Hike in the Cheaha Wilderness

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, my wife Jamie and I were brainstorming about a place for a day hike.  If you don’t know us, “Off the Beaten Path” is where we’re always headed.  We decided to check out the Cheaha Mountain area because we haven’t spent a lot of time there.  After a few looks at Facebook hiking groups and our friend Google, we decided to go search out McDill Point.   It’s in the Cheaha Wilderness next to the Cheaha State Park; both having the highest points in the state with incredible views.   We found the trail head which is also the beginning point for the Pinhoti Trail.  If you stay on this trail, you can walk 335 miles to Springer Mountain in Georgia which is the start of the Appalachian Trail.  Lucky for us, it was just over 2 miles to McDill Point.

As we hiked, we passed Hernandez Peak.  Along the way we saw several rock outcroppings and with the leaves gone we could see for miles.  The trail was rugged but still fairly easy because there was not a lot of change in elevation.  With a moderate pace the round trip took us about 3 hours.  To finish up we ate a late lunch at the restaurant in the state park which was an experience in itself.  The food was good and the views were worth the trip.  It was built with limestone rock from the area in 1973.  Interestingly, most of the park was constructed in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corp and is the oldest state park in Alabama.  We’ll definitely make a return trip to hike further and see the fall foliage.  Hope you enjoy the photos.