Alabama has a large number of very scenic roadways, some of which have been recognized in a variety of ways as scenic byways.

Traveling along Highway 9

Currently, the following roadways in Alabama are actively participating in the state scenic byways program or have been recognized as scenic:

• Appalachian Highlands Scenic Byway
• Barbour County Governor's Trail
• Black Belt Nature and Heritage Trail
• Black Warrior River Scenic Byway
• Leeds Stagecoach Route
• Lookout Mountain Parkway
• Alabama's Coastal Connection

Northern Alabama:

Appalachian Highlands Scenic Byway:

Roadway Classification: Alabama Highway 35, Alabama Highway 273, Alabama Highway 68, U.S. Highway 411, Alabama Highway 9

Start/End Points: Interstate 59 at Fort Payne to Interstate 20 at Heflin

Roadway Length:

Existing Designations: State Scenic Byway (Legislative resolution)

Intrinsic Qualities: Scenic, historic, cultural, natural, recreational, and archaeological

Description: The Appalachian Highlands Scenic Byway encompasses all the intrinsic qualities described above. Its route takes one from Lookout Mountain in the north to the highest peak in Alabama at Cheaha Mountain. Along the route one will find Little River Canyon, Weiss Lake, Cornwall Furnace, the Chief Ladiga Trail, The Talladega Scenic Byway and Cheaha State Park. The byway trasverses an area of diverse beauty from the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi to the highest point in the state. Furthermore, it will serve as a natural corridor between I-59 and I-20.

Alabama’s Stagecoach Route Through Leeds
Road, River, and Cultures Connect Three Alabama Counties at Leeds
Where Alabama’s Appalachian Experience Displays State Treasures
Central Alabama’s longest-lived stagecoach route passes through Leeds as it curves and slopes alongside the Little Cahaba River and nestles between Appalachian foothills. The historic quality of the farms, neighborhoods and the small city is one that promises tourists an authentic view of rich Appalachian Alabama heritage. The Leeds Scenic Byway Steering Committee is delighted to say that Jefferson, Shelby, and St. Clair Counties' officials have joined Leeds and area planning and development boards to support a Scenic Byway designation for Leeds' 119/411 corridor. The route connects these three counties. With an entry onto 119 at Highway 280, the historic scenic corridor through Leeds begins at the Grants Mill Road intersection and travels north until it reaches Highway 411 in St. Clair County. The historic quality of the "farms, neighborhoods, and [city]” surrounded by mountain ridges prompts our committee to ask for designation in an historic category.

Alabama’s Stagecoach Route Through Leeds began as an Indian trail traversing a vast watershed. As a trail, it served as a staging ground for three emerging Alabama cultures. Early Christian Cherokees along with European circuit riders used it to plant Methodist churches. The Christian Indian culture arrived from North Carolina before 1812. Andrew Jackson's scouts (1812-13) widened the trail as they sought roadways for supply wagons. When Europeans, largely veterans of the Creek Indian War, entered the valley in Leeds (1820), the widened trail became a stagecoach route that lay in its original bed when the first black settlers arrived in the late 1880's. Studies by John Garst place the legendary John Henry in Leeds at the Oak Tunnel of the C&W Railroad in the 1880's, and descendants of original Black-American settlers concur with Garst’s conclusion–the Leeds, Alabama, claim that Henry was a real person and that he performed his famous contest with the steam drill in Leeds. Local folklore holds these claims as fact. Subsequent to these early events, the Stagecoach Route in Leeds has changed little and still bears the landmarks of these early cultures. The Leeds Historical Society marked the stagecoach route through Leeds in 1998. Visit the Stagecoach Route's website: http://www.leedsscenicbyway.org

Black Belt Nature Trail.
Black Belt Transformations: Change and Adaptation on the Landscape
Change on the landscape—sometimes slow and subtle, at other times fast-paced and bold—has been a constant in Alabama’s Black Belt region.
Mississippian culture with its imposing mounds seemed timeless and eternal in the years before European contact. Less than two centuries after DeSoto marched into the region, disease destroyed the native population, settlements were abandoned and an age-old culture vanished. Similarly, at the start of the nineteenth century only a few Anglo-Americans lived in the Black Belt where Creeks and Choctaw farmed along the rivers and hunted on the vast prairie. Beginning in 1817, however, “Alabama Fever” gripped Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia as thousands of American yeomen abruptly left their homes to purchase land, work the soil and grow cotton in Black Belt. Within two years, by the end of 1819, Alabama was admitted to the Union, and two decades later the native Indian tribes had been forced west of the Mississippi. Again, in 1861, the population in the Black Belt was overwhelmingly enslaved African Americans. By 1865 it was free.
Other changes were more measured, sometimes almost imperceptible. The decline of cotton as a cash crop happened steadily over the course of at least two generations. Eventually, cattle, pasture land, soybeans, forests and paper mills replaced cotton fields on the landscape. Similarly, the emergence of a new era of racial harmony and equality took decades of painstaking struggle, courageous effort, trial and error.
Change has occurred in a host of different ways in the Black Belt, but one way or another, whether dramatic or barely visible, change—in culture, society and nature--has long been a staple in this decidedly rural and outwardly traditional region.

