DeSoto Falls and Little River Canyon

Desoto Falls State Park

We met our camping buddies, Pam and Keith and their pupper Tess, at DeSoto State Park in (very) northern Alabama on Saturday. This is one of our favorite places to camp. We spent a few nights here last May on our month-long trip to Ohio and back. At that time the mountain laurel was blooming, and it was gorgeous! This year we saw pear, peach, and cherry trees; red bud and dogwood; all in glorious bloom, and it was equally gorgeous. 

This area is home to the largest canyon east of the Mississippi River, the Little River Falls Canyon. In addition, the park is named for the falls on the nearby Desoto River. Sounds like a good place to explore the great outdoors, don't you think?

Our first stop was the Little River Falls Canyon. The drive around the rim included many "peek-outs" with pretty views of the falls, canyon, and early-spring foliage.




Little River Falls with red buds in bloom


 

Along Canyon View Road 

Little River Falls Overlook

We also drove to a park where we could hike out to a small bluff and view Desoto Falls. On the walk back up to the parking area was a series of mosaic tiles set in the stairs' risers. When viewed as a whole, the effect was interesting - a picture of the waterfall was formed by the risers.

DeSoto Falls at the top

DeSoto Falls at the bottom


Fruit Trees

Some of the fruit trees in bloom in this area of Alabama included plum, peach, and cherry.

The ranger said this is Taiwan Cherry.

Peach

Orchard of plum trees

Our final night Keith outdid himself and built a fabulous campfire (with the help of a leaf blower) and we stayed up late and talked until the chill was penetrating our jeans. In other words, about 8:00 pm. Tomorrow we head for Mississippi and a Core of Engineers campground.

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