Rustic Visitor’s Guide to Alabama’s Forever Wild Land Trust Properties

An Unofficial Companion to the Forever Wild Land Trust Web site: http://www.alabamaforeverwild.com/

By Ken Wills

Sponsored By The Birmingham Audubon Society

Walls of Jericho Photo By Greg Harber

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Forever Wild Lands Represent Alabama’s Incredible Natural Diversity From the Mountains to the Sea

On November 6, 2012 the voters of Alabama will be asked to vote on Amendment 1 concerning the renewal of the Forever Wild Land Trust program. This guide was developed to help inform citizens about the diverse natural lands the Forever Wild Land Trust has protected for conservation and outdoor recreation around the state.

Alabama has a rich biodiversity due in part to its location in the transition from humid temperate to humid subtropical climate which greatly adds to its diversity. For example, deciduous hardwoods forests of the relatively cold Tennessee Valley transition to broadleaf evergreen forests on the warm Gulf Coast. Furthermore, no other state offers so much landform related biodiversity in such a small space. You might be surprised to know Alabama is second only to California in physical geographic diversity. Alabama’s diverse physical geography is due to its unique position at the end of all the East’s Appalachian/Upland provinces and its central location among the various Coastal Plain sub-provinces. Alabama boundaries contain most of the Southeast’s physical geographic regions. This physical geography along with climate variation from north to south has produced the fifth richest biodiversity in the nation. Although largely forested, the state’s geology and fire have produced treeless prairies and glades in various places in the state. An extensive river system developed in our state that contains one to the world’s greatest aquatic biodiversity centers, including a great number of fish, crawfish, aquatic insects, mussels and snails.

You could take a one-day car ride across the state if and pass through all 10 major regions of Alabama. Such a ride would take you past Canadian species in the canyons of the Appalachian Plateau, water-carved limestone caverns of the Interior Low Plateau; granite outcrops in the Piedmont, pygmy Virginia pine clinging to windswept quartzite outcroppings of the Blue Ridge Outliers, streams with an unbelievable diversity of fish, snails and other aquatic species in the Ridge and Valley, seasonally flooded cypress swamps in the Fall Line Hills, chalk cliffs of the Black Belt, open pine forests of the Chunnenuggee Hills, beech-magnolia forests of the Red Hills, species-rich carnivorous plant bogs in the nutrient-poor lower Coastal Plain and saltwater marshes in the Coastal Zone. However, we suggest that you slow down and enjoy Alabama’s natural wonders which are conserved on the Forever Wild Land Trust properties featured in this guide.

The Forever Wild Land Trust was established in 1992 by a statewide constitutional amendment passed by more than 82% of the vote, a national record for support for such a plan. No funding for the program comes from taxes. The program is funded by earnings on fees paid to the state by natural gas companies who drill off Alabama’s Coasts. The trust is administered by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and it purchases

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land from willing sellers that its board deems to be in greatest jeopardy. When private land for hunting began to grow scarce in Alabama, Forever Wild was there. When precious land is in jeopardy, Forever Wild is there.

Forever Wild lands are open to the public for various form of outdoor recreation including hiking, canoeing, hunting, fishing, bird watching and nature study. These conservation lands also help protect Alabama’s water and air quality as well as contribute to the state’s outdoor recreation and tourism industries.

The Forever Wild Land Trust Web site has more information about the trust as well as a variety of biological and recreational information relating to its properties. The Web site includes a great interactive map which links to brochures on the various Forever Wild tracts. The Web address of the site is http://www.alabamaforeverwild.com/

This guide is designed to be an unofficial supplement to the information obtained from the official Forever Wild Land Trust Web site. We hope to provide some more details on the special natural resources and recreational opportunities on the various tracts conserved by Forever Wild. This guide contains few pictures and no maps because those can be found on the Forever Wild Land Trust Web site. However, for those who do not have easy access to the internet, this document includes directions to the sites. This document is a rustic guide put together by a volunteer simply to help raise awareness of the Forever Wild Land Trust. Please note this guide was put together by the author based on information collected from site visits over several years.

Forever Wild has acquired additional acreage and developed more recreational facilities in some of these sites since the last visits. As a result, you may be pleasantly surprised to find more lands and recreational opportunities to enjoy when you visit these sites.

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Rustic Table of Contents- Locating Forever Wild Lands Around The State

The Forever Wild Land Trust Interactive Map can be found at the trust’s website or can be accessed directly through this link http://maps.dcnr.alabama.gov/fwlt/ The interactive map is the best way to locate Forever Wild Tracts. However, just in case you don’t have easy access to the internet this document contains a table of contents that can be used to locate Forever Wild tracts in the various areas of the state. Some of the significant cities around the state were used to group tracts in relatively close proximity to them. In the table of contents you will find the tracts grouped by a nearby significant city in two separate conservation categories. The first conservation category includes core conservation areas secured by Forever Wild and the second category includes conservation areas enhanced by Forever Wild purchases. To find Forever Wild conservations areas around the state, review the lists in both categories below and on the next page and follow the numbered sites through this document to the desired site. Consider this list a table of contents for the body of the document as well.

Core Conservation Areas Secured By Forever Wild

Scottsboro 1. Walls of Jericho Area

Florence 2. Blowing Springs Cave 3. Shoal Creek Preserve 4. Wildlife Management Areas of the Shoals Region

Birmingham 5. Turkey Creek Falls 6. Mulberry Fork Wildlife Management Area 7. William R. Ireland Sr./Cahaba River Wildlife Management Area

Anniston 8. Indian Mountain 9. Coldwater Mountain

Rockford 10. Coosa Wildlife Management Area

Tallassee 11. Yates Lake/Coon Creek

Tuscaloosa 12. Sipsey River Swamp Greensboro

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13. M. Barnett Lawley Forever Wild Field Trial

Selma 14. Old Cahawba Prairie

Eufaula 15. Barbour Wildlife Management Area/ Wehle Nature Center

Troy 16. Pocosin

Camden 17. Red Hills Preserve

Mobile 18. Splinter Hill Bog 19. Perdido River/Bay Area 20. Mobile-Tensaw Delta 21. Grand Bay Savanna

Conservation Areas Enhanced By Forever Wild Purchases

Huntsville 22. Monte Sano Mountain

Guntersville 23. Lake Guntersville State Park 24. Cathedral Caverns State Park

Fort Payne 25. Little River Canyon Area

Birmingham 26. Ruffner Mountain Nature Center 27. Tannehill Ironworks State Historic Park

Montgomery 28. Fort Toulouse/Jackson State Historic Site 29. Lowndes Wildlife Management Area

Foley 30. Weeks Bay National Estuarine Reserve

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Core Conservation Areas Secured By Forever Wild

1. The Walls of Jericho Area

The 26,000-plus acre James D. Martin-Skyline Wildlife Management Area was partially renamed to recognize the work of Alabama Department Conservation Commissioner James D. Martin. Mr. Martin contributed to the establishment of the Wildlife Management Area and played an important role in the establishment of the Forever Wild Land Trust. Large portions of this wildlife management area, specifically around the Walls of Jericho, were acquired by the Forever Wild Land Trust.

Over the last 30 years, the Walls of Jericho had become a famous place that few had seen. That is because this area was private land closed to the public back in the mid-1970s. After years of effort by many, Forever Wild was able to buy several thousand acres surrounding the Walls, which connects to other Skyline Wildlife Management Area lands and lands in Tennessee creating a 50,000-acre conservation complex. The Walls consist of a limestone formation along a creek in the shape of a bowl surrounded by impressive cliffs. The stream creates cascades and small waterfalls as it drops out of the bowl to progressively lower rock ledges. However, the Walls are most impressive after a heavy rain when water pours out of holes in the rock walls.

The state has developed a six-mile hiking trail that descends from Alabama 79 down into the canyonlands to the Walls of Jericho. This trail descends 1,000 vertical feet from the top of the mountain to the valley floor below and then requires an additional lengthy hike up a side canyon to the Walls. The hike back out will give you a very good workout, so make sure to give yourself plenty of time to make this hike at a pace that will not overstress your body. The hike down the slope passes through an upland hardwood forest with some limestone outcrops and sinkholes. The forests in this part of Alabama are largely hardwood which is unique in Alabama. The hardwood forests in this canyon country contain a significant amount of sugar maple normally associated with the New England and Canada as well as other northern species. Once you reach the valley bottom, you will cross a clear stream that is formed by this protected watershed of the Paint Rock River. This protected watershed helps maintain the overall Paint Rock River’s water quality, which is important to protecting its many threatened aquatic species. You will soon reach a large grass area maintained for wildlife, and it provides great views of the mountain you just descended and the climb you will have to make coming back out. The trail continues past an old graveyard and up the scenic side canyon to the Walls.

The Paint Rock River is one of the most pristine examples of a free flowing river in the Tennessee River drainage of Alabama. It stands in contrast to the nearby main stem of the Tennessee River, which is heavily dammed. The Paint Rock

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River is home to 100 species of fish and about 45 mussel species. Two of the mussel species (pale lilliput and Alabama lamp mussel) are found nowhere else in the world. Like the longer Cahaba River, the Paint Rock River holds the title of having more fish species than any stream its size in the nation. The Paint Rock is home to the only known population of the endangered snail darter in Alabama, and another fish (palezone shiner) is confined to the Paint Rock River and one stream in Kentucky.

The 2,161 acre Crow Creek Wildlife Management Area are bottomlands in the Tennessee River Valley. Southern red oak and pine occupy higher ground, while the lower and wetter soils are true bottomland hardwood forest. These lands border other wildlife management areas which border the upper Lake Guntersville portion of the Tennessee River. Forever Wild purchased a 182-acre tract that connects the Lower Big Coon Creek Unit of Skyline and the Crow Creek and neighboring wildlife management areas along Big Coon Creek. Wildlife and recreationalists now have a continuous protected natural area with habitats ranging from mountain tops to bottomlands along the Tennessee River.

