Richard A. Weaver · CC BY-SA 4.0
Little River Canyon, DeSoto & Fort Payne Park

Little River Canyon National Preserve

Climbing · Hiking · PaddlingActivities
Little River Canyon, DeSoto & Fort PayneAL
National Park ServiceManaged by

Little River Canyon National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located on top of Lookout Mountain near Fort Payne, Alabama, and DeSoto State Park. Created by an Act of Congress in 1992, the 15,288-acre (6,187 ha) preserve protects what is sometimes said to be the nation’s longest mountaintop river, the Little River. The canyon was historically called “May’s Gulf”, “gulf” being a common term throughout the Cumberland Plateau for this sort of feature. Prior to being assigned to the National Park Service, the canyon area formed the southmost unit of Alabama’s DeSoto State Park.

Coordinates = Little River Falls (OSM node 2270112076). Canyon Mouth Park hours vary by season. AW’s Little River (AL) sections were not matched in the USA-ALB stub pass — check AW manually.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

A shelf of sandstone forms Little Falls, a popular swimming hole in the summer and a beautiful setting in the fall.
NPS · Public domain
A shelf of sandstone forms Little Falls, a popular swimming hole in the summer and a beautiful setting in the fall.
NPS · Public domain
Canyon Mouth Park features a pavilion and restrooms with running water.
NPS · Public domain
Fee: free (Canyon Mouth Park day-use fee)
Directions Official page at www.nps.gov
Know this place?

Suggest an update for Little River Canyon National Preserve

Parking that moved, a fee that changed, a better photo, a link to the club or guidebook that covers it — anything that helps the next person. An editor reads every note before it goes on the page.

or email us instead

Photos you send must be yours or openly licensed; we print the credit.

On the calendar

Upcoming events here

HikingThu, Nov 5 · 5:30 PM – 12:00 AM

Night Hike

Little River Canyon National Preserve Little River Canyon National Preserve
Nearby

Close to here

Swimming hole0.5 mi

LIRI – Blue Hole

Fishing Hiking Swimming, Diving & Water Sports Little River Canyon, DeSoto & Fort Payne
Waterfall0.6 mi

Little Falls

Hiking Little River Canyon, DeSoto & Fort Payne

Source: American Whitewater, TWRA & TVA · Also listed at nps.gov · OpenStreetMap (ODbL)