Albert Pike Recreation Area

Drive slow on the gravel roads for some of the further trails. I had to scoot over for another car to pass me and it's very narrow so my car tire was sliced by a rock on the mountain side so I had a blowout and then had to drive back through gravel on my rim and lost control of brakes because of this luckily made it to a safe spot but no cell service so I waited for someone to stop and luckily 5 minutes later good Samaritans stopped to help me get my donut on. I am so thankful to them!!! They got me back on the road safely!!! I also helped a turtle get across the road safely!

This is my favorite place. So beautiful & peaceful, the water is crystal clear, I love snorkeling here. There are at least 4 different kinds of fish in the swimming area. It was pretty clean this time. There are plenty of large trashcans so NO ONE needs to drop their trash on the ground. PUT YOUR TRASH IN THE TRASHCANS PEOPLE. The bathrooms are in need of a little repair, but they do the job. You can easily get lost trying to get here from the back roads way, I feel like there aren't as many signs for Albert Pike as there used to be. The water is really cold as usual, even in August but so beautiful & refreshing. Personally, it is so Good for MY SOUL.

Me and my husband and 18, 17 and 21 year old son and sons girlfriend went primative camping. Give you heads up this road is a gravel road whindy, steep up and down, some straight a ways and one lane or none so watch out for other drivers, it is like this pretty much from one end to the other. We came in the park closer to bard springs (gps will take you there exactly) we drove all the way through to Alberts Pike recreation. You can camp anywhere off the road close to the creek as long as there is drive or road access. Bard springs has tables and bbq pits only and you can camp and there are bathrooms but anywhere else is no table or bbq pits. We found a sweet water hole right on that stretch of road, closer to alberts pike recreation b4 the parking lot or if you enter through alberts pike pass the parking lot, cant miss it. There are hot showers at alberts pike recreation if you decide you want to take a shower, which you have to drive there. There is no more camping at Alberts pike recreation by those showers since the 2010 flood, it is day use only. It is pretty much camp at your own risk. No charge to camp there or hike. I advice to bring lots of bug spray especially if you are hiking and reapply several times during the hike. I only hiked the 4.8 winding stair case, which had some narrow and incline climbing so don't do this one if you are out of shape. We hiked to the caves which we crossed the river twice, started on the blue path than crossed the river to the blue marking on the tree and continue on with the white markings on the trees and cross the creek again. It seems far when you go but the end reward is awesome for cliff jumping and swimming. I did get 1,000 red bugs/chiggers walking the trails so don't forget spray. Also, make sure you bring a radio or download everything you can on your phone that you can use WITHOUT data/wifi because there isnt any until u get to umpire almost or couple miles pass Langley. No phone services at all so be prepared to live like cave people, i enjoyed the down time. Also, that is a dry county so you will.have to drive a ways to get beer/liquor so just come prepared. Little mom and pop store there going towards Athens if you need anything and she has it all for a price lol. We went July 8-11 2018. Had some rain but passed quickly. they say if the rain is continuous and want let up for hours than consider leaving until you know the weather. I do not have picks of the hike but i did take some. Hope you enjoy if you go.. july was drier but we had lots of fun just chillin..

This is and always well be my favorite place to camp. I have been coming to this park for 35 yrs. There is only day use at the park during the spring and summer months, since the flood that closed the park for a few years. You can drive past the park and turn left on a gravel road and there are primitive camping spots. All camping is at your own risk. Even though the park is not keep up except for friends of the park and it has been left to its own, it is still the most beautiful place to camp.