Forever Wild has also helped conserve natural habitat at Coon Gulf which is a nearby canyon on Lake Guntersville. This area borders the Tennessee Valley Authority Raccoon Small Wild Area, which has some nice old-growth chestnut oak below the cliff line of Sand Mountain.

Directions:

Walls of Jericho From Scottsboro, take US 72 West approximately 4.8 miles to Alabama 79. Turn right on to Alabama 79 and travel north about 25 miles to the horseback riding trail parking lot. Travel another mile north on Alabama 79 to the hiking trail parking lot.

Crow Creek Wildlife Management Area The Crow Creek Wildlife Management Area can be accessed by taking Jackson County Road 54 and 45 west out of Stephenson until you see small yellow Wildlife Management Area signs.

Coon Gulf From Scottsboro, take U.S. 72 north about 20 miles to Alabama 117. Turn right on Alabama 117 and travel about 3 miles to Jackson County Road 491. Turn left on County Road 491 and travel about 5 miles. A roadside parking area is available at the gate on the left.

For More Information:

Walls of Jericho http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/

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Walls_of_Jericho/Walls.pdf

Crow Creek WMA http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Jackson%20County-Coon%20Gulf%20Tract%20Final%20Map.pdf

Coon Gulf http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/7 8CoonGulfGlawson/CoonGulfGlawson.pdf

2. Blowing Springs Cave

This 60-acre property in Lauderdale County was purchased by the Forever Wild Land Trust to protect vital habitat of the threatened gray bat. The site is beautiful, and it occupies a floodplain along a creek that merges into a wooded limestone hillside where the cave is found. The namesake spring of the property flows out of a small cave opening at the base of the hill. Air blows out of this opening, and the namesake spring forms a crystal clear run that flows across the floodplain to the creek.

Directions: From Florence, take U.S. 72 east 19.7 miles to Alabama 207 in Rogersville. Turn left onto Alabama 207 and go 2.6 miles to Lauderdale County Road 92. Turn left onto County Road 92. Travel 1.1 miles. Parking is available along the right side of the road roughly 0.1 miles past First Creek.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ BlowingSpringCave/BlowingSpringsCave.pdf

3. Shoal Creek Preserve

The Shoal Creek Preserve is a 298-acre purchase by Alabama’s Forever Wild land acquisition program. The area contains broad uplands and flatter, less rocky and deeper-soiled uplands of the property are in an early stage of forest succession. The main attraction of the preserve is the slopes and streams of the property. The steep slopes and stream gradients have created a multitude of waterfalls and shoals. Lower slopes along streams have an abundance of rock outcrops. The rich soils of these drainages support diverse hardwood forests, which include Ohio buckeye as well as a wealth of spring woodland wildflowers such as spring beauty and Jacob’s ladder. Shoal Creek, which makes up the eastern border of the property, forms a slough of the Wilson Lake impoundment while tributaries such as Jones Branch are free flowing cascading streams. Walking along these tributaries can be a good way to see spring wildflowers,

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waterfalls, and shoals.

Directions: From Florence, turn north onto Lauderdale County Road 47 towards St. Florian. In St. Florian, turn left onto County Road 61/Butler Creek Road. The tract is located roughly 2 miles down the road on the right.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ ShoalCreekPreserve/ShoalCreekPreserve.pdf

4. Wildlife Management Areas of the Shoals Region

The Shoals region of Alabama is named after the huge shoals that once existed on the Fall Line of the Tennessee River. The terrain in the region contains a mixture of limestone and chert formations associated with the Interior Low Plateau as well as the sandy hills of the Upper Coastal Plain. Forever Wild has acquired more than 30,000 acres north and south of the Tennessee River in this region which are included in the Lauderdale, Riverton and Freedom Hills Wildlife Management Areas.

The Lauderdale Wildlife Management Area contains some of the Flint Hill forest country of Alabama’s Interior Low Plateau. While the Tennessee Valley Authority owns some of the management area, the state’s lease on many of the private tracts was in jeopardy, and local citizens asked the Forever Wild Land Trust to buy the land. The cut-over forests of this area have great potential for restoration. Cover and slopes found along streams in the wildlife management area contain chert outcrops surrounded by rich hardwood forests including sugar maple.

The Freedom Hills Wildlife Management Area lies in the rolling hills of this fall ;ine transition zone between upland and coastal plain provinces. The Natchez Trace passes through the property and the Parkway’s Freedom Hills Overlook offers a scenic view across this wildlife management area. The wildlife management area is probably most famous for surrounding Coon Dog Cemetery where only champion hounds can be buried. Between the Lauderdale and Freedom Hills Wildlife Management Area lies additional Forever Wild purchases which make up the Riverton Community Hunting Area which like all wildlife management areas is open to various forms of outdoor recreation.

Directions:

Lauderdale Wildlife Management Area To reach the most scenic portion of the Lauderdale Wildlife Management Area, 9

which is along the Tennessee River, take Alabama 20 (Savannah Highway) west out of Florence, turn left onto Lauderdale County Road 14 and travel about 22 miles past the Natchez Trace, Civil War-related historic Gravely Springs area to the Waterloo area with its abundant wintering bald eagles. In Waterloo, go northwest on Pea Ridge Road and then take a left onto Union Hollow Road. Follow Union Hollow Road down into the wildlife management area and the hollows along the Pickwick Lake portion of the Tennessee River. Other area roads weave in and out of the wildlife management area.

Freedom Hills Wildlife Management Area: From Florence, take U.S. 72 West/U.S. 43 South across O’Neal Bridge and travel about 6 miles, turn right and follow U.S. 72 West. Travel about 13.1 miles to Colbert County Road 33. Turn left on to County Road 33 and go 3.9 miles to the parking lot. While the Freedom Hills Overlook on the Natchez Trace offers scenic views of the property, Colbert County Road 21 and side roads (gated and non-gated) offer opportunities to explore the interior of the management area. Coon Dog Cemetery is located on this road as well.

Consult wildlife management area maps before exploring the area to make the most of your visit.

For more information:

Lauderdale Wildlife Management Area http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Lauderdale%20WMA%20Final%20Map.pdf

Riverton Community Hunting Area http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Riverton%20Community%20Hunting%20Area%20Final%20Map.pdf

Freedom Hills WMA http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Freedom%20Hills%20WMA%20Final%20Map.pdf

Forever Wild Purchases in these WMAs http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/L auderdaleAndFreedomHillsWMAAdditions/LaudFreedomWMA.pdf

5. Turkey Creek Falls

A 462-acre Forever Wild property in the Shale Basin can be found in Jefferson County at Turkey Creek Falls. The area lies along the border of the Sand

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Mountain Plateau and the Shale Basin country, so it has features of both. Turkey Creek is the world’s only home of the vermillion darter. This area of the creek has lots of cliffs, boulders, and scenic shoals in addition to the fantastic low height but high volume falls. When facing downstream at the falls you will notice a mostly dry stream channel to the left of a large boulder. You will also notice the remains of a rock wall on the road side of the old channel. This rock wall is the remains of an old watermill, which is thought to have powered bellows from one of the area’s earliest ironworks. There is parking at both ends of the property and across the road from the falls. A paved trail passes through the woods by the parking area in the western end of the property. However, the best walk is simply to park at the east end of the property and walk the quiet one-way road through the property to the falls and beyond while keeping an eye out for an occasional car. The route follows along streamside shoals downstream to the falls. The Southern Environmental Center of Birmingham Southern University has developed an ecoscape garden of native plants near the falls on land that was once an eroded parking area.

Directions: From Birmingham, take I-65 North to I-59 North. On I-59 North take exit 128 (U.S. 79). Follow U.S. 79 North for 12.1 miles to Jefferson County Road 131. Turn left on County Road 131. Follow County Road 131 for 0.2 miles and turn right onto Turkey Creek Road. Turkey Creek Road shortly becomes one way after it enters the nature preserve and then follows the creek past the various features including a parking lot across the road from the falls. The road continues through the Forever Wild property until you reach another entrance on County Road 131. Please note the preserve is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/T urkeyCreek/TurkeyCreek.pdf

Turkey Creek Photo By Greg Harber

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6. Mulberry Fork Wildlife Management Area

The Bankhead Lake area on the Black Warrior River contains scenic bluffs and forests, many of them included in the Mulberry Fork Wildlife Management Area. Forever Wild helped protect this area by acquiring a long-term wildlife management lease on Mulberry Fork Wildlife Management Area. This area contains some mining and extensive pine plantations on ridges which will be managed by a private timber company. But drains, hollows and the slopes along the river contain rocky bluffs, natural hardwood and mixed forests worth visiting. Canoeist and other boaters can explore the wildlife management area by following sections of lake’s main shoreline and impounded tributaries such as Walker County Shoal Creek to their free-flowing heads passing scenic bluffs and marshes along with wildlife such as red fox, blue winged teal, and wild turkey. You can launch your canoe or boat at the many nearby private fish camps and marinas. If you canoe on the lake stick close to the shore in cold weather and watch for the wake from barges.

