Monte Sano Mountain

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

According to sources, “our” mountain’s name was Spanish for “Mountain of Health.” The mountain rises more than 1,600 feet above sea level and has attracted visitors since the mid-1820s. The 2,140 acre state park, located atop the mountain, officially opened on August 25, 1938. 

In a way, it is nice not to have to compare how Monte Sano Mountain was to how it is today, since this natural wonder was there long before us and will be there long after us. Of course there have been changes since we were kids exploring there, but many of its features are ageless.

I still enjoy just driving up the mountain in the summertime and letting my ears pop with the altitude and actually feeling the difference in temperatures between being up there and being down in the city.

Monte Sano State Park was a place where most of us went first with our families and later in life with others. We had picnics, went riding at the horse stables, hiked the trails, and explored new worlds. One of the fun places to play was on the ruins of the old Monte Sano Tavern that had been built in 1937. It was destroyed in a fire in 1947, when I was one year old, but the ruins were still standing when the Baby Boomers started going to the mountain to play. It made a great fort to play on and had great walls to scale. Most of us probably have at least one photo in our family album taken on one of the rock walls.

For many of us, the mountain was a great place to go camping, and during my Boy Scout days in Troop 66, I spent many nights camping under the pine trees and stars. In the fall and winter it got cold, but during the summer, the days were hot but the nights were cool. I camped there with just a few friends, with a whole troop of Scouts, and with all the Madison County Scouts during events they called Camporees. Park admittance was free and there was no fee for camping or parking back then. 

Before I was old enough to be a Scout, my friends and I would ride our bicycles as far up Bankhead Parkway as we could and then coast back down at death-defying speeds. Our bicycles of the day were one-speed models, so the peddling was hard, and sometimes we even had to get off and push them up some of the inclines, but we knew the reward awaiting us would be worth the effort.

On the way up, we’d always stop and rest at the old horseshoe-shaped rock well, on the side of the road. I know we never made it all the way to the top of the road, but we always got far enough to enjoy the ride. We would also make it to one of the overlooks, and in those younger days, enjoyed them for their natural beauty. We’d linger there a while, then anxiously hop on the bicycles and head down the hill, with gravity doing the work we did not have the strength left to do.

Mike Boggs, Class of ’64, has the greatest story I have ever heard about coasting down from the top of Monte Sano. He calls it his “Great Radio Flyer Caper.” He says it sounded good at the start, but the idea went to pot quickly. The original idea was for him and his friends to take turns riding in a wagon down the really steep part of the road above a 180 degree curve at the top of the mountain.

He and his friends were all 15, except for one who was 16 and had a driver’s license to provide the transportation to the top of Monte Sano. They spent an hour or so scaring themselves silly at the idea, and then it started to rain. As they were loading up to go back down, he “had a brain fart,” in his own words, and decided to ride the wagon all the way to the bottom! His friend Larry thought that was a fine idea and decided he would be his co-pilot. 

Since they thought it might be a little dangerous, they put on a couple of army helmets they had with them. Mike weighed about 150 pounds and sat in front driving and Larry, at about 200 pounds, sat in back - mostly screaming. They picked up speed slowly, and that gave them a false sense of security. They were only going about 25 miles per hour when they passed the park ranger going up the hill. They waved.

By the time they got to the area where the Land Trust parking lot is today they were ripping along at 45mph or so and the front end of the wagon was doing a high-speed wobble. The steering couldn't be controlled and they went straight off the high side on the next curve. Larry rolled off the back, feet in the air, and made like a flying “V.” Mike went over the nose still holding on to the tongue of the wagon.

When their bodies came to a stop, and they determined they had no broken bones or major wounds, they picked up the wagon, got back in the car with their friends who had followed in trail, and went home.

“It was a ride to remember,” he says.

