Lookout Mountain Parkway Day Trip: Gadsden to Mentone, Stop by Stop

Worth a full day, and it rewards a schedule. Four waterfalls, an 11-mile canyon rim, and a mountain town fit between 9 AM and dusk if you drive them in the right order. The trick is that order: see Noccalula first, hit Little River Canyon from its north end, and finish at DeSoto Falls and Mentone before the light goes.

Our Lookout Mountain Parkway road trip covers why the drive earns its reputation. This page is the clock.

Who it’s for, and who should skip it

• Waterfall chasers with a winter or spring weekend after a good rain.
• Leaf-peepers aiming at late October or early November.
• Families who want short walks with big payoffs.
• Day-trippers from Birmingham, Huntsville, Chattanooga, or Atlanta.

Skip it in a dry late summer unless you’re happy with canyon views and trickling falls. Skip the rim drive in an RV or with a trailer; NPS doesn’t recommend either on it.

The plan, stop by stop

9:00 AM. Noccalula Falls Park, Gadsden. The parkway starts here. Black Creek drops 90 feet into its gorge, and the paid side’s Gorge Trail takes you down and behind the falling water, the easiest route to the bottom. Adult admission is $10, hours are 9 AM to 5 PM, and the 2026 season runs February 16 to October 31. Give it an hour.

10:15 AM. Drive to Little River Falls, about 44 miles, roughly an hour. Park at the falls off AL 35, where Little River Canyon starts with a 45-foot waterfall. A short boardwalk leads down to the view, and it’s free. Stay 50 feet back from the edge; that’s the law here, and people have died going over in high water. The Jacksonville State University Little River Canyon Center sits a boardwalk walk away, open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM, with maps and restrooms.

11:30 AM. Little River Canyon Rim Parkway (AL 176). Drive the 11-mile rim south to Eberhart Point, past 8 overlooks, then turn around. Watch for Mushroom Rock, and stop at Grace’s High Falls Overlook: at 133 feet, NPS calls it the tallest above-ground waterfall in Alabama, though it pours from across the canyon and usually stops in summer. Pack lunch; NPS points to picnic tables along the drive.

1:30 PM. DeSoto State Park, about 10 miles north. The main area has no gate and no entrance fee. Stretch your legs on the park’s trails, open dawn to dusk.

3:00 PM. DeSoto Falls, 7 miles from the main park. The West Fork drops about 104 feet. Pay the $5 per-vehicle parking fee, then walk down 50 concrete stairs to the overlook. The upper falls and the historic A. A. Miller Dam are accessible to all.

4:00 PM. Mentone, about 3 miles north. Wander the town on the brow of the mountain. Alice Mason named it in 1884 after Menton, France, and it grew as a summer resort around mineral springs, later adding a long summer-camp tradition. The drive back to Gadsden runs about 50 miles, roughly an hour.

The Move

Run Little River Canyon north to south, as an out-and-back. NPS calls Little River Falls the first stop when you enter from the north, and the rim drive ends at Eberhart Point, where it leaves the preserve. Starting at the falls means you see the river before the canyon it carved, then the overlooks in order. Beyond Eberhart Point, the county road down to Canyon Mouth Park gets steep, with loose gravel on sharp turns, and Canyon Mouth is the one part of the preserve that charges $15 a vehicle. Turn around instead.

The honest catch

Water and leaves rarely peak together. Every falls on this route is rain-fed. Noccalula’s park says late summer and fall can leave only a trickle, NPS says Little River runs shallow in summer and fall, and Alabama State Parks says DeSoto Falls can go dry. Peak color, per NPS, usually lands in late October and early November, when the falls tend to run low. Pick one: water in winter and spring, color in fall.

The calendar adds two more catches. Noccalula’s regular season ends October 31, right as color peaks, so a November trip may lose stop one. And in August, the World’s Longest Yard Sale lines the parkway with more than 5,000 vendors, per the Lookout Mountain Parkway Association. Drive another weekend.

Logistics

• Total driving: about 135 miles from Gadsden and back, including the rim out-and-back.
• Fees: Noccalula $10 adult; DeSoto Falls $5 per vehicle; rim drive, Little River Falls, and DeSoto State Park main area free.
• Hours: DeSoto Falls Picnic Area closes at dusk. Little River Falls closes after dark.
• Parking: DeSoto Falls fills on weekends with no overflow or roadside parking. Arrive before midday on Saturdays.
• Signal: Alabama State Parks warns that cell service and GPS are unreliable near DeSoto Falls. Download maps first.

Make a weekend of it

Read the full Gadsden to Mentone pick for the Bucket Rating. With a second day, head south for Mount Cheaha, the top of Alabama, and the Talladega National Forest scenic byway. The Alabama state hub maps every pick by region.

If the parkway hooks you, Kick the Bucket List: Alabama carries 120 picks, each with a blunt rating.

Verified Oct 2026 against NPS (Little River Canyon), Alabama State Parks, Noccalula Falls Park, the Town of Mentone, and the Lookout Mountain Parkway Association.