Pristine landscape

Where is the largest area in Alabama with the most beautiful landscape?

Define “beautiful landscape”.

Can't define it. Opinions would vary too much. Just asking. I guess if I had to pick, I would say hardwoods and ridges....timber that hasn't been under the cut of a sawblade. Does it exist in Alabama? Just curious.

Sipsey Wilderness in Lawrence County on Bankhead.

Josephine, AL on a October sunset is the GOAT.

I don’t know but it ain’t around here in southeast alabama. You north Bama boys have some absolutely beautiful land up there.

Parker Island has some big cypress swamps that are beautiful and that you dont see many places.......I tracked at a military base in Anniston that was some of the prettiest hardwoods I've seen.......To me the big quail hunting plantations is some of the prettiest landscape. I guess maybe just because I like the abundant wildlife aspect of it.......I would liked to have seen it when it was virgin long leaf

Is give anything to see North America in the 1500s. If I only had a time machine.

Black belt

You're correct! We have small pockets of beautiful land left, but not a great deal. I hunted an area in northeast Henry County 20 years ago. It had beautiful hardwoods and bottoms. It was all clearcut and replaced with pines. A sad day for sure. The land I lease now was clearcut 2 years ago. They burned it in October and planted baby pines last month. It looks like a wasteland right now. I have only seen 3 deer since November. I guess all the activity ran the deer off. Turkeys...well that's a different story. I've been seeing them every hunt. Thank God I'm a turkey hunter! I know I shouldn't complain, as I have the birds. But I just can't help but want to hunt those birds in some pretty woods. I guess you can't have it all, uh?

Orange Beach in June has some nice views
If they would just have somewhere to eat...

I I'm gone say either the black belt or the east side of the state in the Appalachian foothills

Lillian swamps

The well managed plantations in the Union Springs, Midway and Hurtsboro areas are beautiful.

No doubt

Walls of Jericho

NE Madison and North Jackson counties.

Along the bases of the Cumberland mtn.

Shhhh you two, them flat landers are already too numerous up here.

Talladega national forest, where road 600 runs the top of Rebekah Mountain to Hollins WMA, is beautiful. Try it sometime.

I'd rather see these hardwood mountains full of Chestnuts, the Giant Sequoia of the East. Damn Chinese virus got them too.

It's hard to beat the foothills of the Appalachains in Northeast Al. Walk the Pinhoti anywhere from Jacksonville to Ga. in the fall and you'll see some awesome places. And if I'm not mistaken Duggar mountain wilderness has the largest area of roadless woods in Al.

Y’all can have them mountains…….I’ve lived down here for 20 years now……Every once in a while over the years I’ve gotten an nostalgic itch to go back home and hunt up in those mountains of Jackson Co again with some of my family like when I was a kid…….I end up saying the same thing every time I do it…..

”Piss on this!!!!” ........

Mountains are pretty.

When you're standing in the valley below them.

I always thought that the Black Belt Prairie region across the state was pretty. Big open fields and scattered woods. Never spent any time in Jackson County, but won't mind seeing it in the winter.

I remember seeing an old growth forest in South AL when I was a kid. I was visiting my grandparents in Greenville and my granddaddy and dad taking me to see the last old growth forest left in that area. It was being put to the saw and people were going to see it before it was cut. This was probably in the early 1980's and I was maybe 12. I remember walking along a creek and the pines and oaks were huge and the understory was open and you could see forever. To a young kid they looked like giant redwoods. The three of us couldn't link arms around most of the trees.

Jackson County has some pretty high peaks but for the most part you'll see rolling hills.

What’s really neat is you have the Appalachains on one side of the river and Cumberland mtns on the other.

Northeast Alabama , Sand Mtn , Skyline ,Paint Rock , Lookout Mtn , Little River

River swamp along the Tombigbee In Nanafalia. When you can see 250 Yards in two directions in virgin timber.

I hunted a place in Screamer when I was a kid that was the same way, big rolling hills and bottoms full of trees you couldn't reach around. And give the deer a year and they will fill that clear-cut up!

Campbell mountain

I'm a fan of the delta.

Mobile Delta

you guys are the experts but I'd have to pick either little river or the mobile delta. I bet the beach would have been my pick if I could have seen it 200 years ago.

The areas around lake Guntersville is awesome as well.

90% of that isn’t like that anymore. But it’s better habitat - for the hogs anyway

It would look vastly different than what 99% of folks would imagine

Mountains of north east Alabama

The old callaway plantation where the cahaba meets the AL river. Scott Drummond has owned it a while now. It’s a fine piece of row crop dirt plus deer growing dirt. I could stay on that place and never set foot anywhere else and die happy.

Climbed the tower several times. Was stupid to do but we survived. Absolutely beautiful experience.