Directions: From Birmingham, take Exit 120/Alabama 269 off Interstate 20. Go West on Alabama 269 29.6 miles to Walker County Road 53. Turn left on County Road 53 and travel 6.9 miles to County Road 6. Turn left on County Road 6 and travel 1.6 miles to the check-in station. The Mulberry Fork Wildlife Management Area can be accessed from many seasonally open side roads. You will notice signs for local marinas and fish camps before you enter the wildlife management area, and these businesses offer boat access to Walker County Shoal Creek and other waters adjacent to the wildlife management area.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Mulberry%20Fork%20WMA%20Final%20Map.pdf http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/7 1MulberryForkWMATract/MulberryForkWMA.pdf

7. William R. Ireland Sr.-Cahaba River Wildlife Management Area

The Cahaba River is Alabama’s largest free flowing river. The river has some small dams in a short segment of the upper river, but the rest of the river runs free from Shelby County to near the Alabama River around Selma -- a distance of about 190 miles. The Cahaba River crosses the Ridge and Valley to enter the Upper Coastal Plain and Black Belt. This physical geographic diversity has helped the river provide habitat for more fish species (191) than any river its size in the nation. You would have to go the Amazon River basin to find a more diverse river for fish the size of the Cahaba. The river also has a high diversity of mussels and snails. It is the only known home of several endangered species such the Cahaba 12

shiner. The river serves as a refuge for other imperiled species, such as the Shoal or Cahaba lily, which have lost habitat elsewhere through the damming nearly all of the South’s rivers. The Cahaba provides not only a valuable natural heritage to enjoy, but it provides 1 million people with their drinking water.

However, the water quality and diverse aquatic life of this river is threatened by uncontrolled sediment and other runoff pollutants associated with poorly planned development in metropolitan Birmingham. The critical forests that buffer the banks of the river are threatened by development as well. The local governments of the upper Cahaba River have come together to try to address the problems through erosion and runoff control and better planned development. Wild space protection along the river is being accomplished through various federal, state and local projects. Forever Wild purchased a long-term lease of the wildlife management rights on almost 27,000 acres which are included in the William R. Ireland Sr. Cahaba River Wildlife Management Area. William R. Ireland Sr. was a great advocate of Forever Wild so it is appropriate that the wildlife management area now bears his name.

Much of the wildlife management area was strip-mined for coal or cut over in the past. But the area also contains relatively undisturbed forest along a long section of the Cahaba River in Shelby and Bibb Counties. This management area is large and access to the river is scattered mainly along old roads. The Cahaba lily can be found on the shoals in this general area. The Upper Cahaba is a pool and riffle stream with shoals and some rapids breaking up calmer stretches of water. The river contains some large boulders and is often surrounded by scenic cliffs and mountain slopes with rich white oak-beech forest. Some stretches of the upper river are surrounded by flat floodplain forest dominated by sycamore, river birch, and box elder with more diverse forest further from the river.

Directions: From Interstate 65, take exit 231 (Calera). Take U.S. 31 North for about 1 mile. Turn left onto Shelby County Road 22. When County Road 22 ends, turn right onto County Road 10. The check-in station will be 2.2 miles ahead on the right. Rough side roads off county roads 10, 270, and 91 offer access down to the Cahaba River. Consult the management area map for specific details.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Cahaba%20river%20WMA%20map%20final.pdf

http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/7 2CahabaRiverWMATract/CahabaRiverWMA.pdf

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8. Indian Mountain and the Pinhoti Trail

The Pinhoti Trail is Alabama’s longest hiking trail at 130 miles and still growing. Additional sections of the trail have been constructed in Georgia as part of an effort to connect it to the Appalachian Trail. Also, there are proposals to link the Pinhoti with the Florida Trail by way of the Alabama Trail. The construction of the Alabama Trail has just begun. The ultimate goal is for people to have the opportunity to walk from Quebec to the Florida Keys passing through Alabama along the way. The northern end of the Alabama portion of the Pinhoti Trail is located on the Georgia line near the city of Piedmont within the 594-acre Indian Mountain Tract that was purchased by the Forever Wild Land Trust.

At nearly 2,000 feet high, Indian Mountain is one of the high but narrow quartzite ridges covered with scrubby Virginia pines, chestnut oak and other hardwoods, which form the spine of Alabama’s Blue Ridge Outlier region that includes Alabama’s highest mountains. The slightly metamorphic rocks of this region are very similar to those found within the main body of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and, appropriately, the Pinhoti Trail is connecting those mountains and the Appalachian Trial to Alabama where the Appalachian Mountains truly end. From Indian Mountain, the Pinhoti Trail runs south through the Talladega National Forest to near Sylacauga. Indian Mountain not only possesses natural beauty, but it forms a critical link in efforts to connect Alabama to the Appalachian Trail system.

Directions: While there are several easy hikes along the Pinhoti Trail in the Talladega National Forest, the Indian Mountain Tract is one of the most remote points on the Pinhoti Trail in terms of trailheads. To explore the Forever Wild property along the Alabama Georgia Line, visitors will need to hike along the Pinhoti Trail about 5 miles one way from Cherokee County Road 8. Traveling east from Piedmont, Ala. on Alabama 278 turn left on Cherokee County Road 45. Go 1.3 miles to County Road 8. Turn right on County Road 8 and travel 1.3 miles to the Pinhoti Trail crossing at County Road 8. Parking is along the road. From this trail crossing you will need to hike about 3 miles north on the trail through an easement on private land before continuing another couple of miles on top of Indian Mountain through the Forever Wild property. The trail includes some switchbacks along steep slopes so make sure you allocate time appropriate to your physical fitness to make it in and back (5 miles one way, 10 miles round trip). Once you see signs for Georgia, you will know you have reached the end of the Forever Wild tract.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/I ndianMountain/IndianMtn.pdf

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http://www.pinhotitrailalliance.org/013-tg.html

9. Coldwater Mountain

Coldwater Mountain is a relatively isolated quartzite mountain that includes a 4,063-acre conservation area acquired by the state’s Forever Wild Land Trust. The conservation area is named the Doug Ghee Nature Preserve and Recreation Area in honor of a state senator who was pivotal in crafting and advocating the legislation to establish the Forever Wild program. The property protects key buffer lands around Coldwater Springs. This huge spring is the main water source for Anniston. It also happens to be the world’s only home of the threatened pygmy sculpin. This tiny fish may be the state’s most abundant vertebrate per square meter of habitat. However, the fish is only found in the spring and its run and thus is venerable to extinction. Coldwater Mountain itself is covered in rock outcrops and hardwood and pine forests, which include chestnut oak, hickories and mountain longleaf pine. The area offers views of Choccolocco Mountain to the east and the Cheaha Range to the south.

A great 10-mile mountain bike trail system was recently completed. Hikers are welcome to use the system if they walk the loops counterclockwise thus facing oncoming bikers who are required to ride clockwise. Hikers should move off the trail when bikes are coming through. The one-mile loop starting at the parking lot offers an easy walking/biking experience while the longer 10-mile loop is more challenging.

Directions: Follow Interstate 20 west of Anniston/Oxford to exit 179 (Alabama 202/Coldwater Road.). Turn right onto Alabama 202 and go 2.1 miles to Calhoun County Road 109/Coldwater Pump Road. Turn right on Coldwater Pump Road and go 0.2 miles and turn right onto new public access road. The road ends at the trailhead parking.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ ColdwaterMountain/ColdwaterMtn.pdf

10. Coosa Wildlife Management Area

Much of the Coosa Wildlife Management Area is privately owned loblolly pine plantations, but the state’s Forever Wild program has acquired about 10,000 acres within the management area that contains high quality longleaf pine forest. The Forever Wild lands are adjacent to mature longleaf stands on Alabama Power Co. lands that form the southern end of the management area along Lake Mitchell. These longleaf lands contain numerous colonies of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. One of the best ways to see this area is by boating the

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impounded sections Weogufka and Hatchet Creeks. However, there is at least one relatively easy foot access area into the quality longleaf stands listed in the directions below. Also, if you have a boat you can follow the north shore of Hatchet Creek to where it meets the impounded Coosa River. This area contains several coastal plain influences including Spanish moss along the banks and water tupelo in shallows.

Directions: To reach some of the Forever Wild lands in the Coosa Wildlife Management Area go to Kelly’s Cross Roads on Alabama 22 between Rockford and Verbena in Coosa County and take County Road 29 north. You will shortly cross Hatchet Creek and then take your first left into the wildlife management area. If the gate is locked walk this road down into some nice longleaf pine. If you want to explore the management area by boat you can launch it at a fish camp which can be reached by continuing southwest on Alabama 22 from Kelly’s Cross Roads for a few miles and then taking a right on to County Road 27 which dead ends into the camp on an impounded section of Hatchet Creek. You will need a lake or wildlife management area map to navigate form this point. You can go up Hatchet Creek or Weogufka Creek or down Hatchet Creek to the Coosa River.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-20 13%20Coosa%20WMA%20Final%20Map.pdf http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ 57CoosaWMA/CoosaWMA.pdf

11. Yates Lake West and Coon Creek Tracts

Forever Wild recently acquired 3,518 acres on the western side of Yates Lake which is now a community hunting area. This property contains 3 miles of lakefront and a mixture of hardwood ravines and pine hardwood ridgetops with some remnant longleaf pine. The banks of Channahatchee Creek are particularly scenic. A spider web of roads leads through the property and currently provides the best opportunities for scenic driving and walking.

The 320-acre Forever Wild purchase known as the Coon Creek Tract is located farther downstream where the Yates Lake impoundment backs up into the area‘s namesake creek. The Coon Creek Natural Area occupies steep slopes leading down to the lake. The north facing slopes contain a rich upland forest with various oaks and beech. Silverbells in the understory produce delicate white bell-shaped blossoms in the spring. There are some small cascades on wet weather tributaries. The area contains outcrops of metamorphic rock with veins of what appears to be marble. The forests surrounding these outcrops seem to have more wildflowers including hepatica and trillium than other habitats on the site. The tract 16

also contains some bottomland hardwood with dwarf palmetto palm in the understory. Young bald cypress trees have germinated along the lake’s shore and among the marsh vegetation at the head of the creek's impounded section. The influence of the Piedmont can be seen on the property’s steep rocky uplands, and the influence of the Coastal Plain can be seen along the streams of this Fall Line area.

There are several miles of trails on the Coon Creek Tract which can be accessed from the boat ramp area. The boat launch offers opportunities for canoeing along Coon Creek, and this is probably the best way to see the property as well. A picnic area is located on the north side of the creek.

