Cahaba River - River Course

River Course

The Cahaba River begins in the Valley and Ridge region bounded by the Piedmont to the southeast and the Cumberland Plateau to the northwest. It has two major physical regions: Upper and Lower Cahaba. The river empties into the Alabama River. The Upper Cahaba is approximately the first 100 miles that starts at the mouth and continues to the Fall Line (the region in which the Appalachian Mountains end and the Gulf Coastal Plain begins), passing through Trussville, Leeds, Irondale, Birmingham, Mountain Brook, Helena, West Blocton, and Centerville. The Lower Cahaba starts at the Fall Line and continues through Selma and Cahaba until it empties into the Alabama River.