Black Warrior River Scenic Byway
Primarily, the urban route encircles approximately 12 miles along the Black Warrior River.  Three bridges along the route offer breathtaking views of the river and its riverbanks.  The route spotlights the boundless natural scenic beauty of the Black Warrior River and exhibits historic ruins, structures and markers including the site of the Alabama State Capitol from 1826 until 1847.   Bicycle and pedestrian trails, parks, picnic facilities, fishing piers, boat landings, historic markers, art galleries, and restaurants as well as sites for new development align the route.  Bordering the route are the historic downtown areas of Tuscaloosa and Northport and facilities of academic and athletic renown including the University of Alabama and Stillman College.  Enlightening sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places are in abundance nearby and along the route.  Just a short drive away, the Moundville Archaeological Park is within 15 miles; Lake Lurleen State Park is within 10 miles; the Sipsey River Swamp, one of Alabama’s Natural Wonders and the state’s largest wetland, is within 10 miles as well as renowned museums and an array of cultural opportunities.        

Rich in history, Tuscaloosa was discovered in 1540 by troops of the Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto.  The area was originally home to Native Americans.  The name Tuscaloosa is derived from Choctaw Indian Chief Tuskaloosa which, literally translated, means “Black Warrior.”  Long before white people settled, there was an Indian village near the present site of Tuscaloosa.  The first white settlers came to the area around 1816 and Tuscaloosa and Northport were settled around the Black Warrior River.  Tuscaloosa was incorporated in 1819 and Northport was incorporated in 1871.  A ferry was established soon after the first settlers arrived and the first bridge was built in 1835 to connect Tuscaloosa to the north and west of the river.  Large shoals made it impossible to navigate to the east.  First the ferry and then the bridge made Tuscaloosa the head of navigation for downstream travel to Mobile. 

Today, the Black Warrior remains a very important river to the area and it is an essential link in Alabama’s inland waterway system.  The Black Warrior Basin drains the largest coalfield in Alabama and the Black Warrior River became the primary artery for its export.  For this reason, permanent modification of the Black Warrior River Channel was envisioned and in 1886, the U.S. Army and their Board of Engineers began discussing a system of five locks and dams on a fifteen mile segment.  The construction began in 1888 in Tuscaloosa.  The Black Warrior was the first river in the state to receive such navigational improvements.  New locks and dams that ensure year-round navigation for barge and pleasure boat traffic have replaced the original ones and frequent dredging is required to maintain the navigational depth of nine feet.     

Unquestionably, the Black Warrior River has been central to the history and economy of the area and it is central to future development.  Community leaders are working diligently to showcase this inexhaustible natural asset.  The prospective Tuscaloosa-Northport Black Warrior River Scenic Byway includes twelve miles of existing roadway which boarders the evolving Tuscaloosa Riverwalk and the Northport Riverwalk.  Master Plans for Riverfront development have been adopted by the City of Tuscaloosa and the City of Northport.  Riverfront development plans include an amphitheatre, a convention center and hotels, a welcome center, marinas and boat docks, restaurants, retail shops, parks, pedestrian and bicycle trails, open spaces, picnic areas, pavilions, scenic overlooks, mixed use developments, office parks, residential developments, and office complexes.       

In addition to the historic downtown areas of Tuscaloosa and Northport, the proposed route includes the historic Queen City Bathhouse complex which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Plans are underway to restore and reuse the Bathhouse as a transportation museum .   Also along the route is the future site of the 122 year old Espey Bridge, the oldest iron bridge in Alabama.   It will be moved to the Northport levee system as part of the Northport Riverwalk pedestrian and bicycle trail.  Both projects will utilize Alabama Department of Transportation-Transportation (ALDOT-TE) funds.  To date, three miles of the thirteen mile Tuscaloosa Riverwalk pedestrian and bicycle trail have been constructed and the City of Northport has completed two miles of Riverwalk pedestrian and bicycle trails utilizing ALDOT-TE funds and local funds.        

Lookout Mountain Parkway: Click here for more on the Lookout Mountain Parkway

Roadway Classification: Etowah County Road 89, Cherokee County Road 3, Alabama Highway 176, DeKalb County Road 89

Start/End Point: Noccalula Falls to Mentone, AL

Roadway Length: 50 miles

Existing Designations: State Byway (Legislative Resolution)

Intrinsic Qualities: Scenic and natural

Description: Heavily wooded, scenic, and well-protected.

Southeast Alabama:

Barbour County Governor's Trail:

Roadway Classification: Alabama Highway

Start/End Points: State Highway 51 in Clio, Alabama to Eufaula, Alabama.

Roadway Length: Approximately 55 miles.

Existing Designations: Barbour County Trails, State Legislature Designation

Intrinsic Qualities: Historic and Cultural

Description: The trails begin in Clio, Alabama on Highway 51, the birthplace of George C. Wallace. It continues through Lousiville, which served as the first county seat. It then turns onto Highway 30 in Clayton, Alabama, which goes through the town and later became the county seat. This was the birthplace of the Wallace's professional and political careers. The trail ends along U.S. Highway 431 in Eufuala just short of the Shorter Mansion.

Gulf Coast Alabama:

Alabama’s Coastal Connection
The Waters, Ways and Wildlife of Alabama’s Gulf Coast

Beautiful beaches, shopping, wildlife preserves, historic sites and the freshest seafood you’ll ever put in your mouth are all yours to enjoy on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. Visit the Coastal Connection to take in the natural beauty and experience all there is to see and do here.

Alabama’s southern tip is one of those places where even first-time visitors find a connection. Here, you’ll experience the link between the traditions of the Deep South and a more laid back island lifestyle; between the wildlife of thousands of acres of preserved lands and the good life of a beachfront vacation; between the gun ships of past naval battles and the countless recreational opportunities of the present . . . and the dedication to conservation methods for the future.
Learn more about this exciting byway--click here.

Alabama Scenic Byways | info@alabamabyways.org
c/o Alabama Association of Regional Councils
5900 Carmichael Road| Montgomery, AL 36117| 334.277.2221