The Bottom Line
The authors take you by the hand and personally walk you through Bankhead National Forest. You get beautiful pictures, helpful hiking and camping advice, and a wealth of knowledge about the 180,000 acres of nature in "Alabama's Canyons." Waterfalls, rare wildflowers, and unusual rock formations are featured in the book. Whether you actually end of going to explore the forest or not, you'll feel like you've gone on an adventure and seen the secret beauty of nature after reading this book.
Pros
- Beautifully photographed.
- Helpful advice on exploring the forest.
- Detailed maps of the forest.
Cons
- Book is too big to carry while hiking.
Description
- Bee Branch Canyon--some of the most scenic areas of the wilderness.
- Ship Rock--thin, tall blade of limestone known as the Eye of the Needle.
- Quillian Creek--most beautiful just after a rainfall.
- Caney Creek--sandy beach in the middle of nowhere is great place for a picnic lunch.
- Thompson Creek & Whiteoak Hollow--one of two main springtime wildflower destinations in the forest.
- Borden Creek: house-sized boulders, old-growth trees and springtime wildflowers.
- Kinlock Historic Area--set along Alabama's earliest commissioned roads and requires no hiking.
- Bushy Creek with Sougdaboagee Falls--a destination for paddlers & hikers alike.
- Eagle Creek and Little Ugly Falls--a waterfall bonanza.
- Collier Creek & Shangri-La Falls--beautiful emerald colored water.
Guide Review - Book Review: Alabama's Canyons
Charles Seifried and Jim Felder have combined their talents and love for Bankhead National Forest to give us a superb look at one of nature's masterpieces and unspoiled--in places--wonders. If you're a couch potato like me, then you'll want to let your fingers do the walking through this 124-page beautifully photographed book. It is filled with pictures of waterfalls, creeks, trees, bushes, and wildflowers in different seasons in the forest. I was unaware that we had such beauty so close to us here in North Alabama--50 miles from Huntsville. It inspires me to want to put on some hiking books and become a nature sightseer myself!
Seifried and Felder have done us all a great favor by sharing the personal knowledge of Bankhead National Forest that can only be learned through years and years of exploring and returning again and again. This book not only photographs the marvelous works of nature, but it is filled with detailed maps, tidbits of advice on camping, hiking, and navigating, plus information on the forest's history and unusual features.
Award winning photographer Charles Seifried's work is also featured in Through the Garden Gate.
"Alabama's Canyons" can be purchased through the publisher's website or at Shaver's Bookstore (256.536.1604) at 2362 Whitesburg Drive in Huntsville.
