Canyon Mouth Park is located at the southern end of Little River Canyon and is part of Little River Canyon National Preserve. The park hosts the Preserve’s largest picnic area, a soccer field, and a playground. It is also the starting point for the most scenic and easiest hike in the Preserve, the Canyon Mouth Trail.
Canyon Mouth Park opens daily at 8 AM, but closing times vary per season. It is open until 7 PM in the summer, 6 PM in the spring and fall, and 5 PM in the winter. The gates are locked promptly at closing time, and any cars remaining in the parking lot will be ticketed and / or towed, and may possibly be locked in for the night. Operating hours can always change, so before making travel plans, be sure to check the National Park Service’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page for Little River Canyon National Preserve.
There is a fee to enter Canyon Mouth Park, and this is paid using a machine at the entrance or at the pay station (only staffed during peck season). As of 2023, the current day-use fee is $15. The machine takes National Park Annual Passes, Little River Canyon National Preserve yearly passes, credit cards, and cash (no bills larger than $20). The machine does not give change, so be sure you have the correct amount if using cash. You will be issued a pass that you must place on the dashboard of your vehicle. Prices can always change, so before heading to the park be sure to check the National Park Service’s official Fees and Passes web page for the current prices.
The park has picnic tables and grills, restrooms, a water fountain, a pavilion, a playground, and a soccer field. The pavilion can be reserved in advance, but all other facilities are taken on a first come, first served basis. Call (256) 845-9605 to inquire about reserving the pavilion.
Canyon Mouth Park is the only place in Little River Canyon National Preserve where you can access the river without difficulty. Getting to the river everywhere else in the Canyon Area of the park (the lower section below Little River Falls) requires strenuous hiking down the side of the canyon. The Wildlife Management Area, the section above the falls, is much flatter, but you need a high-clearance vehicle to make it over the rutted dirt roads. Canyon Mouth Park marks the end of the canyon, and by this point the cliffs have tapered away and the rapids have calmed. You can wade into the river just as easily as a swimming pool. Keep in mind that the summer, when people want to swim and picnic, is the dry season, so if there is water in the river at all, most likely it will be very low. The photos on this page were taken in the winter, the wettest season in Alabama.
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Last updated on April 24, 2023