
Lake Lurleen State Park in Tuscaloosa County Closes for Major Upgrades
Lake Lurleen State Park in western Tuscaloosa County is closed for all activities except hiking and mountain biking on a stretch of its trails as major upgrades get underway at the serene retreat.
The 1,625-acre retreat in Coker is one of 21 Alabama State Parks, and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is working to improve it and many others with more than $150 million in funding for renovations, repairs and new projects in 2024.
ADCNR called the work to be done at Lake Lurleen "an almost complete renovation," featuring a new playground, entrance building, bathhouses and more.

“We will redo all the campground sites and probably put a barndominium there,” State Parks Director Greg Lein said last year. “We’re also building cabins. That park has never had any cabins. They will be tiny house cabins, like at Meaher State Park. That will be a big improvement for the park. That bidding will happen in the next couple of months, and the renovations should be complete in the fall of 2025.”
The Tuscaloosa County treasure is now officially closed for this transformative work, but park staff said about 15 of the 23+ miles of the hiking and biking trails cut into the park's woods on the lake shore are still open.
A new temporary access trail has been cut to lead outdoorsmen and women to the Park's gorgeous trail system, which remains open except about six miles in the northern sections of the park.
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Gallery Credit: (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)