Bankhead National Forest

Excellent hike. My wife and I went Dec 27/28. First 7-8 miles was pretty bland... basically a walk in the woods. Shortly after that it became an amazing hike all the way til the end. Few things to note: there are TWO creek crossings, one of which came up to our knees when crossing on day one, and one on day two that we took an alternate route (by “Eye of the Needle.”). Also, I used this AllTrails map for our route in conjunction with Adidas Running App on my phone and Apple iWatch, and we trekked 30.4 miles on this route, even with a small shortcut by Eye of the Needle. The Big Tree was a highlight of the hike. Seeing that tree and the waterfall together was amazing.

Overall pretty good. The forest service service trail (224) was pretty rough and no water around. 209 had plenty of water but we did have to get through a pretty tight cave and cross a very cold river.

Great trail. But 209 was rough with a 35 lb pack.

No water after getting off 209. 224 was pretty unkept.

90% of trail was great. The other 10% was not due to no signage at critical points on trail causing you to search back and forth trying to find trail, especially when trail crosses water. You can’t find trail to water or where trail continues. All Trails maps also had issues with being off from GPS at multiple locations.

Backpacked early May. 209 had been hit hard by the spring storms. many new blow downs and the trail had been washed out in places. My GPS had us just under 21 miles without visiting the big tree. overall great hike

Great trail. Lots of cool waterfalls. Great for families

loved this hike. I backpacked in early on a saturday morning at around 6 and had easy going, some parts where hard to find. I hiked till about 4 and set up camp near a brook and waterfall. I did get lost but thanks to my.water source found my out. will definitely be back.

This is an excellent route (although note that the original recorded route has a backtracked section due to the hiker passing the Bee Branch Trail, so it's closer to 21 miles). The trail is book-ended with a somewhat boring features, but those are short-lived. Featuring the fat-man squeeze, the fording of Borden Creek, a gorgeous canyon full of old-growth trees and stunning rock formations, several waterfalls depending on rainfall, a short but challenging boulder hop, and an impressive cliff that cracked and shifted to leave a hole known as the "Eye of the Needle", this hike won't disappoint. Hiking it all in one day would certainly be a feat, but it can be easily completed with a one night stay just after crossing the creek. Blowdowns are present but somewhat easily overcome. If it has rained heavily or recently, the creek may be higher than you wish to navigate.

Heads up. Due to the drought, Sipsey River is barely flowing and creeks are dry. A burn ban is in effect so no campfires.

I called the National Forest Service and they said that since Sipsey Wilderness is part of Bankhead Wildlife Management Area (hunting is allowed) and Bankhead National Forest, they do not “promote” day use, as such, at least not to the extent as some forests. There is a small team of trail volunteers that had to go through forestry training in order to provide maintenance to the trails. For example, no gas chainsaws are permitted and all trees must be cut with hand saws, if they are allowed to be cut at all. Also, NO BLAZING OF, NOR ON, TREES. And I am guessing that the trail post numbering are probably a curtesy of the volunteers and not the Forest Service. So if you are wondering why the trails are so primitive or seem unkempt, this is why.