Little River Canyon National Preserve

Little River Canyon National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located on top of Lookout Mountain near Fort Payne, Alabama, and DeSoto State Park. Created by an act of Congress in 1992, the nearly 14,000-acre preserve protects what is sometimes said to be the nation’s longest mountaintop river, the Little River. The canyon was historically called “May’s Gulf”, “gulf” being a common term throughout the Cumberland Plateau for this sort of feature. The canyon is sometimes said to be the deepest canyon in the United States east of the Mississippi River. Prior to being assigned to the National Park Service, the canyon area formed the south most unit of Alabama’s DeSoto State Park. The river is said to be among the cleanest and wildest waterways in the South, undammed aside from a small and derelict hydroelectric project at DeSoto Falls on the West Fork near Mentone, Alabama. Sandstone cliffs tower up to 600 feet above the narrow canyon floor, frequently visible from the 23-mile scenic drive known as Little River Canyon Rim Parkway on the canyon’s western rim. (Wikipedia)