Directions:

Yates Lake West Community Hunting Area

From Tallassee follow Alabama14 west to Alabama 229. Turn right onto Alabama 229 (Kent Rd) and travel 5.5 miles to the parking lot on the right. A second parking lot is available by turning left onto Alabama 229 and traveling 3.3 miles to Tallapoosa County Road 44. Turn right onto County Road 44. Turn left onto Dean Circle. Parking is available on the left.

Coon Creek Tract From Tallassee go east on Alabama 14. Travel on Alabama 14 for roughly 2 miles and turn left onto Tallapoosa County Road 6/Macedonia Rd. Veer left onto Hicks Store Road. Take a left onto Gravel Pit Drive and turn immediately right onto Coon Creek Landing Road.

For more information:

Yates Lake West Community Hunting Area http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Yates%20Lake%20West%20Community%20Hunting%20Area%20Map.pdf http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/7 3YatesLakeWest/YatesLakeWest.pdf

Coon Creek Tract http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ CoonCreek/CoonCreek.pdf

706-645-2 17

12. Sipsey River Swamp

The Sipsey River Swamp has nothing to do with the Sipsey Wilderness Area. The Sipsey Swamp is formed by the Sipsey River, which flows into the Tombigbee River. Sipsey is a Native American word for poplar or cottonwood, which is appropriate. The Sipsey Swamp has some large cottonwood scattered in it, and it is thought to have once had more. The Sipsey River's headwaters lie in the Appalachian Plateau’s beech-hemlock canyon and strip mine country in and around Natural Bridge Park. This area drains into the New and Little New rivers. Those rivers join to form the Sipsey River, which is surrounded by high terraces that are farmed. When the Sipsey River reaches the Fayette, it forms a wide swamp containing numerous old river channels and islands. The swamp continues south and then bends southwest near Tuscaloosa to make up the border of Green and Pickens Counties before emptying into Gainesville reservoir on the Tombigbee River.

The narrow Sipsey River is one of the longest continuously free flowing rivers left in the nation. It only suffers from impoundment near its mouth on the Gainesville dam. The stream has never been channelized, so it retains its natural meandering nature. The river flows through a largely forested rural area, and its water quality is very good. All of these factors combine to make the Sipsey River Swamp the best example of a natural riverine bottomland hardwood ecosystem in Alabama. These factors also make the Sipsey River Swamp a stronghold for mussel species such as the Alabama spike, Southern clubshell, Alabama hickory nut, and Alabama moccasinshell that are now threatened with extinction. The mussels are associated with the very stable gravel bars found along the lower river. In times of low water during the summer and fall, shells of mussels can be picked up on the Sipsey's gravel bars like seashells. The Sipsey River is also the home to the threatened frecklebelly madtom, black sawback turtle, rainbow snake, and a species of aquatic insects found nowhere else in Alabama.

The general floodplain may have standing water on it for as much as six months, and it is dominated by moderately flood tolerant species such as overcup oak. The old, abandoned river channels, which form oxbow lakes, are flooded for most of the year with the exception of a late summer and early fall. This environment gradually becomes dominated by the very flood-tolerant bald cypress and water tupelo. These species initially colonize the edges of old river channels, and as the old channels silt in over the years they dominate the entire water area forming a true cypress-tupelo swamp. As the lakes continue to silt in they no longer hold water most of the year, but are still very soggy.

Forever Wild has established the 3,500-acre Sipsey River Recreation Area, which is one of the few conservation areas in this natural river swamp. This property contains a network of old logging roads, which are maintained as a trail system. Much of the larger bottomland hardwood and pine was removed from this tract in the early 1990s, but those cut areas are now covered with 20-foot tall

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trees. Much of the property retains mature bottomland oak and bald cypress-tupelo swamps. Visitors entering the tract will first see only water tupelo, but as you reach the river and start heading downstream you will start to see more and more bald cypress. This conservation area marks the northern boundary of bald cypress on the Sipsey River. The main road through the property runs along the river in many places. If you walk the entire 5-mile length of this road you will reach a spot know by locals as the Fish Camp. That area has some very large cypress and oaks next to the river. The main gate is periodically open on Open Woods Days to allow vehicle and boat and canoe access, but if conditions are muddy you will need a 4-wheel drive to go deep into the tract. The Open Woods Days schedule can be found at the link listed in the following For More Information section of this tract account. Note, the hiking is better when no vehicles are present.

Directions: From Tuscaloosa, take Alabama 82 West 9.3 miles to Buhl Cutoff Road. Turn left on Buhl Cutoff Road and travel 1.2 miles to Tuscaloosa County Road 140. Turn right on County Road 140 and go 0.1 miles to County Road 19. Turn left on County Road 19 and travel 2.2 miles. The property entrance and parking lot will be on the right. The signs for the Sipsey River Recreational Area will also lead to the tract. From the parking lot, you can walk the gated road into the heart of the recreation area’s tupelo, cypress and bottomland hardwood swamps along the river. The Open Woods Days schedule can be found at the link listed in the following For More Information section of this tract account. Note, the hiking is better when no vehicles are present.

For More Information:

Sipsey River Recreation Area http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ SipseySullivan/Sipsey.pdf

Sipsey River Recreation Area Open Woods Days Schedule http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ SipseyRobertson/sipsey_openwoods.pdf

13. M. Barnett Lawley Forever Wild Field Trial Area

The Forever Wild Land Trust recently purchased about 3,300 acres on and around the old State Cattle Ranch which was an old prison farm. The area has since been named the M. Barnett Lawley Forever Wild Field Trial Area in recognition of a former director of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources who was a great supporter of Forever Wild. The area was bought in part to provide a field trial competition location for bird dogs to hunt quail. The

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lands include mixed upland forest, swamps as well as large areas of Black Belt grasslands. These grasslands are in the process of being restored to native prairie grasses and flowers. Restoration of native prairie vegetation should help restore quail populations in this area. Numerous ponds and a large willow swamp attract a variety of herons and endangered wood storks during the post breeding bird dispersal. Public access to the area is still in the developmental stage. But keep checking with Forever Wild for more information at http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/6 3CattleRanch/

14. Old Cahawba Prairie

The lower river below the Fall Line is surrounded by bottomland hardwood swamps or Black Belt chalk cliffs, and it supports Coastal Plain species such as the threatened alligator snapping turtle which at over 200 pounds is one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world. This rarely seen turtle fishes by opening its mouth and wiggling its tongue, which has a projection that looks like a worm or insect larvae. This attracts fish to swim within snapping distance. The lower river can be canoed year round between the various bridges that cross it. The impressive Black Belt chalk cliffs of the lower Cahaba River can be viewed by canoeing or boating on the river between Alabama 22 and Old Cahawba Park. This lowest portion of the Cahaba River also contains low seepy chalk ledges covered in bald cypress trees and wildflowers. Be warned that the flow of the lowest 7 miles of the river can be affected by the Miller’s Ferry dam on the Alabama River. Sometimes the river is moving swiftly and at other times the reservoir backs up the river creating slackwater which would require extra paddling on a float trip down to the take out in Old Cahawba Park.

Forever Wild acquired a 3,000-acre tract of land adjacent to Old Cahawba Park which contains the Old Cahawba Prairie. This Black Belt chalk prairie is very important biologically because it contains the Old Cahaba Rosinweed, which is only found in this area of Alabama’s Black Belt and nowhere else in the world. The tract includes the prairie, chalk cliffs along the river, other chalk formations, bottomland hardwood forest and ravine hardwood forests covered in Spanish moss. The prairie had been protected from fire, which accounts for an abundance of cedar, but the site contains the prairie coneflower and other interesting plants including the unusual occurrence of dwarf palmetto palm. The dwarf palmetto palm reminds one of the prairies of central Florida. Due to past land use practices and possible fire suppression, some of the best patches of wildflowers are found along the sunny roadsides. Controlled fire has been reintroduced to the property, which should help restore more prairie habitat. There are parking lots on County Road 9 which allow you to access this tract, and you can enjoy the prairie flowers along the road. Then hike the main road behind the gate on the east side of County Road 9, which leads through the prairie, past pine plantations down to the hardwood slopes along the river. You can bushwhack down to the sand belts and

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bottomland hardwood along the river where if you look upstream (to your left) you will see chalk cliffs, or you continue left along the tops of the bluffs to the chalk cliffs. However, the chalk cliffs are hard to appreciate from the top.

The adjacent Old Cahawba Park preserves a site rich in human and natural history. Cahawba is the historic spelling of Cahaba. The Old Cahawba site was picked as the state’s first capital because of its central location and the fact that it is at the junction of two major rivers, the Cahaba and Alabama. Rivers were important for transportation in the days before railroads. Unfortunately, its location at the junction of the rivers led to flooding of the sites low lying bottoms and ravines. This flooding broke up the town’s reliably useable space and created problems for legislators trying to get over flooded areas to the Capitol building. Those who wanted the capital elsewhere for political reasons used the flooding to help move the capitol to Tuscaloosa before wealthy planters for other political reasons got it moved to Montgomery. River traffic also brought in diseases from the coast as recorded in the Old Cahawba’s graveyards. The area contained a prison camp for Union Soldiers during the Civil War. The camp was probably rough, but the prisoners’ health was surprisingly good compared to most other Civil War prisoner camps. Also, there are stories of Union soldier being let out into town on the honor system by the Confederates because they were fellow Masons. Some died at the prison camp as evidenced by commemorative grave markers, and, unfortunately, many of the Union soldiers who survived Cahaba and other southern prison camps died on the way home when the steamboat Sultana exploded in an accident on the Mississippi.

