Hiking in Oak Mountain State Park: Alabama’s Largest State Park

Northern Alabama is loaded with hiking, but what about central Alabama?  Look no further than Oak Mountain State Park for great hiking just outside of Birmingham!

With over 30 miles of hiking trails spread throughout 11,000 acres, you could spend a whole week hiking here. So let’s dive into all the details of Oak Mountain State Park!

Important Links (Map, State Park Website, Link to Camping Article)

Oak Mountain State Park website

Trail Map (PDF)

Camping in Oak Mountain State Park

State Park camping – Make Reservations Here

Campground Map (PDF)

Location

Let’s start with where Oak Mountain State Park is.  This gorgeous state park is just 20 miles south of Birmingham, AL.  As far as other major cities go, Oak Mountain is 2.5 hours southwest of Chattanooga, TN, 2.5 hours west of Atlanta, GA and 3.5 hours east of Jackson, MS.   

Because of its close proximity to the city, Oak Mountain is the perfect place to stay if you want to visit Birmingham for a day.  Or, the park is a great place to escape the city for a day or two.  

Fees

Like all Alabama State Parks, there is an entry fee to enjoy Alabama’s largest state park.  The fee is $5 per adult, $2 for kids (11 and under), $2 for Senior Citizens (62+) and kids 3 and below are free.  Unfortunately, this pass is only good for Oak Mountain, it doesn’t act as a pass for all of Alabama’s state parks.  So you will only have access to the park that you purchased said day pass from.  

If you are camping here, you do not need to buy a day pass to enjoy the state park.  All day use areas are accessible with your camping reservation, you just need to show them your parking tag (provided upon check-in).

Parking 

As you begin your hiking trip to Oak Mountain State Park, you’ll want to get an early start!  There are plenty of parking lots all throughout the park, but with so many popular trails, you’ll want to get parked early as your first trail for the day.  

We parked at the North Trailhead around 3pm for our evening hike and there were only a few parking spots left for us to choose from.

Time to Spend Here

Oak Mountain State Park is Alabama’s largest park.  And with lots of great hiking trails across 11,000+ acres, you have lots of options for how to spend your time here.  Whether it’s hiking or fishing several days in a row, relaxing around a campfire, or enjoying all of the amenities that the park offers, you truly can’t go wrong with the amount of time spent here!

You could take a day trip and hike to the King’s Chair and to Peavine Falls if you just want to see the highlights.  You could go camping here for a weekend if you want some more time to relax and to hike more of the trails.

Or you could stay for longer (4 – 7 days) for a great week spent in the woods.  This would also allow you to explore more aspects of the park and potentially hike all of the trails.  

Which leads me to my next point, if you plan on staying at the campground, here are some facts you’ll want to know about the Oak Mountain State Park Campground.  

Camping 

Oak Mountain State Park has one of the best campgrounds in all of Alabama.  Each loop is gated and requires a gate code to enter.  This gate code will be given to you when you arrive and the codes rotate every so often.  Each loop has tent-only spots as well as paved Full Hook-Up sites for campers.  

Taking a camping trip here is a great way to get out in nature, without having to drive hundreds of miles.  Whether you want to just completely unplug for a few days, or want to hike, bike or fish, you’ll love camping here.

For all the details about camping in Oak Mountain State Park, check out this post.

Hiking – What to Expect!

Alright, back to hiking.  

Oak Mountain State Park has over 30 miles of trails that lead you through the woods of this central Alabama park.  The trails are well marked and easy to follow.  

Besides the wooded sections of the park, there are several lakes that you can hike to and even the stunning Peavine Falls.  Plus there are scenic overlooks all along the Blue Trail where you can have a picturesque place to eat your lunch.  

If you only have time for one hike, I highly recommend starting at the North trailhead and hiking out to King’s Chair Overlook for a view like this. 

List of Trails

With nearly 2 dozen trails of varying lengths, you’ll love the options you have as a hiker.  There are several trails under a half mile, and there are plenty of trails that could keep you hiking most of the day.  

You could also choose your own adventure and combine several trails for a longer trek.  Feel free to refer to this map to plan your route!  But here is a basic list of trail lengths.  

• Red Road Trail – 5.5 miles
• Yellow Trail – 6.8 miles
• White Trail – 6.2 miles
• Green Trail – 2.3 miles
• Blue Trail – 6.7 miles
• Red-White Connector Trail – 0.2 miles
• Red-Blue Connector Trail – 0.5 miles
• Yellow-Red Connector Trail – 0.4 miles
• Yellow-White Connector Trail – 1.1 miles
• Green-Yellow Connector Trail – 0.4 miles
• Green-Yellow Ridge Trail – 0.3 miles
• Eagle’s Nest Overlook – 0.2 miles
• Falls Creek Trail – 0.1 miles
• King’s Chair Overlook – 0.4 miles
• Peavine Falls Trail – 0.2 miles
• Rim Shelter Trail – 0.3 miles
• Treetop Nature Trail – 0.5 miles

Our Trip

We only had enough time to take a half-day trip to Oak Mountain State Park.  We paid our daily fee, parked at the North Trailhead parking lot around 3pm and then hiked out to the King Chair’s Overlook.  

The hike itself was about 4 miles round trip with 700 feet of elevation gain.  You’ll start by hiking with a slight incline for the first 1.3 miles and then the trail is fairly flat until you return with the same amount of descent.  

This overlook was stunning and we enjoyed having an evening snack at the overlook.  There were only a few other people at the overlook when we arrived around 3:45 pm.  

Once we had had our fill of the overlook, we headed back the way we came and drove down to Double Oak Lake and watched the sunset. 

While we were glad we had a half day at Oak Mountain State Park, we definitely recommend taking more time to explore Alabama’s largest park!

Other Attractions in the Park

If hiking isn’t your thing, there are literally dozens of other activities you can do in Oak Mountain State Park.  

First up, if you’re there in the summer, there is the Aquapark.  You can buy an hour-long session on the water inflatables for $20 per person.  Also in this same area, there is a Cable Park, which is also $20 per hour per person (rentals excluded).  And finally, this company also has canoe and kayak rentals for a slower paced water activity.  

If you are looking for something more relaxing, there are 2 sandy beach areas for relaxing around the water.  There is also a high-ranking public golf course called The Oaks Golf Course here.  You can book and schedule a Tee Time here (prices vary).  

And two other notable activities that are available to you are a BMX Track as well as Horseback Riding.  Both of these activities vary in price, but are perfect for the adventurous teen or young adult in your life.  

But if you are there for a cheap and relaxing trip, you’ll enjoy relaxing around your campsite, hiking or biking on the well-marked trails, or fishing one of the lakes in Oak Mountain State Park.   

Conclusion

Oak Mountain State Park is a great place to spend a weekend hiking and camping.  And with close proximity to Birmingham, AL, you won’t have to drive hundreds of miles for a quick weekend getaway.  

There are over 30 miles of hiking trails and if hiking isn’t your thing, there are dozens of other activities for you and your family to enjoy.

As always, feel free to reach out to averagewildexperience@gmail.com if you have any questions.

-Happy Hiking!