Copyright AL.com
For much of the past century, the go-to sunset view in Alabama from its highest peak came from an overlook behind the Cheaha State Park restaurant. That restaurant is closed right now and the area around it is a construction site, restricted to visitors, with a partially built hotel blocking the once wide-open view of the sunset. At least for now. Visitors who want to watch the sunset from the top of the state’s tallest mountain, with a peak elevation of 2,407 feet above sea level, now have to go up to another overview. That’s the boardwalk leading to Bald Rock, which still has an expansive sunset view, although not quite as wide-open due to the angle toward the sunset. Construction on the new $25 million hotel began last year and is set to open in 2026. The former restaurant will serve as a lobby to the hotel. So, the view will be back at some point. The hotel is being built with large timbers harvested in the state, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Chris Blankenship said during a presentation to the Legislature in 2024. The state is spending $150 million to upgrade Alabama’s 22 state parks, and the new hotel at Cheaha is expected to be the crown jewel of that work. “It will have a wood, metal, and glass look and blend very nicely into the mountain,” Blankenship told lawmakers. “I think it’s going to be a showplace for Alabama State Parks and for that part of the state.” The money comes from an $80 million bond issue, an initiative of the Gov. Kay Ivey administration that passed the Legislature and that voters approved in 2022, as well as other funding sources. “Our State Parks System has made massive strides in recent years on its way to being one of the best in the nation,” Blankenship said in a statement released this year during construction. “With this project, we are adding another world-class facility to our growing list of exceptional overnight accommodations and amenities. We look forward to welcoming lodge guests in early 2026.” The new Cheaha State Park Lodge will feature three hotel towers with a total of 32 guest units in a variety of configurations. The towers will be connected by breezeways clad in copper-colored aluminum designed to reflect sunlight in a way similar to The Narrows in Zion National Park and will align with the summer solstice. Each hotel unit will have a private balcony with views of the surrounding mountains and valley below. The project design also includes a rooftop bar and a meeting space that can accommodate conferences, business meetings, executive retreats, weddings or family reunions. “This new lodge will showcase the best of what Alabama State Parks has to offer in one of the most beautiful locations in the Southeast,” said Matthew Capps, Director of the State Parks Division. The swimming pool, with its view of the Alabama horizon looking west, will be replaced with an observation deck and event pavilion for up to 100 guests, with a trailhead to Pulpit Rock. The new hotel units will be connected to the existing Vista Event Center, previously the park’s restaurant, which will be renovated to serve as the lobby of the lodge with guest check-in services. The design for the new Cheaha State Park Lodge was led by Chambless King Architects, with offices in Montgomery and Birmingham. “Our firm’s guiding principle to create environments that resonate with their place and foster genuine human connection is fully realized in our work at Cheaha,” said Jared Fulton, firm principal and lead project architect at Chambless King Architects. “The design will create a hotel facility that leverages its extraordinary location atop Mount Cheaha and generates the sense of a vibrant, lived-in mountaintop village that honors the site’s significance within the Creek Nation and as Alabama’s first state park. We hope the completed project will enrich the lives of overnight guests and visitors at Cheaha State Park, encouraging them to treasure the mountain for its beauty, ecological impact and historical importance.” Cheaha State Park, south of Anniston and Oxford in Clay and Cleburne counties, has 2,799 acres of rugged mountains and valleys in the Appalachian foothills. The upper and lower campgrounds, cabins and chalets have recently been renovated and will remain open during the lodge construction.
