Cheaha Resort State Park

I have stayed in the cabins and chalets a number of times over the last 20 years. This time we stayed in cabin number 7. It seems to be falling apart and our kitchen smelled like urine.
The restaurant is «trying» to offer barbecue. Let me warn you now! DONT! The ribs were like lather and tasted gamy.
Cheaha holds many fond memories of my childhood and my children’s childhood. I hope that they can find a way to invest in improvements soon.

We Stayed in Cabin 9. Clean, well kept. Two Queen Beds in open area, fireplace (bring wood or you can buy at the store) full fridge, microwave, oven/​stove — with grill, utensils, dishes, just about everything you need provided. Small bathroom with tub/​shower. Grill outside, table with 4 chairs also outside. Steep rock walk, so be careful. Wi-​Fi, direct TV. Ceiling Fan, central heat and air. Parking for two vehicles at top of driveway.
The area is just breathtaking and we hope to come back and review other cabins. The area is clean and well kept.

This review is strictly concerning the restaurant. I had friends from Dallas visiting and wanted to show them the dramatic views of Cheaha. We stopped at the restaurant for lunch and I was so disappointed. The floor was dirty, the food had been out a few hours, lunch was almost over, and fresh food was never brought out to replace the hard, dried up, rubbery food left. The waitresses were busy on their phones and couldn’t be bothered with the guests. When we asked for a menu, she shoved 3 at me and went away! And ignoring common sense, we settled on the buffet. Huge mistake. Our glasses were never refilled, either. We felt we were a big imposition on the whole staff. Even when we went to pay, someone was behind the desk on the phone talking rudely and yelled out for someone to come help us.
The one good thing, the view. It was awesome. Worth going back to the restaurant? NO!

We have been to Cheaha State Park many many times over the years and have held our family reunion there for decades. Unfortunately 2013 may be our last visit: the park has really gone downhill and the state of the Chalets where we stayed was pitiful. The kitchens were almost cleaned out of dishes, cooking utensils, etc., and there was mold and damp smell throughout the Chalet. They didn’t even have the customary cards to leave comments about needed repairs, cleaning, etc. It seems that this beautiful old park has been left to decay.

We stayed in the lodge for 2 nights with a family reunion last march. View was amazing and it even snowed!

It’s hard to write a review of this place because there’s the park, then there’s the restaraunt, hotel, cabins, and chalets.
I’ve never camped there or stayed there, however I’ve gone to the restaurant, the tower, and hiked some of the trails a couple of different times.
The natural beauty of this place is off the charts.
It’s the highest point in Alabama and has absolutely incredible views.
The trails I’ve been on are all just gorgeous … trickling brooks leading to rock outcroppings with huge drop offs and views across Talladega National Forest.
Absolutely worth a trip to see (I plan on going back many times while I’m living in this part of the country)
I can’t wait to go back here in the fall.
Now the bad.
The restaurant is possibly the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.
The building is really nice — vaulted /​open ceilings and floor to ceiling glass looking out at a million dollar view.
The food and service, however, are *INSANELY* bad.
The times I’ve been there (yes I went back. because the view is so awesome) they served possibly some of the *worst buffet style slop from an old rolling hot cart that I’ve ever had. It’s really bad… the second time I went I sat and drank an iced-​t just so I could look at the view.
Actually the second time we sat and watched a wedding setting up on the porch outside the restaurant and I had to wonder if that incredible view as a backdrop would be worth it if you had to use the rest of their facilities.
The service matches the food in how bad it is.
I think the problem is that this place is just so far away from anything that the staff know they can be as shitty as they want and it will make zero difference.
I generally tip in the 20% range even if service someplace is just moderate.
I left nothing both times I was at this place.
I don’t know if people here get trained to have an attitude that you’re an annoyance rather than a customer but they seem to have it down.
The CCC built tower that is marked at the highest point in Alabama is sad.
It’s a neat old building but it’s pretty disgusting.
Walking up the graffiti covered metal stairs you can’t help wonder how many people have pissed on the walls or shot up heroin here.
Yeah, it’s that nice.
The tower is next to the camping area.
With a park road running down the middle and sites directly next to the road (and each other) on either side I’d have no desire to camp here.
I think there are campsites down by the lake as well but they aren’t on the top of the mountain. Not that the campsites seem to have much of a view.
There are CCC built cabins as well as «chalets» that, from the outside, look pretty nice. Great views, privacy, tucked away, etc. … but seeing how the rest of the park is run I’m a little leary about renting one.
I probably *will rent one at some point but my expectations are pretty low.
(as in I will rent for 1 night and be prepared to leave without actually staying the night)
It’s sad because the location is SO beautiful, the restaraunt has SUCH an awesome view, and the old CCC built stuff looks SO cool.
They’ve taken something that should be just absolutely incredible and made it into something that is marginal at best.
Overall I’ve got to say that this seems to be a common theme with the Alabama state parks I’ve been to.

