If you long for the great outdoors while also craving variety, Talladega County’s the place for you! Whether you’re looking for hiking or biking trails, motorsports or water sports or rich Alabama history, Talladega is your one-stop shop.
Talladega County is located in the northeast central part of Alabama, consisting of more than 750 square miles. The area was created by an act of the Alabama General Assembly on Dec. 18, 1832, from land ceded by the Creek Native Americans in the Treaty of Cusseta.
The Talladega Superspeedway, host to two National Association for Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) races each year in April and late October, is one of the most popular national and international attractions in the county. The Talladega Superspeedway is the largest race track in the NASCAR circuit and is considered the most competitive motor-sports facility in the world.
Founded by Bill Frances, Sr., the speedway was inaugurated in 1969. When the facility opened, it was named Alabama International Motor Speedway and later in 1989 adopted the name Talladega Superspeedway. The facility is used year-round in many different ways. Automakers use the track to test cars for both speed and endurance, and Alabama State Troopers and other law enforcement personnel use the track for high-speed pursuit and defensive-driving training.
This year’s fall event will take place October 23-25.
Also founded by Frances in 1982, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum, adjacent to the Superspeedway, is dedicated to those who have contributed the most to the sport of auto racing either as a driver, owner, designer, rider or engineer and to preserve the history of motorsports on a worldwide basis.
Talladega is also home to the first school for the blind in the state and one of the nation’s most comprehensive educational programs for the deaf and blind, the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind (AIDB).
AIDB has provided education and outreach services to people with visual and hearing impairments since 1858. The organization consists of the Alabama School for the Deaf, the Alabama School for the Blind, the Helen Keller School of Alabama, the E.H. Gentry Technical Facility, nine regional centers and the Alabama Industries for the Blind. Today, the school continues to serve the needs of Alabamians from all around the state.
For outdoor adventure, Talladega National Forest covers 375,000 acres at the southern edge of the Appalachians and connects to portions of Cheaha Wilderness and State Park which extends into Talladega County as one of the oldest state parks in Alabama. Mount Cheaha, the highest point in the state at 2,407 feet above sea level, offers dramatic views of the woodlands of the surrounding Talladega National Forest and appeals to hikers from all over the Southeast.
Resting at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains in Childersburg is the family-owned business Majestic Caverns, formerly known as DeSoto Caverns, which is the first officially recorded cave in the U. S. The caverns are decorated with thousands of stalactite and stalagmite formations, making it one of the most concentrated collections of such specimens in the country.
Joy Sorensen, president of Majestic Caverns, and her husband Jared are the fifth generation to manage the caverns, which has been in the family for more than 100 years. In 2018, Sorensen said the caverns were named as the Most Historic Caverns in the nation by the National Cave Association. In 2022, the site underwent a name change, becoming Majestic Caverns. Sorensen said the name change was inspired due to guests assuming the cavern’s location was in DeSoto State Park in Fort Payne, as well as wanting to give it a name that more adequately described the cavern’s unique beauty.
Additionally, its 30-foot long onyx draperies are among the largest known free-hanging formations anywhere. The cave has a long and fascinating history, and in 1965, archeologists from the University of Alabama discovered a 2,000-year-old Native American burial ground.
From hiking to spelunking to NASCAR and more, Talladega County boasts a variety of sites that are sure to entertain, educate and entice.