Story By Ben Alford

The Tennessee Valley Authority maintains three trails near Sand Mountain, all three near Guntersville, Alabama. They are The Cave Mountain Trail, the Cooley Cemetery Trail and the Honeycomb Trail. I will write more about the Honeycomb Trail in my next column. 

Cave Mountain and Cooley Cemetery begin at the Cave Mountain Trailhead near the south end of Guntersville Dam. Cave Mountain is a 1.5-mile loop trail that passes by a beautiful hardwood bog, with views of the Tennessee River below Guntersville Dam, and past the Salt Peter Cave from which Saltpeter was mined during the U.S. Civil War to make gunpowder. It is worth the trip just for this hike, but it can be combined with part of the Cooley Cemetery trail if hikers choose to do so. 

The Cooley Cemetery Trail meanders along the South shore of Lake Guntersville from the Cave Mountain Trailhead seven and a half miles to the Cooley Cemetery through what once was the town of Manchester. This very tiny town had dreams of becoming a major transportation center. The L&N Railroad planned to build a bridge across the Tennessee River in this location and the Manchester Land and Improvement Company in 1888 had plats drawn showing the streets and properties for housing and manufacturing and issued stock certificates. Sadly, the railroad changed its plans, instead floating the railcars down the river from Guntersville to Hobbs Island, South of Huntsville where they went back onto tracks on the North side of the river. Alas, the location that would have become Greater Manchester now lies at the bottom of Lake Guntersville 

As hikers follow the trail there are beautiful views of the river and the Dam as the trail climbs higher up the ridges around limestone ledges and formations. A short side trip (approximately one-mile round trip) takes the hikers to a waterfall, sinkhole, flowing creek, Gristmill, and a spring fed “swimming hole.” 

Those who are watchful may encounter spring boxes, remains of homesteads and even the steps of the Manchester Post Office. Just a few hundred yards West of the Eastern Trailhead is the Cooley Cemetery with most graves dating from the mid to late 1800’s. 

There are four ways to hike the trail. First is end-to-end, a hike of seven to eight miles if you take the waterfall detour (which I recommend). Hikers can begin at either end. I suggest beginning at the trailhead closest to the dam and hiking to the Cemetery. This way gravity will be in your favor as the elevation gain to the cemetery is less than the climb to the Dam end of the trail. Hiking from either trailhead to the Chimney on the lake and back to the same trailhead is between six and seven miles roundtrip and does not require shuttling.

A very popular hike is from the Cave Mountain Trailhead near the dam. From this trailhead to the waterfall, sinkhole, creek and “swimming hole” is 2.5 miles, or a round trip of five miles. An extra mile from the waterfall will take hikers to the standing chimney on the shore across the lake from the Bat Cave and Honey Ridge Cemetery. The distance from the Cave Mountain Trailhead to the chimney is about 3 miles. Add a mile for the side trip to the waterfall, thus 6-to-7-mile round trip.

If you choose to hike end to end meet at either trailhead, leave as many vehicles as possible and shuttle hikers in as few vehicles as possible to the beginning trailhead. Again, I recommend leaving vehicles at the Cemetery trailhead and hiking back from the Dam. Public Service Announcement: make sure to either carry or hide keys for the vehicles at the end of the trail.

Autumn is a great time to hike either the Cooley Cemetery Trail or the Cave Trail. The leaves are changing colors and falling so the views of the lake are spectacular.

The Cooley Cemetery Trail, beauty and history at our footsteps.