True to its name, the Alabama River flows through the heart of the state of Alabama. Originating just north of Montgomery, the Alabama River is born from the marriage of the Coosa River and the Tallapoosa River near the Fall Line. As with most of Alabama’s great rivers, dams slow the progress of the Alabama River as it flows to meet the Tombigbee River and form the Mobile River. All of the Alabama River downstream of Montgomery is commercially navigable.
The Alabama Scenic River Trail is a 631-mile boating trail from Weiss Lake down the Coosa River into the Alabama River and through the Mobile Delta to the Gulf of Mexico. Gage height readings and water discharge information for the Alabama River is available from NOAA. The lakes on the Alabama River are run-of-the-river type impoundments, each lake is basically the old river channel. From upstream to downstream, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lakes on the Alabama River are Jones Bluff, Millers Ferry, and Claiborne.
