called Dismals Canyon?

The prevailing theory is that early Scottish settlers named it after a similarly named rugged place in Scotland called Dismals. However, I couldn’t find any references for such a place. If you know of such a place I would love to learn more about it so I can visit it when I’m in Scotland.

The Verdict

Dismals Canyon is an easy 1.5-mile hike (walk, really...) through an otherworldly sunken forest. It’s also much cooler than the surrounding area, so it’s an excellent way to cool off and spend some time outdoors with the family. You can easily spend 2-3 hours here, although you could do it a little faster if you wanted to. Parking could be an issue, so I recommend arriving early (they opened at 9:00 AM the Saturday we were there.) The parking spaces are also relatively short and narrow, so you may not want to bring your RAM 3500 (like I did...) if you don’t get there early.

Hiking Alabama Outdoors