The Cherokee Rock Village

Photo by me, September 2008.

The geology of northeastern Alabama plays out in a system of low ridges and valleys for miles and miles. The landscape still mostly rural is beautiful. If you've never spent any time in northeastern Alabama then you would be surprised at how scenic it is with waterfalls, lakes, rivers, overlooks and winding trails. Once such scenic spot is the Cherokee Rock Village above Leesburg in Cherokee County.

Photo by me, September 2008.

Photo by me, September 2008.

Photo by me, September 2008.

Imagine boulders the size of houses perched at the end of a long ridge overlooking a valley and large lake. Some of the rock outcroppings reach as high as 200 feet above the ground and date back as far as 300 million years. This is an ancient place and what you see today are the remains of the exposed rock that have been eroded for millions of years. These rocks date back to when California was underwater and they preceded the dinosaurs by over 200 million years.

Photo by me, September 2008.

It can be a tight squeeze in places in the labyrinth of rocks. Photo by me, September 2008.

It is a unique landscape walking through the boulders. Photo by me, February 2008.

The Creek and Cherokee Indian tribes had settled in this area and considered these towering boulders a spiritual and ceremonial site. They populated this terrain until the 1830s when they were removed in the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. Ironically during this time the state of Alabama created Cherokee County in honor of the Cherokee tribe in 1836 where the rock village is located.

In the distance a person is rock climbing. Photo by me, September 2008.

Another rock climber. Photo by me, September 2008.

Rock climber. Photo by me, September 2008.

European settlers began to move in, the American Civil War came through and in the 20th century the property came under the ownership of the Georgia Kraft timber company. Long discovered by rock climbers from the around the south a push began in the early 1970s to turn the area into a park. The area around the boulders was gifted to the county by the Nature Conservancy which had purchased the land in 1974 and an access road was cut to the top.

Unfortunately, vandalism was a common sight. Photo by me, September 2008.

People with no respect for nature. Photo by me, September 2008.

For decades the area was free and open to the public with little to no management from the county. You could camp anywhere, have open fires, climb, hike and do as you pleased unregulated. Unfortunately, this meant that vandals with no respect for nature and history had been spray painting on the rocks and trash was a common problem.
 

The construction of the gate house. Photo by me, November 2011.

 By 2011 Cherokee County began to control access to the site by instituting restrictions, building an entrance gate house and charging a fee to enter. You can still camp, hike and climb to your heart's content but the area is more closely monitored than before which in most ways is good to help preserve and protect this natural resource. Also a picnic pavilion, restrooms and a playground have been built.

Weiss Lake as seen from one of the boulders. Photo by me, September 2008.

Along with the maze of enormous boulders to wander between there are some great views to the east from the top of the ridge which makes for an incredible sunrise. You can also see the surrounding countryside and Weiss Lake down below. In 1958 the Coosa River was dammed by Alabama Power at Leesburg and Weiss Lake was formed. Land that once produced cotton and even contained a former cemetery became a 30,000 acre lake.

This one reminded me of an ancient ruined temple. Photo by me, September 2008.

 Today there are several miles of hiking trails that are being expanded in the park. One trail leads from the top of the ridge to the bottom. It features a challenging drop over a thousand feet in elevation over a very short distance. Come prepared with plenty of time and fluids if you plan on tackling it in the summer.

Photo by me, February 2008.

Photo by me, September 2008.

With the enormous popularity and thriving tourist industry of the mountains in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina; the northeastern part of Alabama is a nice little secret in the Southeast that has not been over exploited. Cherokee Rock Village is just part of the list of natural beauty in this part of the state from Little River Canyon National Preserve, DeSoto State Park, Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge and the Pinhoti Trail.