The Walls of Jericho is a large, bowl-shaped natural amphitheater that shoots water out of holes and cracks in the canyon wall during times of high water flow. The Walls are a unique formation that are part of one of The Nature Conservancy's newest acquisitions, more than 21,000 acres of rivers, forested uplands and caves spreading across the Alabama and Tennessee state line. This beautiful tract, which was once the hunting grounds of Davy Crockett, was recently purchased by The Nature Conservancy through a partnership with Alabama's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Division of State Lands.
Alabama State Lands Division developed a 2-mile hand-constructed hiking trail that leads from a parking area on Alabama Highway 79 to a small primitive campsite adjacent to Clarke Cemetery at the mouth of the limestone canyon that forms the Walls of Jericho. From there, visitors can either follow Turkey Creek upstream into the "walls," or continue on another small trail leading up the side of the canyon above Turkey Creek. The marked trail ends at the Alabama/Tennessee state line, but many visitors elect to continue upstream above a small waterfall and into an area known as the amphitheater, where the limestone geology has been eroded by the stream and formed a bowl-like formation. The canyon walls quickly close in beyond the bowl, where one last cascading waterfall and pool block the way to further exploration. It is truly a trail that all hikers should experience.