Chewacla Falls is a 20-foot waterfall in Alabama's Chewacla State Park, about 4.2 miles south of Auburn in Lee County, where the outflow of Chewacla Lake pours over the stone spillway of a dam built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
The falls
The water drops in stepped cascades over the man-made spillway, and the main natural drop lies a few yards downstream. The falls measure about 20 feet in the form of a gradual cascade; earlier inventories recorded no height. Along the Deer Rub Trail to the falls, the path passes ancient gneiss boulders.
Getting there
Chewacla State Park is at 124 Shell Toomer Parkway in Auburn. Daily entry is $5 per person for ages 12 to 61 and $3 for ages 4 to 11 and 62 and older; children under four and military with ID enter free, and an annual individual pass costs $105. The Deer Rub Trail and the Mountain Laurel Trail both descend from the Upper Pavilion to the falls, a walk of about 0.1 mile round trip from the parking lot. The Deer Rub Trail is steep, and boots are recommended.
When to go
Park hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Seasonal flow at the falls isn't documented.
On site
Below the falls the Deer Rub Trail follows Chewacla Creek to the Walnut Shelter, and the Mountain Laurel Trail heads upstream along Chewacla Lake and Moore's Mill Creek. Swimming in the park is at the designated beach on the 26-acre lake. The falls are rated good for kids and dogs.
History and name
A sawmill stood on Chewacla Creek from the 1840s and was known as Wright's Mill by 1873. The federal government bought the land in the 1930s, and the CCC built the concrete and stone dam that formed Chewacla Lake, along with stone cottages that the park still rents. Alabama took over the area in 1939 and created the 696-acre state park.
Nearby
On the Creek View Trail in the same park is a separate spot the park calls Natural Falls, known to older Auburn alumni as the Gin Saw Hole. Great Falls on Little Uchee Creek is about 17.4 miles away, Lower Little Uchee Creek Falls about 17.8 miles and Tallapoosa Falls about 23.8 miles.
Distances are straight-line.