Oak Mountain State Park

This place was amazing! Beautiful views and me and my daughters first time hiking. You have to pay to enter the park. And maps were a $1. Walked a trail and also visited the treetop area with the injured owls that were taken in. Very interesting visit. Would definitely go again.

Oak mountain State Park is really a lot of fun for hiking and biking. I did not go to the beach area but I did see people filling their cars with kids and swimsuits and some kayaks on the water that I did pass. I was really impressed with the campground: I had a site that had electric, water and sewer. They have very good washers and dryers. Very good shower and toilet facilities, and very friendly staff. I was camping but I also see that they have cottages for rent that look very nice... They have so much to offer. I would say that you should go to the Alabama State Park website so that you can see everything. Sweet home Alabama 🎵

We had a fantastic time at Oak Mountain State Park! The changes made in the last few years have been amazing. The bath houses are great, the lots are large, and there is so much to do!

Great potential if they fix a few things. 1. Parking lot at the lake has huge gaps created by drainage. Please be careful and don’t you or your vehicle fall into one. 2. Certain groups may rent the pavilion and then spread out on to the beach like they own the place, blocking others from walking along the waterfront. You rented the pavilion, NOT the beach. We’ve seen this happen twice, and others recommend doing this on social media. 3. The $5 a person entrance fee (or even the annual membership) can be expensive for middle class local families, especially with repeated trips in the summer. There should be a discount for residents supported by state or county funds. 4. The young clerk at the gate was not aware of any electric bicycle limitations in the park, and the website is vague as well. This has created an anarchic situation where certain analog bikers feel empowered to stop electric bike riders on certain trails and interrogate them. It’s only a matter of time before this situation ends badly for the inquisitors. Let’s fix these issues and Make Oak Mountain Great Again!

Wow...This place is amazing. Largest state park I've seen in any state to date. Lots to do here and there is something for everyone in the family. Golfing, horseback riding, archery, biking & mountain biking, scenic drives, fishing, hiking, water falls, beaches with floating obstacle course, wake boarding on a wire, swimming, play grounds, picnic areas, accessible trails, etc. I also camped here for the weekend in the RV park area. Spacious camping spaces with pull throughs and full hookups. There is a heavy state park trooper presence here, so quiet hours are strictly observed and departure and arrival times are pretty firm. Town is fairly close and you can be to the grocery store, ice cream, coffee, etc. within ten minutes. Target and Walmart are a little further out, but are within a 20-30 minute ride. Camping World and the RV Super Store are within a 30-40 minute ride. Downtown Birmingham is also within 30-40 minute ride. Lots of antique shops in the area with some pretty cool stuff and lots of good finds.

Small $5 entrance fee plus $1 paper map. Park fee attendants were very nice and chatty (sorry I didn't stop back by but I was heading north lol). I chose to do the Blue trail, which most trails start at the North Trailhead which is just past the first lake, parking on the right. Huge lot, trails are across the road, all are marked well and have 1/4 mile marker posts, which I found helpful - you cover ground quicker than you think! I had to visit King's Chair for a few nice valley views (seen grey lizard here - Eastern fence I believe it's called). The harder part of the trail I'd say is the first 2 miles, typical hillside trail, good bit of upward but after 2 miles it's def easier and more gently rolling, more earth and less rock. About 7 total miles to Peavine Falls one way, short but pretty steep and rocky trail down to the creek falls, and back up the other side is a fun scramble. Falls are small but very pretty, small pool at the base, you can get right up on it if you wish, but you'll get your feet wet. To save time I opted to take Red Trail back, an old service road turned trail. To reach it I first found the Green trail, then red connector. Green trailhead is a lil hidden. Towards the back right of Peavine Falls parking lot - you reach the lot after the scramble on the other side of the falls, walk on a wide path up to the lot, felt like a quarter mile - the trailhead is a bit obscured. Glorified outhouse at the parking lot too, thankfully, but hold your nose. While on Red trail I realized I was on the CCC trail and not a road - CCC will run parallel to the road trail for a short ways and you can see it on your right, I walked up a lil bank but there is a path to it eventually. Red road trail is obviously an old road, gentle hill, no great views, but it is quiet and you'll see and cross several stream areas, which you can jump across or bridge. 5 miles to main trailhead, I completed about 13 total and really wish I had time to explore more of the park.

Where do I begin? This place is awesome! There are so many possibilities that you can partake in ,no matter what age you are! My most recent visit was my first visit after 10 years of not visiting. So I wasn’t as familiar with the areas, updates, and activities available, but it did not matter at all. April 15th was my “middle” son’s 12th birthday and he couldn’t decide what he wanted to do, however after showing him an informational video about Oak Mountain State Park he immediately made his decision to visit there. The first thing he wanted to do was fish and the second was to find this “waterfall” he saw while watching the video. So off we went , only equipped with 2 poles, 1 tackle box and worms, water, a change of boots for exploring, and a fishing license. As soon as we arrived at the side , I believe day pass gate, we were greeted with a helpful friendly face at the booth you pay at. He could have just said that’ll be $7 and sent us on our way, but instead he was warm, conversational, and gave us many tips on where to go fish depending on what my son was wanting to fish for. He was extremely kind and began our visit on a very inviting note. We fished at the oldest lake first, hoping to snag one of the 7-10lb bass that swim there. No luck, but that was ok. We then ventured to the lake by the damn that is known for smaller fish, but gave us a chance at a higher quantity caught. It was very nice with shaded areas on the side bank and sunny areas next to the road. We didn’t end up having much luck with the fish that day , but we were satisfied regardless. Everything is easy to find when you want to fish. The next time we go we will go on a weekend so that we can rent a peddler boat or try a kayak or paddle board. They are available to rent on Saturday and Sundays. After hours of him fishing and me half fishing half laying out on the pier next to the beach area, we headed out to explore. Explore we did, apparently I set a record number of miles my iPhone had ever recorded me walking! 8 miles to be exact. We hiked several trails and learned some lessons on what to do and not to do for next time. Also, making sure your phone is charged , you have bug spray, you don’t wait til 2 hours before dark to go down trails you aren’t familiar with, etc. You know, rookie /lack of common sense mistakes…bc duh! Anyhow, our 2nd hike /exploration had a mission. We were going to find this mysterious “waterfall” he saw in the video. Yes, we found it. We also found that we shouldn’t have already hiked 4 miles before trying to trek up and down this particular trail. It was very steep and difficult for us being novices in these types of activities, and we weren’t really prepared for the terrain we encountered, but pushed thru because he really really wanted to this this hidden gem of a waterfall! It was beautiful and worth the bruises I received trying to get down to it. He smiled so much while there, skipping rocks and walking around in the water at the bottom of the fall in complete awe. The journey back up…we’ll honestly had a difficulty level well above what my body was ready for. But he loved it. I mean absolutely loved all the climbing and the unknowns. We even saw an actual “dung” beetle hard at work! We also stopped at the look out and took in the view. We didn’t do 5% of what the park offers and had a blast. Take your family and explore! Figure out what you do and don’t like. And go from there.

Oak mountain is a great place to get away from the city. It has options for serene kayaking, hiking and mountain bike riding. It’s alabamas largest park and they keep adding land and making improvements.