Withrow Springs State Park

Withrow Spring comes out of a cliff at a constant 54 degrees and flows several hundred feet before it goes underground. It reappears inside War Eagle Cave and then runs on into War Eagle Creek. In the 1800s it was a common watering place for settlers and travelers. Richard Withrow, an early settler, came west from Tennessee in 1831 and set up one of the first gristmills in the area. He, his sons and their families homesteaded much of the surrounding land.

The park began with 320 acres, including the spring, and now covers 786 acres about five miles north of Huntsville. Roscoe V. Hobbs gave the land to the state on January 29, 1962, at the urging of his friend Governor Orval Faubus, a Madison County native, and the park opened in 1965 with a swimming pool, visitor center, rough trails and modern campsites. Early literature called it Withrow Spring State Park until at least the mid-1970s. Hikers could once walk about 175 feet into War Eagle Cave, but it was closed in April 2010 to protect gray bats, little brown bats and eastern pipistrelles from white-nose syndrome, and no reopening date is known.

The park is at 33424 Spur 23, an oak-hickory forest along War Eagle Creek. The state describes the creek as a Class I stream, usually floatable in spring and fall depending on rainfall, and canoes and kayaks are rented in spring. Three trails, 29 sites with water, electric and sewer and 10 walk-in tent sites serve visitors. Eagles can be seen along the creek in winter.