Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk AL Fishing Talk Cahaba River 12.8 Grant's Mill to Overton

If we have a home stretch of river, this is it. The put in and takeout are within a couple of miles of the house. We avoid this section of the river during the warmer months. It has nothing to do with water flow, fishing, etc. It has to do with the amount of traffic. In between every clown with something plastic that will float going down the river and every Hispanic in a three country radius, they all converge on the Grant's Mill facility for some reason. This makes putting in or taking out there a freaking circus. You can park there in the morning and not be able to get out that evening. We've seen entire families in various stages of dress. We just missed some dude die there earlier this year. Guess trying to swim in a flowing river when you don't know how to swim is a bad idea?

Anyway, the water here is low. My no go is a water level of .75 at the USGS meter in Mountain Brook. Sunday is was .65. We hadn't been in a while and momma really wanted to go...... Oh, the water was a blistering 41 degrees.

The take out for this trip is River Terrace. It's located just across from the hotel and old folks home in Liberty Park. It's a decent facility, but it can get crowded too. There's some easily accessed rope swings there along with a nice little rapid for folks to hangout in. Plus, it's a 45 min float from there to the best facility on the Cahaba at Overton Park in Mnt Brook. We used to dump our kids out here in inner tubes to float down to the next park. Easy, safe, and fun.


Adequate parking. Benches, trash cans, no grills, and a nice concrete walkway down to a concrete pad.



Shuttled on over to Grant's Mill. This is the most popular facility on the Cahaba River. During the warmer months this facility will be packed. We avoid it at all costs when the temps get into the 80's. The crowds effectively kill two sections of the river for us: Leeds to Grant's Mill and Grant's Mill to Overton Rd. Of course, these are two of our favorites and the two closest to the house.....


A set of canoe/kayak wheels are a must. It turns a loaded out canoe into something easily maneuvered for two 50+ yr olds.


Concrete trail down to the launch. There's trash cans, picnic tables, rope swings, and a wooded trail in a little park along the river. Facility is very nice, but stays crowded unless it's 50 degrees like it was Sunday.