Sipsey in the Bankhead, Cheaha and Dugger Mountain in the Talladega, designated between 1977 and 1999. Motors and mechanised equipment are barred from all three
Two All-American Roads, the Natchez Trace Parkway and the Selma to Montgomery March Byway, and two National Scenic Byways, the Talladega Scenic Drive and Alabama’s Coastal Connection
Scenic drive the Forest Service publishes for the state 22
1
The Talladega Scenic Drive is the only named driving route across all four Alabama national forests. Everything else is an unnamed forest road on a motor vehicle use map
The Talladega Scenic Drive, as FHWA measures it 33
26.4 mi
The Forest Service gives the same byway as 29 miles. FHWA allows an hour for it and charges a dollar a person for the side trip into Cheaha State Park
Of Pinhoti National Recreation Trail in the Talladega 23
140 mi
Piedmont to Sylacauga, in the forest’s own Talladega handout. The same forest’s wilderness page calls it 100 miles of moderate to difficult hiking. It is a walking trail, not a driving one
Combined length of the Black Warrior and Tombigbee lakes 35
457 mi
Six lakes, Demopolis, Coffeeville, Warrior, Oliver, Holt and Bankhead, and 39,800 surface acres of water, all of it Mobile District
Approximately, on the coast beside Gulf State Park and the Coastal Connection byway. No vehicle may be driven on the sand anywhere along it
Building a van for Alabama
A van suits this state. The four byways are paved, the towns are close together, and the camping a van can reach is mostly developed: 19 Corps of Engineers campgrounds, Open Pond and Payne Lake open all year, Gulf State Park with 496 improved sites.
Build for humidity rather than cold. Mean annual temperature is 63.6 degrees and summer on the coastal plain runs long and wet enough to matter to insulation, condensation and a compressor fridge. Ground clearance earns more than low range here, because the hazard on a Bankhead or Oakmulgee road is a soft shoulder after rain, not a rock step.
A conversion is a small house on a moving, flexing, weight-limited platform. The builder insulates and lines the shell, installs the electrical system, plumbing, heat and ventilation, builds the bed, galley and storage, and cuts the holes for windows, fans and vents that you do not want to get wrong.
Some shops build complete vans to a set floor plan. Others build to order, and a few will take on partial work such as electrical only.
A typical conversion includes
01Insulation, wall and ceiling panels, and flooring
02House battery, alternator charging, solar, inverter and shore power
03Roof fan, heater, and sometimes air conditioning
04Fresh and gray water, a sink, and sometimes a shower and water heater
05Bed, galley, seating and storage
06Windows, racks, ladders, awnings and exterior lighting
How to choose a van builder
Floor plans are easy to fall for. The questions underneath them matter more.
01Decide between a shop's standard layout and a custom build. Standard layouts are faster, and the shop has already solved their problems.
02Ask what the finished van weighs with water and gear. Sprinters are sold in several gross weight ratings, and a heavy build on the lightest chassis leaves little margin.
03Ask how the electrical system is protected and documented, and whether the components can be serviced on the road.
04Ask how cabinetry is fastened to the van. Furniture that is only screwed to thin wall panels works loose on rough roads.
05Ask how added seats and seat belts are engineered and anchored if anyone rides behind the front row.
06Get the scope, price, payment schedule and delivery date in writing.
What to have ready before you ask for a quote
The van you order decides what can be built in it, so it helps to talk to a builder before you buy.
01Model year, 144 or 170 wheelbase, roof height, and two-wheel, all-wheel or four-wheel drive
02How many people sleep in it and how many ride in it
03The seasons and climates you travel in
04Whether you need to work from it
05What goes inside with you: bikes, boards, dogs
06A budget range and the date you want to be traveling
Questions people ask
Do I need to own the van before I contact a builder?
No. Many builders would rather talk first, because the wheelbase, roof height and drivetrain you order decide what can be built. Some shops can also source a van.
How long does a Sprinter conversion take?
A full custom build is usually measured in months, plus whatever wait the shop has before it can start. Standard layouts are quicker. Ask for both numbers.
