Rush Creek Adventure

A Waterfall on an unnamed stream.

Today's adventure took Robert and I too Rush Creek on the Black Warrior Side of Bankhead. We Parked the car off of Mt Olive Road(FS Road 245). There is a small parking area just after you cross over Rush Creek bridge. The day started out on the cold side(35 degrees),but we quickly warmed up as we started the hiking, bushwhacking, and climbing. After spending a few moments gearing up and deciding which way we wanted to go. we crossed the bridge and headed upstream on the left hand bank. The walking was easy through here as you are walking on an old road bed. It wasn't long before we came upon the first major feeder stream on this side.

Turning up the stream we could see right away the walking wasn't going to be easy anymore. The Canyon walls are high with quite a few rock shelters in them. Unlike Quillan or Parker Canyons the hardwoods rein supreme with a few hemlocks and touch of Mountain Laural thrown in. As we worked our way up, the walking changed from bushwhacking our way through vines, low tree branches, and thorns to climbing up, over and around, massive boulders. My knees and ankles are never going to forgive me. All the while, the stream twists and turns so there is a fair amount of puddle jumping added in. It wasn't too long and we came to the junction were the stream splits. At this point we are on the wrong side of the stream to go to the right so we went left. The first waterfall of the day was just around the corner.( pictured above). Needing a break we stopped at this waterfall had a snack gathered our strength for the huge boulders that lay ahead. Along the way we scared seven or eight hogs. That is the closest we have ever seen hogs.

Robert and I spent another hour or so exploring the area before we decided to work our way back down to the split. The second stream was much like the first only there were signs that other people had been there. Some of the trees around a waterfall were marked with survey tape. I guess we spent another hour or so exploring and photographing the area. We saw some interesting small falls in creek as the water flowed under, over, and around the boulders, but they were just imposable to shoot.

Noting that sun was starting to slip behind the canyon wall. With sore knees and ankles, I made a quick check of the map and GPS to see how far from the road we were. Luck was with us we were about a mile from the road. Knowing what was behind us and what was in front of us looked relatively flat. We made the choice to bushwhack on out to the road. Other than on two tiny waterfalls, we had no problems on the way up and out. The road walk back to the car was about 0.05 miles which was much better than working our way back down the boulder fields.

In Sumery:
About 5 miles hiked
5 to 10 small waterfalls seen
1 possable still sight seen
scared 7 or 8 hogs

Quillan Creek

Quillan Creek is one of many amazing canyons with in the Sipsey Wilderness. I will say this is one of my all time favorite places to explore. Every time I hike here I always seem to find something new and interesting. This trip was no different.

While there is no official trail into the canyon, our hike started at the parking area were FS road 208 and FS 208A meet. The trail starts across the road on what used to be the Arnold Motor Express Way. Like most trails in the forest, we started out walking on flat ground among the hardwoods. This area has been heavily damaged by storms through the years,which requires some stepping and or climbing over fallen trees. In, places were there is a major tree fall we took the well beaten paths around them. Although with all the leaves on the ground, sometimes the path was less obvious. As we start to head down hill, the road takes a sharp turn. At this point,with the trees bare of leaves we can see a nice skyline and look down into the different valleys along the trail. Once, in the canyon and along the creek side the hardwood trees give way to the evergreens and patches of Mountain Laural. one of the first things, we see is the yellow green moss covered sandstone walls of the canyon and blue green color of Quillan creek.

The next thing we see and hear is a small waterfall on a feeder stream on the other side of the creek. Being the waterfall lover that I am, I have to photograph it ,after all that was the whole point of this trip, so we cross Quillan on a tree that has contently fallen across it.


After spending a few minutes shooting, we took out the map and saw what looked like a good sized drop. Thinking that there might be a waterfall there We made the decision to hike up stream.At first, the creek was flat, uninteresting and the hiking was a bit tough going due to a fair amount of dead fall. I was starting to wander if I had read the map wrong. Then after a few minutes I started noticing that we were dropping in elevation so we stuck with it.

That choice paid off. The first reward for our hard work was a small waterfall on the right side of the creek, however the creek was really deep here and with no way cross other than to wade. I chose not to shoot this one. A few moments later we came across another waterfall on the right side. This time the water was a little shallower with stepping stones, so we crossed. Seeing that it was about lunch time we had lunch here.

Getting back to hiking, I could feel it in my bones there was something big just around the corner. All the signs were there. We were steadily dropping in elevation, the water was flowing faster and deeper, and we had just hiked past a small cascade.

I was not disappointed as we came upon a nice sized three stepped waterfall on Quillan. While exploring the area around the waterfall we found a some interesting artifacts. There was a large metal shaft just a few feet down stream from the waterfall. While I was sitting up to photograph the base of the falls I noticed a large gear on one the ledges of the waterfall. I wander if that one time they might have belonged to a mill of some sort

We ended our exploring here for the day and headed back to the car the way we came.
All the photographs in this entry are copyrighted do not use with out my express permission