Talledega National Forest: Devil’s Den Falls

Last updated: September 27, 2023

In January 2023, I went to Cheaha State Park for the sole purpose of visiting Alabama’s highest point, but it was shut down due to a recent storm. While this was a major disappointment, I still enjoyed other features of the park by visiting Pulpit Rock, Bald Rock Overlook and even explored the neighboring Talledega Forest by hiking to High Falls.

Fast forward to July 2023 and I’m back again, this time with my parents to finally make my way to Alabama’s highest point. While there, I took the opportunity to show them Pulpit Rock and Bald Rock Overlook and we hiked the Leave No Trace Bigfoot Challenge Trail. Afterwards, we headed to Talledega National Forest to hike Devil’s Den Falls!

Devil’s Den Falls is the perfect place to take a dip on a hot summer day. At only a half mile long, the hike in will only take about 20 minutes, and that’s taking your time. There are some steep inclines, some stone stairs, a bridge, and beautiful nature along the way to enjoy.

The shortest path is to take the trailhead from the Lake Chinnabee Recreation Area. To get there, turn right on Highway 281 South and travel approximately half mile. Make the first right on Cheaha Road (County Road 42), traveling West for 4 miles to Lake Chinnabee Recreation Area (Forest Road 646) on the left. After turning left, travel 2 miles to the parking lot.

The path is part of the Chinnabee Silent Trail which is named appropriately as it was created by a group of Boy Scouts from Troop 29, who also were students at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. In the mid-1970s, members of Troop 29 gathered in the woods nearly every weekend for two years to forge the trail, foot by foot for seven miles over rocky ground that climbed 1,500 feet in elevation. Their equipment consisted primarily of pickaxes and hoes. Their basic uniform was T-shirts, shorts or jeans and tennis shoes. The trail was completed in 1976 and officially dedicated the following year with a marker at the trailhead recognizing Troops 29’s accomplishment. Their common bond was their deafness and their determination. That determination has allowed thousands to enjoy almost 50 years of hiking!

This place is susceptible to floods. That red line would have almost been over my head!

While I would love to hike the entire Chinnabee Silent Trail one day (7 miles!), I am thankful that I got to experience at least a half mile of it with my dad. The trail was mostly easy with some incline and I was able to capture some beauty along the way.

The terrain is diverse to say the least. It starts as concrete, then the path turns to dirt, then to rocky with lots of tree roots, then solid large boulders. You’ve also got some stone stairs and a wooden bridge.

Solid stone path… it’s a bit slippery if your trail shoes have worn down!

A unique looking rock (very thin!) that serves as an excellent landmark.

The trail followed Cheaha Creek with the creek on the right. Things were going fine and dandy the first ten minutes of the hike, but then it just got confusing. We continually made our way up and away from the water. We started to see several waterfalls down below and could hear them. We began to constantly guess if we should keep going and weren’t sure which waterfall was THE waterfall. By the time we made it to what we thought was Devil’s Den Falls (there is no sign or marker to confirm arrival), we had to climb down to get a good view. There are no clear paths to go down so I was timid as to whether I should climb down or keep going to find a specific path that would take me down to the waterfalls. I traveled a bit further than I thought I should on the trail and when there were no more waterfalls, I headed back and chose a path that looked as if it could have been a designated path and made my way down.

Disclaimer: It’s very important for me to leave no trace. I do not condone walking off-trail, as this compacts the soil and plants get trampled. Footsteps drift the soil away from the plants, weakening their foundation. The roots lose grip of the soil, impacting the health of the local plant life. So, as you hike, stay on the designated hiking trails to support the preservation of the natural beauty so it can continue to be enjoyed by others for years to come!
I am now stepping down from my soapbox

Now, what I wish I would have known before I started is that Devil’s Den Falls is NOT a single waterfall, but rather a set of waterfalls, one right after another. None of them are magnificent, but seeing 5 right in a row is pretty cool and each of them are unique from the other. Most have a calm pool associated with them that makes for the perfect swimming hole. One thing that was a little annoying is that there was no way to travel along the banks where the waterfalls were. This means I had to climb down, photograph the waterfall, climb back up to the trail, walk 5 minutes and then climb down to see the next one. I’m hindsight, I’m wondering if there is a way to wade through the creek, but I was not prepared to do that.

Here’s some photos to give a visual.

This was taken a few minutes into the trail… you can see the trail is very close to the river.

At this sign, we had to decide to go right or left. Skyway Trail or Adams Gap… this was not helpful to know which way will go to Devil’s Den Falls.. we went left. Should we have gone right? Still not sure…

After crossing the above bridge, I saw the first glimpse of a waterfall… you can see how much we had elevated.

Once we went down these steps, it was only about five more minutes until we were directly above several waterfalls.

Hopefully this explains what caused my confusion with this hike. Maybe this was only confusing for me as I am not a professional hiker (is there such a thing?). 🤷🏻‍♀️ Regardless, I am excited to share that this hike is very special in that I sat down and really dedicated myself to the Time Value (TV) mode on my camera (better known as shutter priority). This means I finally figured out how to make oh-so-dreamy looking waterfalls by softening the water flow. I still have lots of practice to do, but wanted to share my first ever success picture here! 👇🏼

Now enjoy the rest of the waterfalls! Keep in mind that these are all really close together… within 5-10 minutes of walking.

This is a good example of how far up I was on the trail. Outside of climbing down, this is the closest I could get.

Most waterfalls had a calm pool similar to this one that is ideal for swimming! My back is to the waterfall in this photo. Can you see my dad?

Overall, this was a good hike. I really wish there were better signs and markers to help people know they are going the right way and to identify the exact point of Devil’s Den. I want a sign! It would also be helpful to know that it’s not just one waterfall, but a cluster of waterfalls (technically called a multi-step waterfall I believe).

I wish I would have had this blog post before embarking on my journey, so I hope this helps someone who is planning to take this hike! If it did help, please drop a comment below as it would make my day. 😊 Also, if you’ve taken this hike and can shed some light on anything I missed, I’d love to know!

Happy hiking!