Should I get the 144 or the 170 wheelbase?
The 144 is easier to park, turn and drive on tight roads. The 170 gives you room for a fixed bed and a real galley without compromise. Think about where you will actually drive it, then about how you want to live in it.
Can these builders work on a Ford Transit or Ram ProMaster?
Many do. If you are on another platform, say so in the form and we will look for shops with that experience.
How high is Alabama?
From Gulf Shores at 7 feet to Cheaha Mountain at 2,407.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
02,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
HeflinCleburne County seat at 960 feet on US 78 and Interstate 20. The Shoal Creek Ranger District office is here, and the Talladega Scenic Drive leaves State Route 281 just west of town.960 ft
Fort PayneDeKalb County seat at 905 feet under Lookout Mountain. DeSoto State Park is eight miles northeast and the Little River Canyon Rim Parkway runs south from the falls.905 ft
Double SpringsWinston County seat and the Bankhead Ranger District office on Highway 33. Flint Creek, one of the state’s two OHV trails, is run from here.824 ft
AnnistonCalhoun County seat between the Shoal Creek and Talladega districts. The largest services stop within reach of Dugger Mountain, Choccolocco and the northern Pinhoti.711 ft
GuntersvilleMarshall County seat at 637 feet on the Tennessee River. Lake Guntersville State Park covers 6,000 acres of woodland above town with 36 miles of trail.637 ft
TalladegaTalladega Ranger District office, and the way up to Lake Chinnabee, Turnipseed and the Kentuck trail. Last town of any size on the west side of the Cheaha high ground.555 ft
FlorenceLauderdale County on the north bank of the Tennessee River. The Natchez Trace Parkway crosses this county between mileposts 328 and 342 before it leaves for Tennessee.550 ft
TuscumbiaColbert County seat south of the river. The parkway runs the length of this county from milepost 309 to 328, with the Colbert Ferry site on the Tennessee River at 327.3.468 ft
TuskegeeMacon County seat beside the smallest national forest in the country, which allows primitive camping anywhere outside gun deer season. Taska Recreation Area is 3.5 miles east on US 80 and 29.462 ft
AndalusiaCovington County seat and the Conecuh Ranger District office on Alabama Highway 55. Fuel and tyres before Open Pond, Blue Lake and the Florida line.345 ft
EufaulaBarbour County on the Chattahoochee, beside Walter F. George Lake and its 640 miles of shoreline, 13 Corps day use parks and four campgrounds.263 ft
BrentBibb County, and the Oakmulgee Ranger District office on Highway 5. The way in to Payne Lake, the Vick and South Sandy ranges and the district’s ten year-round hunting camps.241 ft
MontgomeryThe Forest Service supervisor’s office for all four Alabama national forests is on Chestnut Street. East end of the Selma to Montgomery March Byway and the nearest city to Horseshoe Bend.238 ft
SelmaDallas County seat at 137 feet on the Alabama River. West end of the 54-mile All-American Road to Montgomery, and close to the Corps lakes on the middle river.137 ft
DemopolisMarengo County, where the Tombigbee meets the Black Warrior. Corps resource manager’s office two miles west on US 80, and the south end of the Tennessee-Tombigbee river section.125 ft
Gulf ShoresSeven feet above the Gulf. Gulf State Park and its 496 improved campsites, the east end of Alabama’s Coastal Connection, and a city ordinance that bans every motor vehicle from the sand.7 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Cheaha MountainTalladega Scenic Drive: US 78 west of Heflin to Adams Gap, on State Route 2812,407 ft
Dugger MountainCalhoun County, in the Dugger Mountain Wilderness on the Shoal Creek district. Measured for this chart from the 3DEP surface; no agency publishes a figure for it2,134 ft
Monte Sano MountainMadison County above Huntsville, the north end of the same ridge country. Our own 3DEP reading, not an agency figure1,654 ft
Adams GapClay County, where the pavement of the Talladega Scenic Drive ends and Forest Service Road 600 begins. Our own 3DEP reading1,443 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
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