Lookout Mountain, Alabama
Twelve camps.
Four waterfalls.
One road up.
Everything worth knowing about Mentone, written by people who have been coming here since they were children.
children, every summer
Mentone has a few hundred residents and twelve summer camps. For eight weeks of the year the camps are the town, and on four changeover weekends every cabin and table in it is spoken for.
Stay
Fifty-odd cabins, four inns, the state park lodge, and a treehouse over the river. Book camp weekends early.
Eat
Ten places in town, from a taco truck in an Airstream to a drive-thru that opens before the falls do.
Do
DeSoto Falls, Little River Canyon, and the only ski slope in Alabama. Waterfalls ranked by how far you have to walk.
The drive up 117 is better than the drive up 89. Do it in that order, and stop at the falls before ten.
From: a first weekend in Mentone
What’s on
Pumpkin Festival at Little River Orchard
East River Road. Galarina, Winecrisp and Fuji are all on the trees this week. Friday and Saturday nine to four, Sunday twelve to four.
Mentone Fall Festival
Moon Lake Village. More than eighty vendors, nine in the morning until four, five dollars to park. It replaced Colorfest, which half the internet still lists.
The Hitching Post reopens
Ground broken this month, three years after the fire. Elevation Bistro moves in alongside a community center.