Mike probably said a few prayers during his wild ride, and the mountain was a great place to pray. I remember going to the Easter sunrise services several times when I was growing up. The mountain was a beautiful setting for such a religious event. I will never forget how cold it was standing out in the grassy, dew-covered fields awaiting the sun to actually “rise” and the thoughts I had about how great a nice cup of hot chocolate would taste. You felt a little closer to heaven when you had the services there.

Later in life we would enjoy the views from the mountain overlooks differently than we did in our pre-dating days. Seclusion became one of the mountain’s most valued assets. It is no secret that the favorite parking spot for us was one of the scenic overviews on Monte Sano Mountain.  High up on the mountain, the scenic overviews offered a glorious vista, with Huntsville and all its magnificent twinkling lights far down below.  The lights of Oakwood Avenue radiated to the horizon. It really would have been scenic had it been possible to see through the fog on the windshield of the car.  But if that were the case, it was a waste of time and gas to have driven all the way up on the mountain anyway. We sat as couples and listened to WAAY on the car radios in a string of cars and enjoyed the untroubled life of teenagers.

I asked the AI Music app to create me a romantic song about Monte Sano and the result is down below. 

I also asked for a drawing as well and Co-Pilot responded, "Here’s your romantic Monte Sano sticker—warm sunset, cozy couple, and nostalgic charm all wrapped into one. I hope it captures the feeling you’re after."

Below is an AI designed drawing to accompany the AI song.

“Monte Sano Nights”

Music Created By Tommy Towery With AI Music Generator

[Verse 1]

Monte Sano nights, oh how they glow,

Up on that hill where the young hearts go.

With the city lights twinklin' down below,

A soft radio hum, just a lover's show.

[Chorus]

Monte Sano nights, where dreams take flight,

In the moonlight's arms and the starlight's might.

A gentle breeze whispers, holds us tight,

Monte Sano nights, oh, Monte Sano nights.

[Verse 2]

Your hand in mine, the world fades away,

The hum of the engine, like it wants to stay.

The night air’s cool, but your warmth won’t stray,

Monte Sano keeps secrets till the break of day.

[Prechorus]

Soft music plays, a tune so light,

It melts with the moon and the stars so bright.

[Chorus]

Monte Sano nights, where dreams take flight,

In the moonlight's arms and the starlight's might.

A gentle breeze whispers, holds us tight,

Monte Sano nights, oh, Monte Sano nights.

[Bridge]

The car backseat, our little retreat,

Hearts beat faster where our shadows meet.

City lights blinkin', like they know our plight,

Caught in the spell of Monte Sano nights.

The Wayback Machine

"Radar Men from the Moon"

 Chapter 6 - Hills of Death

We continue the serial this week, just like they did back in the movies during our times.

Lee Lunch Bunch

Lee High ‘64, ‘65, ‘66 Classmates

Oct. 23, 2025 @ 11:00 a.m.

Carrabba’s Restaurant

(Parkway Place Mall)

Please RSVP by Oct. 20th so the restaurant will know how many will be attending, for staffing purposes.

Patsy Hughes Oldroyd

256-431-3396

patsykeith2025@outlook.com

(Note: This is a new email address for Patsy.

 Old att.net email is no longer available.)

                            OR

Judy Fedrowisch Kincaid

256-656-3667

njkincaid@hotmail.com

I continue playing with the AI music app as I expand on some of the subjects we have covered in the past.

I know I will not be getting any confessions of people parking on the mountain, but I know at least one of you did. For the rest of you, I feel confident you will recall some of your own experiences in your own mind, even though they will not be shared here. If you ever parked there, you will probably never forget who was with you. They may not still be in your life, but the memories remain. I hope the words to the song bring a smile to your face.

Maybe at least one of you will admit that.

Last Week's Questions, Answers, And Comments

Joel Weinbaum, LHS ‘64, "I didn't see any mention of Huntsville's unique scrambled pedestrian crossings at the traffic lights downtown."

(Editor's Note: The story was primarily about the courthouse, and not genetically downtown. I do remember the subject you are talking about. Specifically I remember the diagnal crossing at Clinton and Washington Streets."