Cahawba town gradually faded away and the state has been recently acquiring portions of the site to preserve the interesting history of our state’s first capital. Visitors can see historic features among the natural forest that has reclaimed the site. There are historic cemeteries, artesian wells and columns from an antebellum mansion that overlooked the junction of the Cahaba and Alabama Rivers. Natural habitats within the park include upland and bottomland hardwood including some bald cypress. There is a boat launch on a slough off the Alabama River which has a healthy cypress swamp at its head, and alligators are commonly seen there. The park has trails as well a history museum and nature center.

Directions: From Selma, take Alabama 22 West 8.6 miles to Dallas County Road 9. Turn left on County Road 9 and travel about 2 miles to the first parking lot on the left. Continue on County Road 9 for 1 mile to the second parking lot on the left. Continue on County Road 9 0.3 miles to Cahaba Road. Turn right on Cahaba Road and travel 0.5 miles to the third parking lot on the right. To reach Old Cahawba Park turn left on Cahaba Road and follow it into the park.

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For more information:

Old Cahawba Prairie: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/7 0OldChawbaPrairie/70_old_cahawba_prairie_tract.pdf

Old Cahawba Park: http://www.cahawba.com/index.php?&MMN_position=1:1

15. Barbour Wildlife Management Area/ Wehle Nature Center

One of the oldest conservation areas in Alabama is the 18,924-acre Barbour Wildlife Management Area. The management area is made up of both state and private lands in Barbour and Bullock counties. The Forever Wild Land Trust has acquired significant tracts in this area including the land around the Whele Nature Center. There are thick pine plantations, but there are also lots of upland hardwood and mixed forest as well as shrub swamp. The area also contains some managed pine savanna, which has the associated quail and other wildlife. On moist sites some of the hardwoods and a few of the pines are festooned in Spanish moss, especially around the Barbour County Lake.

The best place for nature enthusiasts to enjoy the Barbour Wildlife Management Area is actually in Bullock County at the Robert G. Whele Nature Center. The beautiful mature center’s small collection of mounted animals and other items are geared toward school groups, but adults can appreciate the center’s trail system. A nice interpretive loop trail around the center’s lake leads from the nature center to an old-fashioned hand water pump and a petrified log. Near the upper end of the lake is an outdoor classroom pavilion with a great wetland animal display overlooking a real tupelo swamp. The swamp was formed when a stream was dammed to form the lake. The trail passes through pine forest with a ground layer of cane. A marshy open area at the extreme upper end of the lake contains a planted garden of insect-eating pitcher plants. The lake is surrounded by bald cypress trees and gourd birdhouses used by purple martins. The far side of the lake has some nice old oaks and a view of some horse barns and a pasture. Boundary signs show the surrounding pine and mixed forests are included within the wildlife management area. The management area also includes the area below the lake’s dam, which is a swampy ravine containing some evergreen shrubs and small trees.

The Wehle Nature Center sits on 25 acres of a 1,500-acre tract that was one of the first purchases by Alabama’s Forever Wild program. The land was purchased because the owner Robert G. Wehle believed in conservation. He sold the property to the state at a discount. He also provided funds to build this nature center. Robert G. Whele has since passed away, but his conservation legacy lives 22

on. In the past, the nature center was open only a limited schedule due to staffing limitations, but that is improving.

Directions: From Eufaula take U.S. 82 west to Comer and then take a left on to Barbour County Road 49. County Road 49 runs through the wildlife management area past various side roads through the land to the Barbour County state fishing lake which sits in the wildlife management area. The wildlife management area also borders the Whele Nature Center. After you turn left off US. 82 onto Barbour County Road 49, follow the brown Nature Center signs to the Wehle Forever Wild Tract and to the Wehle Nature Center. Check the nature center operating schedule on the Web site listed in the following “For More Information” section of this tract account or call (334) 242-3484 before heading to the center.

For more information:

Barbour Wildlife Management Area http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Barbour%20WMA%20Mao.pdf http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/7 4BarbourWMARmack/BarbourWMAAdds.pdf

Whele Nature Center http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ Wehle/Wehle.pdf

Wehle Nature Center Operation Schedule http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/WNC/RWNC_schedule .pdf or call (334)242-3484

16. Pocosin

Just southeast of Troy, Ala. hides a 190-acre Forever Wild property that contains an unusual natural community known locally as the Pocosin. The Pocosin contains many broadleaf trees and shrubs that do not lose their leaves -- unusual that far north in Alabama. This brushy evergreen upland hardwood community probably reminded early settlers of the evergreen pocosin shrub swamps found along the East Coast. Turn of the 20th century botanist Roland Harper first described the Pocosin habitat. He thought the formation of such a habitat was due to the fire protection provided by surrounding hardwood swamps and very sandy longleaf pine habitats, which had ground cover too sparse to carry frequent fires into the Pocosin.

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The Alabama pocosin habitat was never common, and it has been mostly lost to land use changes. The Forever Wild tract along with a 18-acre Troy University-owned Pocosin Preserve contain the last undisturbed examples of the pocosin natural community in Alabama. Some of the uplands on the Forever Wild tract were converted to pine plantation before the land was conserved. A few openings within the pine plantations, such as old roads, contain glimmers of the dry natural community that formerly dominated the sites including scrub oaks, reindeer moss, prickly pear cactus, and British soldier lichen. The natural habitats of these areas are in the process of being restored. Other portions of the property located beyond the left side of the road as you enter the property still have some significant examples of the dry natural vegetation and longleaf pine as well. These natural lands provide habitat for the threatened gopher tortoise in part because of their similarity to the sandhill habitats of the Lower Coastal Plain. To reach the Pocosin, you will have to drop off the right side of the main road as you enter the tract. You will follow a web of old roadbeds through the pine plantations before reaching the edge of hardwood ravines which contain the Pocosin. It is a good idea to carry a compass and take a reading before you leave the car. A compass will easily lead you back to the main road which bisects the tract if you get lost.

The Pocosin contains some hardwood stands that have an evergreen canopy, including laurel oak, which does not seem to drop its leaves in this area. However, most of the ravines contain a largely deciduous canopy with a thick evergreen understory of American holly and sweetbay magnolia. Both beech and evergreen southern magnolia are present, and this area may someday contain good examples of beech-magnolia forest. The ravine bottoms contain branches fed by spring seeps. The swampy land surrounding these branches contains large evergreen sweet bay magnolia and swamp tupelo. In the past, the spring seeps of these secluded ravines or hollows must have attracted quite a bit of moonshine making as evidenced by the remains of several stills. The Southern nature of this tract is enhanced by the presence of significant amounts of Spanish moss hanging from many of the trees. The Spanish moss is especially thick in oaks along the upper end of a lake that is surrounded by the Pocosin tract.

Directions: Take U.S. 231 South from Troy to Pike County Road 14/Swindall Road. Turn left on County Road 14 and go 2.2 miles to Elm Street. Turn right on Elm Street/County Road 26 and go 0.3 miles to Clayhill Road. Turn right on Clayhill Road and roadside parking is available 0.2 miles ahead on the right.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ PikeCountyPocosin/PikeCoPocosin.pdf

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17. Red Hills Preserve

The Red Hills Region of Alabama is deep within the Coastal Plain, but it has many characteristics similar to those of the Appalachians. Small streams have cut ravines with steep slopes leading up to bluff tops. Even the bluff tops have an Appalachian feel because of the mixed pine hardwood, mountain laurel and maple leaf viburnum. However, the Spanish moss tell us that we are in the Deep South. The ravines contain great beech-magnolia forest. The name beech-magnolia serves to distinguish these forests from Appalachian cove hardwood. However, it does not do justice to the diversity of trees found in this southern version of Appalachian cove hardwood or mixed forest. Beech-magnolia forest is even richer in tree species than Appalachian cove hardwood forest. The namesakes of the forest, American beech and the evergreen Southern magnolia, are abundantly present but so are basswood, white ash, yellow poplar and many species reminiscent of Appalachian cove hardwood. In some places bigleaf magnolia is abundant in the understory of the forest, and you feel like you are up north in the coves of the Bankhead National Forest. The forest floor includes an assortment of herbs and wildflowers including several types of ginger and wild geranium. Rocks are unusual in south Alabama, so the presence of moss-covered rocks and lush ferns further add to the Appalachian feel of the area.

But the most special thing about these ravine forests is that they provide habitat for the threatened Red Hills salamander. The only place in the world where the Red Hills salamander is found is in between the Conecuh and Alabama Rivers. The red hills salamander depends on the cool moist beech magnolia forest found on the slopes and ravines associated with the siltstone formations of this mountainous area. Forever Wild has purchased about 4,300 acres for a nature preserve in the heart of the salamander’s habitat which will help ensure this species’ survival and provide visitors an opportunity to view the diverse forests it lives in.

Directions: From Camden, take Alabama 41 South 22.2 miles to River Ridge Road. Turn left on River Ridge Road and travel 1.5 miles to the parking lot on your left. Parking is also available roadside along River Ridge Road.

For More Information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTr acts/75RedHills/RedHills.pdf

18. Splinter Hill Bog

Forever Wild’s Splinter Hill Bog Preserve in northern Baldwin County contains some of the Gulf region’s most intact seepage bog communities along with

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longleaf savanna and interspersed sandhill habitats. Much of the site is occupied by some of the world’s largest populations of white-topped pitcher plant bogs. Numerous rare and declining species associated with seepage bogs, upland longleaf forest and coastal blackwater streams are found here. This preserve supports 12 species of carnivorous plants as well as one of the largest known populations of the imperiled Panhandle lily. Some of the unique and rare plants known from the site include: Chapman’s butterwort, Wherry’s sweet pitcher plant, purple pitcher plant, parrot pitcher plant, yellow trumpets, sundews, Chapman's butterwort, spoonflower, pineland bogbutton, Drummond’s yellow-eyed grass, and Chapman’s yellow-eyed grass.

Directions: From Interstate 65, take exit 45 (Perdido/Rabun). Take Baldwin County Road 47 West 1.3 miles to the parking lot on the right or travel 0.1 miles to Splinter Hill Road. Turn right on Splinter Hill Road and travel 0.4 miles to the parking lot on the left, across from Turberville Lane.