In our rented RV, on the way from southern Georgia to Oklahoma City, we spent a night here in late June this year.
The natural beauty of the place was astonishing, as was the elevation. I’m not great with heights (though I can ride in an airplane or hot air balloon), so driving around the loop (on top of the mountain, it only goes in one direction and that is UP) after checking in was nauseating.
There are cabins and chalets (fancy cabins, as near as I could tell) and a hotel with a view from the mountain that goes on for miles (with a very cool infinity-​type pool, too). We stayed in the lower campground because of my being-​on-​top-​of-​a-​mountain problem.
When I went to check in (we didn’t have a reservation) I dealt with an extremely indifferent/​rather rude young woman. She was not helpful at all, but the young man who took over for her so she could be pissy to another tourist was wonderfully kind. He was all ma’am this and ma’am that. Adorable. In fact, in all the state parks we stayed at (five parks, five states), she was the least pleasant by far.
The campsite was fine (everything worked) but the bathroom was grooooooss. I used it once and then wouldn’t go near it again. There was a lake not far and some nice walking trails through the woods.

I wanted so bad to love this park! I’ve heard so much about it. But this weekend we took our travel trailer to Cheaha to camp. We have been to several state parks in Alabama and this is by far the least maintained one we have seen. Parking pads for RV are almost nonexistent. Some sites you can’t even tell where the site is due to weeds and lack of gravel. Luckily we did not need the bathhouse since the one peek I had today on the way out was nasty! Showers needed a pressure washer used on them. Mouse droppings in the toilet stall. Sewer hookups for campers are elevated and hoses did not drain properly because of that.
Other state parks we have seen park rangers patrolling — none this weekend — not one! The only one we saw was filling the drink cooler in the camp store. As a result there was trash around campsites and the park volunteer on the lower loop looked like some homeless guy that had picked up a triler on the side of the road to bring to the park. His site was nasty with a picnic table covered in bottles and trash.
The one bright spot was the park restaurant. Beautiful view from the highest point in Alabama, decent food — if not gourmet, good enough we ate there both nights!
We asked the park super on the way out if there were plans to upgrade the sites and he said «not since the money ran out». A sad commentary on our times. We will not go back!

I’m spending one day at this park on my way to Birmingham and I don’t want to leave. I spend so much time in north Georgia and it will forever be one of my favorite places in the world, but this park rivals all Georgia parks. It is so clean and beautiful with endless views of rolling luscious green mountains. This is the nicest state park hotel I have ever stayed in. It’s actually more like a motel, but it is so clean and beautiful. It is not a resort. There is no real common area — just a small check in office. The fake plant and flowers in my room add to the experience. It is so Alabama. I am from Alabama, so I can say that. If you stay at this hotel, don’t plan to eat healthy. The restaurant is a typical Alabama restaurant. I ordered what I thought would be the healthiest item on the menu — a fried shrimp salad. The salad consisted of a huge mound of fried shrimp, croutons, a tiny bit of lettuce and some really bad tomatoes. That’s all. Nothing else. There is no other restaurant in the vicinity, so bring food if you don’t want to eat at the restaurant. They do have a buffet. The views from the restaurant are beautiful though. There is a microwave and refrigerator in the king deluxe room. It would be nice if this park would invest some effort in a real map of the park, including the hiking trails. I asked for a map and they gave me a map of the campground.

Absolutely a wonderful place to camp! We camped here the weekend of Oct 8 – 10 in the large group camping spot with my sons Cub Scout pack and we had a great time.
It’s very inexpensive to camp here and all of the boys and families that went, had a great time! The walk to the bathroom was kinda crappy (no pun intended) but it was still a great place to stay.
Great hiking trails and the lodge and front office (s) are not that far away.

This review could most easily be written with only one word: WOW!!!
Let me put it this way; my «husband» (we’ve been living together for over a year, but he’s really my fiancé even though I refer to him as my husband) and I decided that this is the place where we’re going to get married. I cannot stress enough how beautiful this place is.
Mount Cheaha (pronounced Chee-​uh-​haw) is the highest natural point in the state of Alabama and is located at the bottom of the Appalachian Mountains chain. This is an amazing park that simply must be seen to believe. The views are stunning and the park amenities are just fabulous for the price. Want an inexpensive (outside of the gas to get there) romantic mountain getaway? Then you just must visit this park.
The park has a restaurant with an amazing view, a motel with an amazing view and even a pool with — you guessed it — an amazing view. The cabins and chalets are built in gorgeous stone and you won’t believe the low price for what you get. No. Really. They also allow pets in certain cabins/​chalets. If you prefer to camp instead, then they have semi-​primitive and primitive camp spots for those interested. Additionally there is a lodge that is great for larger groups and is also built in stone.
My husband and I tried to figure out how buildings so beautiful could be so cheap! I Googled it and discovered that my theory was right. They were built in the 30’s so basically they’re debt free. I’ll be honest here, they just don’t make them like they used to… but I digress.
At the top of Mt. Cheaha is Bunker Tower. This is where you can go up several flights of stairs to see the amazing view of the surrounding hills/​mountains. Just outside of the tower — on the ground — are two stamp markers declaring that these are the highest natural points in Alabama, so you can literally stand on those very spots.
Visit the official site to see all they offer. I promise you that if you are an outdoorsy person and like mountains and hills, then this is a spot that you’ll love.