Things to Do in Huntsville and North Alabama
The Rocket City and the lakes, canyons and music towns around it.
See top-rated activities »About north Alabama
Huntsville is north Alabama's big city, best known for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and the NASA history of Redstone Arsenal. We cover it in depth on our sister guide, Best in Huntsville, with its own pages on the space center, downtown, Monte Sano, Madison and the Lowe Mill arts scene. This page is about the rest of the region, most of it within an hour or two of Huntsville.
The Tennessee River shapes north Alabama. TVA dams turned it into a chain of long lakes, and Lake Guntersville, the largest, is known for bass fishing and for the bald eagles that winter around Lake Guntersville State Park, where the park holds eagle-watching weekends in January. East of the lake, Cathedral Caverns State Park has one of the widest cave entrances in the country and a huge stalagmite inside, and in Scottsboro the Unclaimed Baggage store sells the contents of lost airline luggage. Farther east, on top of Lookout Mountain near Fort Payne, Little River Canyon National Preserve has waterfalls, overlooks along a canyon rim drive and swimming holes.
In the northwest corner, the Shoals cities of Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield and Tuscumbia are full of music history. FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio recorded soul, rock and country hits in the 1960s and 1970s, and both offer tours. Florence was the birthplace of W.C. Handy, the father of the blues, and holds a music festival in his name every summer, while Tuscumbia preserves Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller, where The Miracle Worker is staged outdoors in summer.
Don’t Miss
Lakeside trails, a lodge on the bluff and winter eagle-watching weekends on Alabama's largest lake.
Guided tours through a cave with an enormous entrance and one of the largest stalagmites in the world.
A canyon on Lookout Mountain with a rim drive, overlooks, waterfalls and swimming holes.
A large store selling clothes, electronics and oddities from lost airline luggage, a north Alabama curiosity.
The restored 3614 Jackson Highway studio where the Swampers backed rock and soul stars; guided tours.
Rick Hall's working studio where Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Etta James recorded; tours most days.
The birthplace of Helen Keller, with the water pump where she learned her first word.
Top-Rated Tours, Tickets & Activities in north Alabama
Tours, tickets, prices and reviews from Viator (a Tripadvisor company) and Tiqets — prices are per person, from, and were checked October 28, 2026. Best in Alabama may earn a commission when you book, at no extra cost to you.
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What is there to do near Huntsville, Alabama?
Lake Guntersville, Cathedral Caverns, Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro, Little River Canyon and the Muscle Shoals studios are all good day trips. For Huntsville itself, see bestinhuntsville.com.
When can you see bald eagles at Lake Guntersville?
Eagles winter on the lake from about December through February, and the state park's eagle-watching weekends are usually held in January.
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