Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge

I love this place. The dirt road parallels the river for about a mile. There are swimming holes & great opportunities for fishing. The cahaba lilies are gorgeous in the spring.

We went when the Cahaba Lilly is in bloom and it was absolutely gorgeous. Some areas are slippery but it was easy to find a good path. There is a small beachy area with a rope swing. There are no public restrooms and the road in is unpaved, so go slowly. Highly recommend coming here.

Been coming here since I was a little kid! The absolute BEST place to swim and take the kids! It even has an all natural beachfront and a cave you can swim to!!

Wild and beautiful any time if year, but between roughly Mother’s Day and Father’s day every year the beautiful and rare Cahaba lilies bloom in the shoals of the Cahaba River. Put it on your bucket list to visit. Wading and swimming in the clean cool water is a fun activity for all but the rocks are slippery and water swift where the lilies bloom so it is a good idea to bring a hiking pole.

The lilies are beautiful! Be careful walking out to them. Some of the rocks are slippery. There is also a small beach area you can swim at.

Had a great time with my boyfriend. Got out of the rat race and back to nature. I could breath again. Took lots of pics and videos to share. These pics are of a small stream we found. These are not of the Cahaba River itself.

It is an absolutely beautiful spot to stop by, and worth the drive to see the gorgeous Cahaba Lilies. The beach along the river is also a great picnic spot.

Beautiful and peaceful! Lilies bloom typically between Mother's Day and Father's Day of each year.

Absolutely wonderful to have a long stretch of the Cahaba River open for public access. Avoid weekends during the bloom of the Cahaba Lilly.

From I-20/59 take Exit 97. Go south on US Highway 11 for a few miles. At the AL Highway 5 intersection turn south. Signed for Cahaba NWR. At the Bibb County Road 24 intersection turn East. Stay on Bibb 24 for about 5.2 miles. You'll see the NWR sign on the south side of the highway. Look for a gravel road just past it, signed as the trailhead. Park or drive along the gravel road, in several spots. Goes back a few miles. There's another hiking trail across the river. See the trail map for location.

The Cahaba lillies are a rare gem! These beauties will only grow here. They bloom between Mother's Day and Father's Day each year. Wear your camera, water shoes, swimsuit, and a picnic. You can wade out to see the lillies up close, swim, or even canoe or kayak. It is easy to have the perfect day here!

Very pretty! We got there before all the crowds came and walked out to the flowers! Definitely will be back!

Beautiful location with great scenery of the Cahaba River. A good place for the family to spend the day.

This is an awesome place to go and hangout. Me and my friends go here to swim and fish a lot. This is a great place to put in kayaks/canoes as well as a pull out. You can go from the old slab to here and it's a pretty long trip especially if you are fishing and then you can go from here to Piper which has a nice public gravel lot you can park at and that trip has a 3 foot drop and really good fishing. It takes 6-8 hours depending on how fast your going. Fishing from the beginning of the wildlife refuge to the end of the road is good too and you can so it in like two hours. Lots of gar fish and turtles and other wildlife along this area. If you get a gar just be careful of his teeth! They will slice your skin right up.

Beautiful place especially when the Cahaba Lilies are in bloom!

My friends and I decided to visit the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge on Memorial Day. Trip was definitely worth the drive! We started by hiking the Piper trail to a cool lookout. The trail was not too rigorous and only took us about an hour to complete (down and back). We then made our way to the Cahaba river to eat lunch/hang out on the banks. The only two complaints I have are the refuge's signage isn't the best and parking by the river was hectic. Overall: Great spot for a day trip.

We went to see the Cahaba lillies while they are in bloom, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well maintained the gravel road following the river was. The roads are well marked with signs to fond the entrance all the way from the interstate.
It is a small trail, but there are plenty of places made for vehicles to pass. You could easily take a small car there without bottoming out or getting it muddy.
There are places made to walk from the road to good photography spots all along the river, and a few small sandy areas you can swim or fish from.

Well there is a good bet to do there like we went hiking through the trial's and it was very beautiful, exciting and hot...
But now I know it was wonderful there's a lot of wildlife would be seen it really wasn't that crowded I thought there'd be more people than what it was when you had so much about a picnic take the dog with us they pet friendly...
But I will be going back here shortly and I'll take some photos and post them...
I think that anybody likes to hike right bicycles go boating just like to get away and busting bus should go there I really think you enjoy it very beautiful !!...

This is a beautiful and exemplary piece of Alabama forest. The Cahaba runs right through the middle and provides opportunities for kayaking/canoeing, fishing, hiking and wildlife observation. This is a very quiet and peaceful place, at least during the colder months. During the summer we (and a lot of other kids) would drive out there to swim and grill and stuff. The road is pretty rough but I recently drove it in a buick century so I wouldn't say any part of it is inaccessible. Great place and important part of my life.

Scenic location doing the Cahaba River where you can find stands of Cahaba lilies during mid May. There are good places to set up camping chairs along the river bank for a little daytime picnic. Overnight camping is not permitted here. You can run this section of the Cahaba River in your kayaks or canoe after good bit of rain but other times you may have to drag your kayaks since the water isn't more than knee deep along this quarter mile stretch.