Talladega National Forest, Alabama

The Talladega District of the Talladega National Forest is a great place to ride a dual-sport and camp. Many camping opportunities can be found here without having to leave the national forest. There is the Chinnabee Recreation Area, Turnipseed Campground and Cheaha State Park.

The Talladega District is located at the southern edge of the Appalachian Mountains. Among the rugged mountains and hills you can find numerous rivers, streams and waterfalls. And lets not forget the abundance of dirt roads that can be found here.



This red dirt road looks like it belongs in Louisiana



644 has some nice views

Mountains in the distance

A badly paved forest road

There are places that I’ve been to in other states that had some good dirt roads, but here all the roads seemed good. We rode all day and we found no bad roads. Each road had it’s unique characteristics and scenery, so it's not like they were all the same. Some had tighter corners, some had larger and steeper hills, some were wider, some narrower.

This one was so nice, Mike rode it twice

A slow moving creek by the road

Motorcycle crossing

This was a pretty big hill

The amazing thing was, we didn’t get lost, we didn’t have any roads come to a dead end where we’d have to turn around. We did absolutely no research either, we just picked a forest road and started riding, then took another road and another road, looking at the GPS creating a big loop that would take us back to the campsite at the end of the ride.

Very nice hi-speed twisties

Cheaha State Park, Alabama

Well, we’re back from out trip down south, back at work and back to the sub zero temps of Chicagoland. Now it’s time to reflect. Even though I already posted about camping at the Cheaha State Park and riding in the Talladega National Forest, I feel that more needs to be said since it was really the highlight of our trip.




Cheaha State Park (red arrow) is located in the Talladega National Forest

With this post I’d like to give you more information about the park and give you a detailed tour of the primitive campsite where we camped. The Primitive camp site is such an amazing place to camp, especially if you are there to ride the many forest roads on your dual sport.











The primitive campground holds so much natural beauty

The highest point in Alabama is located at the Cheaha State Park. The Cheaha Mountain raises 2,407 feet above sea level. These are the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. 281 is a twisty road that travels this area. The road drops about 1,200 vertical feet from the top of Cheaha Mountain to Cheaha Lake. It’s a good and twisty ride, with many nice views.



The twisty 281

Cheaha Road

According to the Cheaha State park website, there are 5 campgrounds here. The Mountain Top Campground with full hook-ups, this is the main campground. There are also cabins there, a hotel and a restaurant, all belonging to the Cheaha State Park.

Cheaha Lake's mirror like reflection

The Cheaha Lake campground is 3 miles down the mountain and also has full hookups. Then there are two semi-primitive camp sites for tents on the mountain, one is the Picnic Trail campground and the other is the Bunker Loop Campground. Those staying there can utilize the facilities at the Mountain Top Campground. Lastly, there is a primitive campsite also near the Cheaha Lake. This campground has no bathrooms or water, but one can drive a short distance and use the facilities at the Cheaha Lake Campground.

Cheaha State Park Registration office and store

The Mountain Top area has a gate, and the fee was $1 to enter the recreation day area. Located beyond the gate is a restaurant, cabins, motel and the campgrounds. Before you get to the gate, on 281 is the registration office and store. This is truly a resort state park, with all the amenities. We drove the recreational day area at night, so we just saw the numerous buildings, all were very nice.

Primitive campground entrance

Cheaha State Park is Alabama's oldest and continuously operating State Park, which opened in 1939. In its early years, the state park had stone cabins, a stone bath house, stone pavilions and the man made Cheaha Lake. The lake still exists today. The stone buildings, what remains of them today, are in ruins. You can see some of the ruins at the primitive campsite where we stayed.

Ruins at the primitive campground

I wonder what there used to be

They look like graves

In the 1970’s the hotel, restaurant and chalets were built. Renovations continue periodically, and today high-speed internet service is available at the restaurant and hotel.

A room with a view

A cozy living room with a fireplace

For $11 per day, we stayed at the primitive camp site. Since we had stayed at others parks for $12, and those were full service camp sites, the $11 seemed steep. But when you consider the setting of the campground, and the views, it’s actually a small price to pay to be able to enjoy such beauty. Of course, at the end of December we were alone at the campground, which made it even more appealing to us.

So many dirt roads at the primitive campground

After we were done riding for the day and we returned to the campground, I was compelled to ride through the entire campground, wanting to see where all the paths would take me.

Driving home: Alabama to Illinois

Time to go home. We were up just before sun up. The tent was apart in mere minutes, the re-packing of the truck took a little longer. Less than an hour later we were on the road.



Packing up camp

281 was all ours, we only saw a couple of cars going the other way. 431 was another nice and curvy road, we took this one to the interstate





Views from 281

We wanted breakfast but figured many places would be closed new years day so we waited until we got closer to Birmingham to stop at a McDonalds to eat.







Driving the many curves of 281

431 another nice road with twisties

A cold and sunny day in Birmingham, AL

It was a cold and windy morning and it was supposed to stay cold and windy all day. We continued on the interstate heading north, the traffic wasn’t bad and by our calculations, we were looking to be back in Chicagoland by 9PM.

A big rocket near I-65 somewhere between Birmingham and Nashville

Nice scenery along I-65

New Years Day ride in Nashville, TN

A really cool bridge

We had some snacks in the car for lunch, but by dinner time, we were looking to see what fast food places were open off the interstate, hoping for something healthy to eat like Subway. But the few exits we took, nothing as open. We finally gave up and stopped at a Taco Bell.

The winds kept picking up as we headed further north and by the time we reached Tennessee there were snow flurries floating about. We knew that Chicago was getting snow today but we were hoping that it wouldn’t delay us too much. I had to be at work tomorrow morning, so we had to make it home tonight.

Snow getting worst in Southern Illinois

But the weather was not cooperating. The further north we went the worst it got. About 120 miles from Chicago it was snowing bad. It was very cold. 30-40MPH wind gusts were blowing so much snow across the road, not only was it hard to see the road but the wind was also trying to push us off of it. The driving in these conditions was not fun, towing a trailer.

After sliding on some ice and freaking out, we decided to take a break at another McDonalds. The weather channel was on inside and many people were watching TV. The place was packed.

McDonalds parking lot, 100 miles from Chicago on I-57

Driving in these conditions was very dangerous. The biggest danger wasn’t our driving skills or the road condition, we were as careful as we could be, driving 15-20MPH under speed limit. It was all the other vehicles. Some trucks were still going 65MPH, passing us way too close for our comfort. We counted at least 40 cars in ditches that slid off the road.

Some people that stopped in at the McDonalds that were driving from Chicago on I-57 said that once we got past Kankakee the road conditions would improve. We were not that far from Kankakee. It was time to get going again. The snow stopped falling from the sky but the winds continued to blow the snow across the road, at times you couldn’t see anything. It was slow going, other vehicles continued passing us at a higher speed and we continued seeing many more cars in ditches. But we got past Kankakee and the roads did get better, the wind wasn’t blowing as hard either. The driving conditions got better and better as we got closer to Chicago.

Back home

After what seemed like a long day, we arrived at the house a bit after midnight. Our trip had come to an end.