If we have a home stretch of river, this is it. The put in and takeout are within a couple of miles of the house. We avoid this section of the river during the warmer months. It has nothing to do with water flow, fishing, etc. It has to do with the amount of traffic. In between every clown with something plastic that will float going down the river and every Hispanic in a three country radius, they all converge on the Grant's Mill facility for some reason. This makes putting in or taking out there a freaking circus. You can park there in the morning and not be able to get out that evening. We've seen entire families in various stages of dress. We just missed some dude die there earlier this year. Guess trying to swim in a flowing river when you don't know how to swim is a bad idea?

Anyway, the water here is low. My no go is a water level of .75 at the USGS meter in Mountain Brook. Sunday is was .65. We hadn't been in a while and momma really wanted to go...... Oh, the water was a blistering 41 degrees.

The take out for this trip is River Terrace. It's located just across from the hotel and old folks home in Liberty Park. It's a decent facility, but it can get crowded too. There's some easily accessed rope swings there along with a nice little rapid for folks to hangout in. Plus, it's a 45 min float from there to the best facility on the Cahaba at Overton Park in Mnt Brook. We used to dump our kids out here in inner tubes to float down to the next park. Easy, safe, and fun.


Adequate parking. Benches, trash cans, no grills, and a nice concrete walkway down to a concrete pad.



Shuttled on over to Grant's Mill. This is the most popular facility on the Cahaba River. During the warmer months this facility will be packed. We avoid it at all costs when the temps get into the 80's. The crowds effectively kill two sections of the river for us: Leeds to Grant's Mill and Grant's Mill to Overton Rd. Of course, these are two of our favorites and the two closest to the house.....


A set of canoe/kayak wheels are a must. It turns a loaded out canoe into something easily maneuvered for two 50+ yr olds.


Concrete trail down to the launch. There's trash cans, picnic tables, rope swings, and a wooded trail in a little park along the river. Facility is very nice, but stays crowded unless it's 50 degrees like it was Sunday.

There are three sections of the Cahaba we consider the prettiest: Leeds to Grant's Mill, Grant's Mill to Overton, and Cahaba Refuge to Pratt's Ferry (Centerville). Those upper ends of the river are typified by high bluffs, rocky shoals, and very little noticeable development. There are some houses, but most are off the water a ways. We don't always see deer on these stretches as there is a ton of woods for them to be in. However, we saw a bunch of them Sunday including a nice 6 pt. We also saw some roosting turkeys.



This is my wife and I's beach. We stop here every time and eat. It's typical of this stretch of the river: high bluffs, heavy woods, little development.

There are several coal mines on this stretch. We've never stopped to get out and explore, but I'm told people do that. Personally, I spent enough time in underground coal mines to do it for fun, but knock yourselves out!



There's a spot on the second powerline crossing where a seam of coal is exposed by the river. There are tons of fords and bridges on this section of the river. Our ancestors coming across the river for coal.



Anyway, the fishing was terrible. Wife caught a good one early and I caught a good one mid day. Other than that, it was terrible. Also, the very first shoal I had to walk through my wading boots got wet with the 41 degree water. I took my boots and socks off and went barefoot for the next 6 hours or so. Had to get out and push 3 more times barefooted. I will be investing in some felt booted waders for Christmas......


This dude ate a 3/8oz jig. If you're only gonna catch one, might as well make it a nice one. Little over 3+

That was "our" Saturday morning run in high school. Used to shoot squirrels with a .22 all the way down that stretch. Also dumped several thousand ..22 bullets into that pool at the put-in over the years, often shooting off the Grants Mill bridge. Different times. Ran a bird dog all over the USS property just north of there, after they hey turned it into cutover in the late '70, but long before either I-459 or Liberty Park were conceived of..

RE - exploring mines; just don't. There is a world of difference between naturally formed caves, that age and collapse over 10s of thousands or millions of years, and 50-150 year old abandoned mines. Truly bad idea..

Nice! Enjoy seeing these. One of these days I’ll do something besides float Valley creek and the coosa below Jordan dam.

nice trip

Really enjoy your posts William!

Great pics

Thanks for posting another trip!

Nice scenery and trip, even with poor fishing. Quality time with your wife trumps about everything else anyway.

Awesome float!

Nice spot and pics.👍

Yeah 25 yrs ago I waded grants mill up stream many times.just stay to left and avoid the island on right side to wade deeper pools
on left

Luckily back then not to many people hit the swimming holes.i bet it's bad now

I would wade up to the last deep pool and take trail back out to road and walk back to truck.the 3-4 deep pools was worth the trip

You need to speak Spanish to be at the Grants Mill facility during the warmer months. It's a zoo. We only go when it's cold now.

If you want to catch biggest group of bass you've ever caught out of a canoe easily message me.
I can't guarantee shad will be in there but I've never fished this spot and this not worked all times of year and on top water.semi sight fishing
Zara spooks and flukes but flukes don't do as well..son played with flukes he got whooped but they worked ok

Weve done this 5-6 times and worked everytime but by 9:00-9:30 they done so I'm not positive on time of year this works but so far I say all year but I'll be back over there more to definitely find out
I'm doing this out of a bass boat but no reason you can't in a canoe or kayak it's slow water in a creek

Boat launch right there I can circle area just don't share with anyone else
Message me I'll circle area and give you info.its a fun morning for sure