For More Information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ SplinterHillBogBenMay/SplinterHillBog.pdf

19. Perdido River/Bay Area

The Perdido River and its bay form the border between Baldwin County, Alabama and Florida. The Perdido River is a blackwater system that is influenced by coastal tides. It has tea-colored water and white sandy banks covered in pine, Atlantic white cedar, and pond cypress. However, there are few exposed sand bars on the lower river due to the tidally influenced higher water levels. The lower river has tidal sloughs, though. The Styx River joins the lower Perdido River, and as the Perdido flows south past the Blackwater River toward Perdido Bay it is surrounded by an increasing amount of wetlands.

Lillian Swamp is one of the largest wetlands in the Alabama portion of the Perdido River/Bay drainage. Lillian Swamp is located adjacent to Perdido Bay north of its namesake town. The bay is edged by saltmarsh in places, but much of the swamp is made up of a wet pine savanna complete with pitcher plants and other carnivorous plants.

The Perdido Wildlife Management Area and other Forever Wild purchases in Lillian Swamp are the most publicly accessible areas, and a visit to these lands will highlight restoration efforts. A thick understory is being burned in slash and longleaf pine stands to restore the open bog habitats which are favored by sundews and other carnivorous plants.

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Directions:

Perdido Wildlife Management Area From Mobile, take Interstate 10 East to Exit 53/County Road 64. Go north on Baldwin County Road 64 about 7 miles to Alabama 112. Turn right on Alabama 112 and travel 7.5 miles to Duck Road. Turn left onto Duck Rd. and go app 0.4 miles to the check-in station. The Perdido River can be reached by boat from a fish camp on the Florida side of the U.S. 90 bridge area at the border of Baldwin County and Florida.

Lillian Swamp From Mobile, take Interstate 10 East to exit 44 (Alabama 59). Travel south on Alabama 59 about 18 miles to U.S. 98. Turn left onto U.S. 98 in Foley and travel about 15 miles to Lillian. Turn left on Baldwin County Road 99/Boykin Boulevard and go 1.7 miles to Oak Street. Turn left on Oak Street and the parking lot will be ahead on your right.

For more information:

Perdido Wildlife Management Area http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Perdido%20River%20WMA%20Final%20Map.pdf

http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ PerdidioLongleaf/PerdidoRiver.pdf

Lillian Swamp http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/L illianSwampSouthAddition/LillianSwamp.pdf

20. Mobile –Tensaw Delta

The 250,000-acre Mobile River Delta is the state’s largest wetland and the nation’s second largest river delta. The Delta stretches 10 miles across the head of Mobile Bay and continues upstream for 40 miles just beyond the junction of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers. It contains extensive bald cypress and bottomland hardwood forest in its northern half, shrub swamps in the quarter below that and some of the nation’s most diverse coastal marshes in its southern end. The area contains the state’s largest alligator population and provides habitat for the state’s only established black bear population. The Delta is home to the endemic and threatened Alabama red-bellied turtle. It has been said that the Mobile Delta has more species of freshwater turtles than any area its size in the 27

world.

The Delta was built as sediment from the rivers gradually filled in the head of Mobile Bay with swampy land. At the head of the Delta, the Alabama and Tombigbee River merge to form the giant Mobile River near Mount Vernon. The giant river shortly splits into a channel to the west retaining the Mobile River name and a channel to the east called the Tensaw River. These rivers split into even more channels as they approach the bay. The Delta drains most of the rivers in Alabama including the Coosa, Tallapoosa, Alabama, Cahaba, Black Warrior and Tombigbee systems. The massive amount of fresh water from that drainage flows through the Delta and out into Mobile Bay where it mixes with the salt water to form an estuary. Estuaries are the coast’s most productive life zone. Most of the seafood caught on the Alabama Gulf Coast depends on the Delta’s marshes as a nursery. Therefore maintaining the health of these marshes is vital to maintaining the seafood catch along our coast.

Fortunately, the Nature Conservancy, Coastal Land Trust, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state of Alabama and the Forever Wild Land Trust are purchasing large areas of the Delta’s marshes and forested wetlands for conservation and public recreation. More than 118,000 acres are now protected and available for public recreation largely as part of the W.M. Holland-Mobile Tensaw Delta and Upper Delta Wildlife Management Areas. The greatest challenge to conserving the area is protecting the high bluffs surrounding the Delta, which serve as a refuge for black bear and other creatures during times of high water. These bluff lands are much more expensive than the wetlands, and they are in high demand in this rapidly developing area. Even much of the access to the area provided by private fish camps could be lost as the bluffs develop. Historic Blakely State Park in Baldwin County provides protection for a significant amount of bluff lands. Also, the state just acquired some bluff lands and swamp in the Bayou Sara/Jacinto Port area which provides critical black bear habitat.

The 3,372 acre Bayou Sara/Jacinto Port Area is worth additional mention because of its conservation significance and biological uniqueness. Bayou Sara flows out of the pine-covered hills of Mobile County to become one of the major waterways of the Mobile Delta. The newly acquired lands contain the transition from uplands to Delta swamp. The lands contain fire-suppressed longleaf pine habitats that still contain gopher tortoises. This land quickly drops down a few feet into tupelo-cypress swamp containing alligators. The uplands will be managed to restore the fire dependent longleaf habitat.

Most of the protected lands within the Delta are included within the two previously mentioned wildlife management areas which stretch from the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers to Mobile Bay. Most of this area is accessible only by boat or canoe. There are boat tours available including those provided by the Five Rivers Center and historic Blakeley State Park. The Delta is so huge that the most practical way to explore it is by personal motorboat. You will see lots of wildlife

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despite the motor noise. Canoeing offers a quiet approach but with limited range. There is a sea kayak tour business in the Lower Delta. The Bartram Canoe Trail System offers some great options and amenities including floating camping platforms. The trail system in part follows the route used by naturalist William Bartram in his canoe trip up the Mobile-Tensaw Delta around the time of the American Revolution. One trail leads to the Bottle Creek Indian Mounds state historic site which is deep in the swamp. A waterway map is an absolute must wherever you go in the Delta.

Some of the most scenic spots in the Upper Delta (above Interstate 65) includes\ Miffin Lake and the endless waterways found all along the Tensaw Lake system leading upstream to Stiggins Lake. The Tensaw Lake system can be reached from fish camps like Bryants Upper Landing and Hubbards Landing as well as the Rice Creek [ublic launch. Dead Lake Marina and public boat launch parks in Saraland and Satsuma offer scenic access points for exploring the Mobile County side of the upper and middle Delta. The tide runs all the way up to Jackson, Ala., so you may see the Delta’s waters running backwards at times. This tidal influence helps keep the Delta’s waterways full and accessible year round. The lakes are old abandoned river channels that have been turned into sloughs by the tides. These lakes have more picturesque Spanish moss-draped bald cypress trees than the main river channels. In fact, the state champion bald cypress is found in the Delta swamps near Stockton. Bottomland oaks and other hardwoods live on higher portions of the floodplain. In the summer, the floor of the swamp contains beautiful spider and swamp lilies. Spadderdock lily pads form marshes around the edges of the lakes. Wildlife is abundant on these lakes, including herons, egrets, ibis, swallow tailed kites, and shy alligators. Large paddlefish leap out of the water revealing their strange paddle like noses, which may help them sense electric currents associated with their prey. Mullets jump everywhere, and it is are surprising they do not land in your boat.

The Middle Delta below Interstate 65 contains lakes and basins such as the Basin Negro and Chuckfee Bay, which are surrounded by shrub swamps composed of swamp tupelo and bay trees interspersed with bald cypress. Signs of the sea -- unusual this far inland –I nclude laughing gulls, terns and brown pelicans. Crabs and barnacles live around tree roots. Compared to the Upper Delta, the Middle Delta has more marsh plants such as pickerel weed which can be seen along the shores of rivers and lakes. Even a group of manatees were recently seen in the Middle Delta.

The Lower Delta is largely composed of marshes and giant bays with some bald cypress on higher ground and where non salty water is always present. However, the high tidal water and salt has stunted or dwarfed many of these cypress trees. The marshes contain tall cordgrass and beds of water lotus pads along with a great diversity of other species. The alligator becomes more abundant and visible in this habitat compared to upriver areas. Moorhens, red-winged blackbirds and shorebirds such as the American avocet can be seen

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feeding along the edge of bays. As late winter and early spring floods subside, salt water moves deeper into the Lower Delta. But remaining fresh water floats on top of the more dense salt water. Consequently, during certain times of the year both fresh and saltwater fish can be caught in the Delta’s estuary.

The new Five Rivers Center offers views of the Lower Delta, trails, a museum, films, gift shop, canoe/kayak launch, boat dock and boat tours. The museum features good exhibits on the problems of controlling exotic popcorn trees in the Delta as well as the area’s logging history and mounted specimens of the area’s abundant wildlife. The museum has live animals, too. One great exhibit discusses the various paving technologies that can be employed to reduce runoff from parking lots by making them more porous. The center’s parking lot is composed of various examples of these technologies designed to help protect natural hydrology and water quality. The center and its trails are located on piece of delta wetland that was filled in during the construction of highways. Behind the buildings and to the east the trails offer great views of the marshes and patches of swamp forest including a few small bald cypress trees. As the trails turn inland upon the fill you pass through vegetation not normally associated with the very wet Delta, such as mature pine plantations and nice young stands of live oaks.

The best land-based experience of the Mobile Delta can be found at the 3,800-acre Blakeley State Park, which is worth visiting even if you have boated all over the Delta. The Forever Wild Land Trust helped acquire a portion of the park. Blakeley Park has everything. It was established to preserve historic resources involved in the Civil War’s Battle of Blakeley, which was fought when the Union sought to capture the Port of Mobile. Due to slow communications, the battle was fought after General Lee had surrendered at Appomattox. The park preserves earthworks associated with this siege type of battle. These earthworks are located among open longleaf pine forest which is has greatly declined along the edge of the Delta.

