The showy Cahaba lily (at Halfmile Shoals) thrives in clean, clear, rapidly flowing water. Beth Maynor Young Randy Haddock stands on a muddy riverbank in central Alabama, looking over his favorite ...

The longest free-flowing river in Alabama stretches almost 200 miles from its source at Echo Lake, 27 miles northeast of Birmingham, to its confluence with the Alabama River to the south of Selma.

visitors can take a canoe trip out to see the star-shaped flowers during the Cahaba Lily Festival in West Blocton, which is slated for May 17 this year. They are also visible from hiking trails ...