I wish there was a track of land never cut I could see. We do need to protect some of the Oak forest to see what they will look like un-cut in 150 years and maybe some areas of the Longleaf pines. You can't really put a price on preserving nature or our water.

They won’t look much different. Trees die - all the time. The biggest difference would actually be invasive species not being present.

The swamp land of the Upper Delta is mighty fine on the eye.

There’s spots on my lease in Fayette county that hasn’t seen a logger in over a 100 years. There’s a couple beech trees that are almost 5’ in diameter. Never put a tape on them. Might do so this spring

The Mobile/Tensaw river delta....

Daybreak in old growth hardwoods on the AL river is hard to beat.

I prefer standing on the bluff looking down into the valleys, but I'm extremely partial to one side in that conversation

I don't know how long ago or if ever, but a chunk of a couple hundred acres under our South bluff hasn't been logged that I know of. If it was, it had to of been well over 100+ years. There's oak trees in there that look like they are 150ft tall and big enough around that 3 men may couldn't reach around them. It's wild walking through that, every thing is huge, Huge tree's, huge limestome, huge bluff walls. I always feel like I'm back in time when I go through it for some reason.

Even though you hear the term "virgin timber" often , there's not alot of true virgin hardwood forest acres left. However, there's still some that the last cutting was right after WWII well before mechanized equipment. Back in the days of skidding with mules and on site sawmills they didn't cut the really big timber , they couldn't handle it. Nowdays if it grows, crazy hillbillies on skidders will get it. If they can't a helicopter can if it's good enough.

If it's really old and really big , when you're finished cutting what needs cutting , it'll look like a clear cut. It may not be pretty but those big settlement checks will be.

I’d like to know for the heck of it when or if it has been logged, but wouldn’t know if there are even ways to figure that out. My wife’s grandfather doesn’t remember of it being logged in his memory. He’s late 80’s but honestly probably wouldn’t of paid attention to it until he was back living in this area several years post Vietnam. So WW2 era is possible.

It would have to look wildly different. Most trees in there are too big to get a summit on. A man could walk around aimlessly trying to find a tree to climb. Once he found one he could go strait up as far up as he wanted, though.

If the whole tract hasn't been cut in decades your best timber should be off the east end of the point. North and East face above about 1'000 feet elevation is normally where the best timber is found. Best I remember y'all don't have any on the North face of the point.

If the whole tract hasn't been cut in decades your best timber should be off the east end of the point. North and East face above about 1'000 feet elevation is normally where the best timber is found. Best I remember y'all don't have any on the North face of the point.
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North of the bluff we don't anymore. Great Grandpa Estill sold all of that for something around the tune of a whopping $17/ acre way back when. We have a decent chunk of about 125-150acres due east of the point that runs north. It's good looking woods. I was talking to one of the Deans that live right by the property recently. He said they had logged everything on top for Estill years ago (seems like he mentioned 40-50 years ago) and said you could stand at the start of the property and see clear across the top. He mentioned the top may be getting ready again. How often do most folks log a property? or is there even a rule of thumb for how soon a property could be cut after a cutting. I'd guess someone may get 1 good cutting in their lifetime?

North of the bluff we don't anymore. Great Grandpa Estill sold all of that for something around the tune of a whopping $17/ acre way back when. We have a decent chunk of about 125-150acres due east of the point that runs north. It's good looking woods. I was talking to one of the Deans that live right by the property recently. He said they had logged everything on top for Estill years ago (seems like he mentioned 40-50 years ago) and said you could stand at the start of the property and see clear across the top. He mentioned the top may be getting ready again. How often do most folks log a property? or is there even a rule of thumb for how soon a property could be cut after a cutting. I'd guess someone may get 1 good cutting in their lifetime?
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Depends on were it is , North face, if not cut hard could be as often as every 20 years , South and top could be once every 60. All about soil and moisture. These river bottoms up here can be 15-20 years if managed right. Part of our North facing land was cut in '87, it was cut again in 06 . The way it's growing I may see another cutting. Some of the other that was cut in '87 but wasn't cut in '06 is ready now and heavy to White Oak $$$$$ !
My father and Estill were big buddies. I've heard several stories on the sale of the North side , all of which had Estill basically giving it away. That North face is some fine hardwood growing land as there is anywhere around here.

Several years ago I did some work on LeeRoy Jordan’s family property near Eutaw. They own around 7,000 acres. There is a section of it that is virgin hardwoods. They were setting up some tree stands in a huge hardwood bottom that had the largest white oaks I have ever seen. Some of those oaks were close to 3.5-4 feet at the base. They said it had not been hunted in over 20 years. It was honestly some of the nicest land Ive ever seen. I didn't go back but can only imagine the deer they killed in that bottom. They would only let family members hunt in there and it was bow kill only. I still think about that property when I hunt my leased pine tree farm.

It’s amazing where those old timers could log at with mules.