The park also preserves the site of the failed port town of Blakeley, which many thought would surpass Mobile. The town site contains magnificent live oaks which predated the town and have since survived it. One old live oak that recently died was called the Jury Oak because court was held under its spreading branches. If the case when really bad for the defendant that person was led to the nearby Hanging Oak which still lives. The beauty of the oaks is enhanced by a tropical-like collection of epiphytes. Spanish moss drapes the trees, and vines and resurrection fern cover the limbs. The limbs of many of the live oaks contain large populations of the rare green fly orchids, which bloom in mid- to late summer. The uplands and bluffs surrounding the town site contain beech-magnolia forest including abundant live oak. The bluffs grade down into bottomland hardwood with a thick dwarf palmetto palm understory. The site where the first steamboat in Alabama was built is located on a trail that leads from the town site down the narrow bluff to a boardwalk. The boardwalk passes through bottomland hardwood, cypress swamp and edge marsh while providing views out over the

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Delta’s large waterways and vast wetlands.

The rest of the park contains 15 miles of trails that pass Indian mounds as well as other interesting features. The Gatra Wehle Nature Center is open on weekends. The park also offers horseback riding, camping, cabins and Delta boat tours. Call ahead to make reservation for boat tours. Boats can be launched just upstream at Cloverleaf Landing and Brynes Public Boat Launch Park, but be careful. The waters of the Middle and Lower Delta are open and can be rough in windy times.

Directions:

The Lower Delta can be accessed by water from several private boat launches on U.S. 98 from Mobile east to Spanish Fort as well as Meaher State Park which also has short boardwalk trails. Five Rivers Center also has a canoe/kayak launch. Meaher State Park and Five River Center lie across from one another on U.S. 98 just west of Spanish Fort. The U.S.S. Alabama Park, which also has a boardwalk, lies on U.S. 98 just to the east of Mobile.

Chickasabogue Park offers access to uplands trails and blackwater swamps and streams associated with tributaries to the Middle Delta. It also offers canoe rentals. You can reach it by taking the U.S. 45 West exit off Interstate 65 in Mobile. Follow U.S. 45 West and turn right on to Alabama 213. Take a right onto Culvert Street and then a left on to Adocok Road to reach the park entrance.

The Mobile County side of the Middle Delta can be accessed by water from private fish camps and public launches in Saraland and Satsuma which are located off on U.S. 43 heading north from Mobile.

You can reach the Mobile County side of the Middle to Upper Delta from Mobile County-owned River Delta Marina and Campground. Take exit 22 off Interstate 65 (Creola exit) and follow the signs to the Marina at the end of Dead Lake Road. A public boat launch is also located upriver in Mount Vernon and can be reached by taking U.S. 43 north from Mobile and then taking County Road 96 east to the launch.

You can get to the Baldwin County side of the Middle Delta by water from private fish camps like Cloverleaf Landing and Public Boat Launch Parks like Byrnes Lake, which lie along Alabama 225 between Spanish Fort and Interstate 65. The two launches lie north of Blakeley State Park, which offers opportunities to see the Delta by boardwalk. Historic Blakeley State Park lies a few miles north of Spanish Fort on the left side of Alabama 225.

You can reach the Baldwin County side of the Upper Delta by water from private boat launches or fish camps like Lower and Upper Bryant Landings, Hubbard’s Landing, and Boatyard Lake Landing. A public boat launch is located on Rice Creek, but it can be a bit tricky to get to the main Delta Waterways by motor boat

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in drier times of year. With the exception of Lower Bryant Landing all these access points serve as entry points to the Bartram Canoe Trail system. Maps and information on this canoe trail, including camping platforms, are available on the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Web site at http://www.outdooralabama.com/outdoor-adventures/bartram.cfm To reach all of these boat access points take Exit 31 off of Interstate 65 and go north on Alabama 225 to the Stockton area. Continue north on Alabama 59 to the town of Tensaw to reach the various access points. The turn-offs are marked by signs. You can reach the extreme Upper Delta Wildlife Management Area by roads that can be driven in hunting season and walked at other times. Consult wildlife management area maps and schedules to determine where and when the roads will be open.

For more information:

W.L. Holland, Mobile-Tensaw Delta, Upper Delta wildlife management areas: http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Mobile-Tensaw%20Delta%20Final%20WMA%20Mao.pdf http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ MobileTensawDelta/Delta.pdf http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Up per%20Delta%20WMA%20Final%20Map.pdf

Meaher State Park http://www.alapark.com/parks/park.cfm?parkid=24

Five Rivers Center http://www.outdooralabama.com/outdoor-adventures/5rivers

Blakeley State Park http://siteone.com/tourist/blakeley/index.html

Chickasabogue Park http://www.mobilecountyal.gov/living/parks_chickasabogue.html

River Delta Marina and Campground http://www.mobilecountyal.gov/living/parks_river_delta.html

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Delta Tours

Delta Explorer Boat Tours at Blakely State Park http://siteone.com/tourist/blakeley/index.html or 251-626-5581 Reservations required.

Five Rivers Delta Safaris http://www.outdooralabama.com/outdoor-adventures/5rivers/facilities/safaris/ or (251) 259-8531 Call ahead to make sure the boat is not booked.

Delta Outdoor Guide & Airboat Tours-swamp tours, airboat and powerboat trips, sightseeing tours (251) 621-5095

Sea Kayak Tours: 1-800-595-3286

21. Grand Bay Savanna

Grand Bay Savanna lies on the mainland of Mississippi Sound at the southern end of Mobile County adjacent to Mississippi. The Grand Bay area contains the largest relatively undisturbed coastal pine savanna in the world. Coastal pine savannas are made up of low-lying pitcher plant bogs with a scattering of longleaf pine and pond cypress. These coastal savannas contain one of the most diverse herbaceous layers in the world as well as the greatest concentration of carnivorous plants in the world. The coastal savanna grades into the saltmarshes which border Mississippi Sound.

The Nature Conservancy recognizes Grand Bay Savanna as one of the United States’ Last Great Places, and that organization is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alabama’s Forever Wild program and private landowners to protect this area. The 3,500-acre Forever Wild Land Trust’s Grand Bay Savanna Preserve protects a large portion of this habitat. Marine Laboratory Road leads west out of the quaint shrimp fleet town of Bayou La Batre to the pitcher plant bog-pine savannah habitats of this preserve. In addition, Henderson Camp Road coming south from the town of Grand Bay provides access an old road trail going east through the preserve property along its northern boundary. The old road trail passes by pond cypress swamp, patches of longleaf -wiregrass habitat and more pitcher plant bogs

Directions:

From Mobile, take Interstate 10 West to exit 15A and merge onto U.S. 90 West. Turn left onto Mobile County Road 19. Stay straight onto Alabama 188. Turn right onto Marine Laboratory Road/University Road. Stay straight to park in the Marine Laboratory Road parking lot or turn left onto Cutoff Road and then right onto Little River Road to park in the Little River Road parking lot. Pitcher plant savannas lie to the north of Marine Laboratory Road after you are well into the tract. 33

To reach the Henderson Camp Road parking lot, take Interstate 10 West from Mobile to exit 4. Take Alabama 188 East through Grand Bay. Turn right onto Henderson Camp Road. From the parking lot, follow an old road trail east through the Forever Wild property along its northern border. The old road, now more of a trail, passes by shrub swamps, pond cypress stands, pine forest with wiregrass and large pitcher plant bogs.

For more information: http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ GrandBayAdd/GrandBay.pdf

Conservation Areas Enhanced By Forever Wild Purchases

22. Monte Sano Mountain

Monte Sano Mountain is a western outlier of the Skyline Mountains. It is separated from the main plateau area by the Flint River Valley. Monte Sano Mountain lies within the city limits of Huntsville and has seen much residential development. The more than 2,400 acres of Monte Sano State Park were established in the 1930s with help from the Civilian Conservation Corps. Forever Wild has been instrumental in acquiring properties around Monte Sano State Park and adding them to this treasured urban state park as well as protecting other portions of this ridge including the part known as Green Mountain.

The mountaintop portion of the state park is naturally pineless and dominated by upland oak-hickory forest, and it has great views across the Flint River Valley to the Skyline Mountains. The park also has some great trails through limestone karst landscapes, which pass sinkholes including one known as the Natural Well. The Stone Cuts Trail has limestone formations you can walk under giving you the feel of going in and out of the ground. Dry limestone outcrops are dominated by red cedar, shagbark hickory and chinquapin oak. North facing slopes and coves are dominated by cove hardwood forest including an incredible diversity of tree species including yellow buckeye, basswood, and cucumber magnolia. The forest floor includes a high diversity of spring woodland wildflowers such as bent trillium and shooting star.

Directions: You can reach the state park by taking U.S. 431 east of downtown Huntsville. On U.S. 431, climb the mountain, pass a picnic area containing rare smoke trees on your left and then you make a left on to Panorama Drive Southeast, which is marked by a sign pointing to Monte Sano State Park. Soon you will see a right turn into the main portion of the state park.

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For more information:

Monte Sano State Park http://www.alapark.com/parks/park.cfm?parkid=6

Forever Wild purchases in Monte Sano Mountain Area http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/5 9MSP/MonteSanoSPAdds.pdf http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ Certain/

23. Lake Guntersville State Park

Lake Guntersville was formed when Tennessee Valley Authority damned the Tennessee River back in the 1930s. The lake lies in the Sequatchie Valley, which splits the Appalachian Plateau staring up in Tennessee south of Crossville and ending around Rickwood Caverns State Park in Alabama. The crown jewel of the lake is its namesake state park which is known for its fishing, scenery, and large number of wintering bald eagles. Forever Wild has acquired lands for the state park through donation and purchase, which have helped to buffer core park areas and the roosting sites of the eagles. The 6,000-acre Lake Guntersville State Park is located where Sand Mountain meets the lake. Dammed creeks such as Town and Short offer scenic boating and canoeing opportunities through the canyons cut into the side of the mountain as these streams drop into the river valley. During winter the park has attracts a large number of waterfowl as well as the large population of wintering bald eagles.

