In 1952, Jacob "Jay" Gurley explored a Marshall County, Alabama, curiosity known as Bat Cave. Amazed by its stalagmites and sheer enormity, he purchased the site and began transforming it into Cathedral Caverns, a spectacular tourist attraction that eventually became a national natural landmark in 1973 and a state park in 2000. Had it not been for Gurley's hard work and dedication, this cave, a geological treasure of international renown, might have remained a little-known hole in the ground. His efforts impacted local and state tourism, economics, and politics. This is the story of one man and his vision.

A hike for every interest and ability! Alabama has so many great hikes to offer, including those in national and state parks and forests and in national wildlife refuges. In this book, the emphasis is on the most scenic destinations and unique places that help make Alabama so beautiful, like the rock formations of the Wall of Jericho, or the dunes of Bon Secour. Many hikes described here are off-the-beaten-path treks to lesser-known sites such as Needles Eye and Blue Spring; they show visitors the state’s wide range of beauty and biodiversity. Others take place at various spots along the Pinhoti Trail, the master path through Alabama’s mountains.

For generations, enterprising people in the southern Appalachians have turned the region's extensive network of caves into a strange, fascinating genre of tourist attraction. Visitors pay admission to take a tour deep underground, learning a little about history and geology while puzzling over lit-up rock formations said to resemble anything from Niagara Falls to the Capitol dome. Then off go the lights, enveloping the travelers in total darkness--until the guide flips them back on and welcomes folks back into the safety of the inevitable gift shop. Show caves, as Douglas Reichert Powell explains in Endless Caverns, are at once predictable and astonishing, ancient and modern, eerie and sentimental. Their story sparks memories of a fleeting cool moment deep underground during a hot summer vacation, capturing in microcosm the history and culture of a region where a deeply rooted sense of place collides with constant change. Reichert Powell takes readers along on his journey through the past and present of Appalachia's show caves, highlighting the characters who have owned and operated them, the ways the attractions have developed and changed over the years, and the odd intrigue that still leads people to buy their ticket and head underground. Tourist tastes may shift as interstates whisk travelers past the backroads and on to trendier destinations, but the show cave--like Appalachia itself--endures.

Best Tent Camping: Alabama is your guide to the 50 best tent-camping sites in the Heart of Dixie. Whether you prefer the pristine white beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. or the mountains and canyons of the Tennessee Valley, or something in-between. Alabama has it all. The guide takes you to the most beautiful, yet lesser known, of the state's campsites, guaranteeing you a peaceful retreat. Each guidebook entry provides the latest maps of the grounds; each entry also alerts you to the best sites within the facility to ensure a rewarding and relaxing visit. The guidebook's campsite ratings on beauty, privacy, spaciousness, quietness, security, and cleanliness let you know whether or not each campground is the one you seek at any particular time. In addition, each site entry has complete contact and registration information, operating hours, and a list of restrictions. Directions to the site come complete with GPS coordinates to put you at the main gate.

What Are The Ancients Trying To Tell Us? "Why would the Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherers of Europe expend so much time and effort to penetrate into deep, dark, and dangerous caverns, where they might encounter cave bears and lions or get lost and die, aided only by the dim glow of animal fat–burning stone candles, often crawling on all fours for distances of up to a mile or more underground . . . to paint amazing, haunting images of animals?" —From The Cave and the Cathedral Join researcher and scientist Amir D. Aczel on a time-traveling journey through the past and discover what the ancient caves of France and Spain may reveal about the origin of language, art, and human thought as he illuminates one of the greatest mysteries in anthropology. "A well-researched and highly readable exploration of one of the most spectacular manifestations of the unique human creative spirit–and one of its most intriguing mysteries." —Ian Tattersall, Curator, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, and author of The Fossil Trail: How We Know What We Think We Know about Human Evolution

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Tired of the same old tourist traps? Whether you’re a visitor or a local looking for something different, Alabama Off the Beaten Path shows you the Yellowhammer State you never knew existed. Uncover the roots of the civil rights movement at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery Tour the state's network of limestone caves , like Cathedral Caverns in Woodville Soak up the sun on the sugar-white sands of Alabama's Gulf Shores So if you’ve “been there, done that” one too many times, get off the main road and venture Off the Beaten Path.

Tired of the same old tourist traps? Whether you’re a visitor or a local looking for something different, let Alabama Off the Beaten Path show you the Alabama you never knew existed. Go spelunking and discover stalagmitic formations at Cathedral Caverns. Take a walk through history at Fort Morgan then hop the Mobile Bay Ferry for Fort Gaines. Rejoice if you are a fan of Hank Williams and follow the country music legend through the Alabama Music Hall of Fame to the life-size statue of Hank Williams, then to the Hank WilliamsMuseumand Hank Williams, Sr.,Boyhood Home and Museum. So if you’ve “been there, done that” one too many times, get off the main road and venture Off the Beaten Path.