Discover the Natural Wonder of Trailhead for Parker Falls

The first half of the trail has lots of fallen trees but we managed to get over, under, or around all of them w/o too much difficulty. Trail is very narrow/overgrown in places. It looks like you're not where you're supposed to be. We almost turned around. Don't panic. There is just the one trail in and back out. I didn't see any random trails that would cause you to veer off and get lost. Stay on the trail and keep moving toward the water. Once you are past the fallen trees and snaky area, it is fairly flat walking until you head down toward the water. It will get steeper and rockier in places. Stay to the right and follow the high trail (past the first waterfall). Not much water action happening at the first falls. Would probably be dry later in the summer so stay on the high trail. It will take you all the way to the falls. There are several small foot paths that take you to the edge overlooking the creek. There seemed to be a lower, middle, and upper trail. Idk how complete the middle trail would be. There were several places where you could go up or down wherever you were. We walked all the way to Parker Falls (on the high trail with rock walls and rock formations to our right). Then we descended to the creekbank (Parker Branch), waded across (upstream from the falls), hiked down on the other side, beside the falls. Rested (its cooler beside the falls), had lunch, made some pictures. Then we followed the creek on one side or the other (however you choose, there could be some rock crawling / scrambling involved. Big rocks were slick!!) back to the first falls. Then climbed back out on the trail and walked back to the car. No cell service, but I could see our location on Google maps. I do recommend hiking poles (for balance climbing over trees and rock hopping) and good hiking shoes. It IS the woods, so snakes (and ticks) are a possibility. We only found one snake and two ticks (ticks most likely from the trees we scooted under because we were very liberal with the bug spray on our shoes/feet/socks/lower legs). Don't follow my husband's example to play with the snakes! Do as I say, not as he does haha ;). 2 miles out, 2 miles back. I briefly thought 2 miles out/back meant one mile in and one mile back out. Nope!! It means 4 miles RT just in case you're wondering. We are fairly seasoned hikers, but I never know, with posted info/reviews, if other people mean the same thing when they say the thing. Prepare for the longer trip. Take drinks, snacks, and breaks as needed.

An eventful 2026 Memorial Day .. early 2026.05.25 morning, seeing a weather window (before the forecast late morning rain), for my first trip to Kinlock Falls, and Parker Falls.i took a route: Mt Hope > [24] > [23] > [303] > Kinlock Rd. Unfortunately for me, though i was driving crawl-speeed of ~10 mph, the "tons" of loose gravel from these unpaved roads were constantly hitting the underbody of my Ford Escape. And after around 7 miles of the unpaved roads, the Escape Splash Guard (somehow) loosened and dropped on to the road 😅. Anyway, after my visit of Kinlock Falls, i went to Parker Falls. After which, for my route back to Huntsville, to avoid going on the afore-mentioned rough roads again, i drove East: to connect to Cranal Rd (which was fully paved) > [33] > Huntsville. Around 07:05 arrived and parked at the Pullout beside Parker Falls access. Did the O&B around 2+ mile. Parker Falls was beautiful. Similarly too for the few Unnamed Falls, and the area around it. methink this place is a must see if i again in the area. And i am thankful for the few minutes of sweet solitude 🤫 Though there's a vehicle packed at the Pullout, i didn't see him when i was on-the-trails. .. arrived and parked at the Pullout beside the CLOSED Access Gate (FS-253 to the Shangri-La Falls TH). i "downclimbed" the wet, slippery sketchy slope (around 500 ft before reaching Shangri-La Falls), i was on all "Fives", hands, legs, and butt-slided .. but the friendly Back-packing Family, the Dad and his children tackled it without any gear 😅 Lovely green woods, sweet birdsongs, a few creek crossings, .. and voila the Shangri-La Falls 👍👍👍 Side-note: collected minimal litter from the Parking and FS-253 .. 🤫 The not too bad is the route from Mt Hope (24) > (23) > (303) > ~1.5 mi of Kinlock Rd (total around 8 miles) was terrible .. loose gravels along ~80% of the drive .. and these loose gravels were having lots of fun hitting my poor Ford Escape undercarriage .. i was crawling along at around 10 mph .. and at around 0.5 mile before reaching Kinlock Falls TH, i was was shocked and surprised, looking from my rear-view mirror that i had somehow ran over a large darkish color object (it sitting in the middle of the road that i had passed a few seconds ago)?? i stopped my Escape .. reversed slowly back towards the darkish color object .. all the while praying that it wasn't an animal .. When i got to it .. i realized that it is the "underside cover" of my Escape Engine Block .. 😂 .. i guess, those gravels hitting my Escape had somehow loosened the "underside cover" .. Anyway, luckily i wasn't on a highway when this "underside cover" drops .. won't be good for any vehicles following my rear .. Anyway, picked-up the "underside cover", and brought it home .. perhaps, will have to get a new underside cover & have it installed?? Any suggestions? Also, to avoid driving on the terrible road condition of (303)-(23)-(24) .. after Parker Falls, i drove Kinlock Rd >Cranal Rd > (33). The short ~0.5 mi of the Kinlock Rd were in v much better condition that that going towards Kinlock Rd .. 😅

The road to the trail is very bad. When we got to where the trail was supposed to start, we decided we didn’t want to go down it. The area looks like a hunting area.

Not a bad hike

Great destination! Enjoyed the open trail and peaceful outdoor atmosphere.