Hiking To King’s Chair In Oak Mountain State Park, Alabama

During our stay at the Hyatt Place Birmingham/Inverness, Shae and I were looking for some pet-friendly hiking in the local area. After doing some research, it looked like one of our best options would be hiking to King’s Chair.

King’s Chair is an overlook in Oak Mountain State Park which is the largest state park in Alabama. The King’s Chair loop is a moderate 4.2 mile hike (2.1 miles each way) and is worth the effort for the stunning views.

One thing to be aware of is that there’s a $5 entry fee per person to get into Oak Mountain State Park. I’d left my wallet at the hotel which had our cash in it, so we had to head back up the road to a bank and then return to the park (Shae had thankfully brought her ATM card).

The guy at the park’s back entrance was very friendly and gave us a map of the park and a milk bone for Truffles – fuel for the hike ahead. From there, we drove 1.75 miles to the North Trailhead parking lot.

The parking lot has a basic toilet and changing area, but no running water.

Once you’re ready, cross over the road to the North Trailhead which is the start point for several different trails. The King’s Chair loop follows the blue South Rim Trail, although it doesn’t go the entire distance. That’s why the loop’s only 4.2 miles rather than the 6.7 miles shown below for the entire South Rim Trail.

If you didn’t get a trail map when entering the park, there’s a large map you can take a photo of before you start your hike.

The North Trailhead is in the northeast corner of Oak Mountain State Park. The South Rim Trail heads south before you take an offshoot to the east to reach King’s Chair. If you don’t take the King’s Chair Overlook trail, you’d continue southwest on the South Rim Trail until you reach Peavine Falls.

A close up of the map gives a better view of the King’s Chair loop that you’ll take.

The trails set off in different directions from the North Trailhead; the blue South Rim Trail starts straight ahead of you.

The South Rim Trail is incredibly well marked, with blue rectangular blazes nailed to trees throughout the route.

We hiked to King’s Chair at the end of March, so most of the trees didn’t have any leaves on them, but that didn’t mean there was nothing interesting to see. We’d thought initially that these holes were the work of a woodpecker, but it turns out that it was probably from a sapsucker.

The very beginning of the trail is easy, but don’t let that fool you.

At the No. 1 marker, there’s a 0.3 mile trail offshoot you can take that leads to a Scenic Creek Overlook. We gave it a miss though as we wanted to ensure we had time to do the Peavine Falls hike that afternoon too.

The start of the South Rim Trail towards King’s Chair soon becomes harder, with both steep declines…

…and steep inclines.

Just over halfway along the route there’s another trail offshoot taking you to the Eagle’s Nest overlook. While the main trail has rectangular blue trail blazes, the offshoots have blazes of different shapes.

Seeing as the overlook wasn’t far away, I made my way uphill while Shae and Truffles waited for me below.

There’s a large boulder you’ll come to first, but that’s not the overlook.

Instead, keep walking uphill a little further until you reach this boulder. (Edit: Based on Carol’s comment below, I was mistaken – the boulder below isn’t Eagle’s Nest overlook which explains why the view from the “overlook” wasn’t great!)

Unfortunately the view from Eagle’s Nest Overlook isn’t very impressive as the trees – even without leaves – block much of the mountain view in the distance.

After descending from Eagle’s Nest, the South Rim Trail continued steeply uphill.

One of the things we appreciated about the trail is that it was incredibly well marked. With a corresponding map, it’s incredibly easy to keep track of where you are.

At that No. 6 route marker, there’s a 0.3 mile trail offshoot taking you to the King’s Chair overlook.

In addition to the route markers, there are some markers with comprehensive information about the trail. This lists the length, elevation, grade, cross slope, tread width, surface type and more.

The trail levels off a little from here, although you’re still heading uphill. As you continue along the trail, you’ll start getting glimpses of some good views.

Keep walking along and you’ll approach a rock formation.

Soon enough you’ll reach the overlook with beautiful views of the area.

The first section you come to isn’t actual King’s Chair. To get there, walk up a little further to the right and up to these rocks…

…where you’ll see a rocky outcrop – this is King’s Chair.

Truffles had a Simba moment…

…while Shae and I slowly inched our way to the edge.

King’s Chair overlook is a stunning place to sit and relax, so we stopped to eat our packed lunch and enjoyed the views.

After lunch, we took a family photo for the road and headed back on the South Rim Trail.

Truffles apparently wasn’t stinky enough from the hike, so she decided to roll around in the dirt on the way back down.

Final Thoughts

Shae, Truffles and I had a great time hiking the King’s Chair loop. Although it’s only a moderate hike, its fairly steep inclines and declines make it feel like you’ve earned the view once you reach the top.

If you’ll be visiting Oak Mountain State Park, we can recommend spending the entire day there. It’s a beautiful setting and there are plenty of other trails you can take, including one to Peavine Falls.