In winter, the park’s staff can provide information on the best places to see eagles and waterfowl. You can see them with binoculars, but a spotting scope will provide even better views. Often there is a birdwatcher with a scope at the viewing locations if you do not have one. Most the waterfowl are coots and gadwall. However, some spots such as the state park campground can be a good place to see eagles, loons, grebes, and diving ducks such as goldeneye, scaup, and ruddy ducks.

There are plenty of trails to explore year round at the state park. Some traverse scenic Sand Mountain terrain including some limestone formations with caves. The forest has some good pockets of sugar maple and a few yellow buckeye. During the fall, the buckeyes growing on lakeside cliffs drop their fruit into the water with a large splash.

Directions: To reach Guntersville State Park follow Alabama 227 East from Guntersville until it passes through the state park. Stop at the park office to learn where the see 35

eagles, waterfowl and obtain other park information. Signs will also direct you to some park amenities.

For more information

Guntersville State Park http://www.alapark.com/parks/

Forever Wild Additions http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ Monsanto/Monsanto.pdf http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ EagleRoostView/EagleRoostView.pdf

24. Cathedral Caverns State Park

This state park contains a world class cave. The entrance of the limestone cave is surrounded by yellow buckeyes and other uncommon northern hardwood trees. The mouth of the cave was inhabited by Native Americans. The cave tour passes impressive formations of stalactites hanging from the ceiling and stalagmites projecting from the floor as well as other formations. The most impressive and unique thing about the cave is a forest of giant stalagmites. It gives you a feeling of being in a petrified forest. Few caves have such a stalagmite forest and that alone makes it worth a visit to Cathedral Caverns. The site is so spectacular that it was featured in the Disney movie Tom and Huck. Forever Wild has helped acquire lands buffer lands around this state park so that its scenic character and natural resources will be maintained for future generations.

Directions: From the city of Guntersville follow U.S. 431 north or east for several miles then turn right at Word Mountain Road. Turn right at Cathedral Caverns Highway/Highway 5/Highway 63. Turn right at Cathedral Caverns Road/Cavern Cove Road. Turn right at Cave Road and the park will be on the left.

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For more information:

Cathedral Caverns State Park http://www.alapark.com/parks/

Forever Wild Additions http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/6 2CathedralCaverns/CathedralCavernsKirkland.pdf

25. Little River Canyon Area

While Lookout Mountain is not the state’s largest plateau it contains some of Alabama’s most spectacular canyons and waterfalls. The plateau is around 2,000 feet near Mentone, which helps make the plateau top about 10 degrees cooler than surrounding valleys. That phenomenon helped make Mentone a summer resort town in the days before air conditioning. While not as cool as the higher Blue Ridge further north, the area has more pleasant temperatures than the rest of Alabama during the heat of summer. The cool weather also helps spring to arrive later on the mountain than elsewhere in Alabama. The key natural wonder of Lookout Mountain is the Little River Canyon area. Little River Canyon is one of the deepest gorges east of the Rocky Mountains ranging from 400 to 700 feet deep. Little River’s headwaters are on the Georgia portion of Lookout Mountain in the form of the East and West Forks which combine upstream of the canyon in Alabama. The Alabama portion of the Little River system is designated as an Outstanding National Resource Water. Forever Wild has helped acquire lands for DeSoto State Park and the Little River Wildlife Management Area, which help protect not only natural habitats but water quality and recreational opportunities as well.

The 3,502 acre DeSoto State Park is located on the West Fork of Little River and contains most of the areas developed park facilities. It is named after the Spanish conquistador who was the first European to travel and pillage the Southeast in search of gold during the 1500s. His route may have taken him through this part of Alabama. The main portion of the park has trails along the West Fork where Catawba rhododendron can be seen up close when they bloom during early May. There are great examples of nodding trillium along the trails as well. The rare pink lady slipper can be found in thick carpets in certain other parts of the park. Due to the orchid’s rare status and past problems with collecting, we will not reveal their location. Ask a ranger about them, and if he or she feels you can be trusted they may reveal their location.

The core Little River Canyon area is protected in part by the Little River Canyon National Preserve and land acquired by Forever Wild which are both managed

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as part of the Little River Wildlife Management Area. The East and West forks of Little River join to form the main stem of Little River in the upstream end of the preserve/management area. The area is open to many forms of recreation including hunting. The upper area of the preserve is composed of plateau top that was heavily cut before it was bought for the preserve, so it is an oak-pine forest going through regrowth.

The endangered green pitcher plant can be found in the upstream end and other portions of the preserve where drainage is poor due to underlying solid rock or other factors. The insect-eating green pitcher plant depends on periodic fire to keep its bog habitat relatively free of shrubs and dense trees. Natural fires have been suppressed, so controlled burns are used to mimic natural fires and keep habitat available to pitcher plants and other fire-dependent species. Controlled burns also benefit game habitat and help prevent catastrophic forest fires. The green pitcher plant is so rare and has been so over-harvested by unscrupulous collectors that we will not disclose their exact location. However, if you explore the upstream end of the preserve you will likely see them.

The upper end of the main stem of the Little River provides an opportunity for a scenic gentle canoe trip during the wetter times of the year. The gentle stretch of the river ends as the river subsequently drops over the Little River Falls at the head of Little River Canyon. Little River Falls is spectacular during winter and spring, but it often dries to a trickle by autumn. The falls are one of the widest and highest volume waterfalls in the state. During the wet early spring the falls send up a spray, which forms small rainbows. The river in the canyon below offers some of the most challenging and dangerous white water kayaking and canoeing opportunities in the state. Many people have been killed paddling the canyon. You should only boat the canyon if you are highly skilled and willing to risk your life.

Not surprisingly, the crown jewel of the Little River area is the canyon. The canyon averages 400 to 500 feet deep. To stand on its rim looking across and down the canyon at its towering sandstone cliffs and the whitewater below is an awe-inspiring experience. During the wetter times of the year the state’s highest waterfall, Grace High Falls, makes a 100 foot drop into the canyon. Multiple views of the canyon can be obtained at the various western rim overlooks along the Canyon Rim Parkway.

Directions:

DeSoto State Park Take Alabama 35 East from Fort Payne. Climb to the top of Lookout Mountain and take a left on to DeKalb County Road 89. This road passes through the main unit of the state park with various amenities marked by signs.

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Core Little River Canyon Area Take Alabama 35 East from Fort Payne. Climb to the top of Lookout Mountain and continue until you reach the bridge over Little River. Roads into the northern end of the preserve lie to the left side of the road, but you will need a park or management area map to navigate them. You can cross the Alabama 35 bridge and take an immediate right into the Little River Falls parking lot and observation area or take a right on to the Canyon Rim Parkway.

For more information:

DeSoto State Park http://www.alapark.com/parks/

Forever Wild Addition http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ KnottyPine/KnottyPine.pdf

Little River Canyon National Preserve http://www.nps.gov/liri

Little River Wildlife Management Area http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Little%20River%20WMA%20Final%20Map.pdf

Forever Wild Addition http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/L ittleRiverCanyonHancockTNC/LittleRiverCanyon.pdf

26. Ruffner Mountain Nature Center

Red Mountain is not the highest ridge of the Birmingham area, but it is responsible for the growth of the city. Red Mountain is locally unique in that it contains large veins of iron ore. Large outcrops of rusty red iron ore originally protruded from the ridge giving the mountain its name. Ruffner Mountain is the name for the east-central section of Red Mountain, and rusty red rocks and soil can still be seen mixed in the sandstone cap and south slope of the mountain at Ruffner Mountain Nature Center. Limestone makes up much of the north-facing lower slope of the mountain. After the Civil War, two railroads crossed near Elyton, near the foot of Red Mountain. The area became a warehouse center. Industrialists learned of the region’s quality iron production during the Civil War and used the railroads and nearby mineral resources to create a great iron and steel making center. They called their new city Birmingham after the great English industrial center. Birmingham is possibly the only place in the world where the key ingredients for making iron can be found in close proximity. Red Mountain produced iron ore and limestone while coal was produced largely in the Shale

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Basins of the Appalachian Plateau north of town. The economy of metropolitan Birmingham has now shifted to more of a medical center, but some steel and iron industries remain. Soil pipe production was and still is a regional specialty which was initiated because of the composition of the region’s iron ore. Ruffner Mountain Nature Center contains many resources relating to Red Mountain's natural and industrial heritage.

At 1,011 acres, Ruffner Mountain Nature Center is one of the largest city-owned nature preserve in the nation. Forever Wild acquired 227 acres, which is managed by the nature center as part of the total acreage. About 11 miles of hiking trails take you past many special sites. The start of the trail system goes through a limestone slope forest with lots of white ash and one of the highest diversities of woodland wildflowers in the ridge and valley, including trout lilies, blue phlox, and shooting stars. Other trails take you up the mountain past rust red iron ore rocks, iron mining operation remains including a giant ore crusher, and up to a limestone quarry and the top of the ridge which offers great views of Birmingham. Newly acquired lands on the south side of the mountain contain a wetland created by the center as well as an adjacent trail through usual rock formations. The preserve has built a state of the art nature center as well.

Directions: Reach Ruffner Mountain Nature Center by taking Exit 132 off of Interstate 20, east of downtown Birmingham and the Interstate 59/20 split. From this exit go north on Oporto-Madrid Boulevard. Turn right onto Rugby Avenue. Go to 81st Street and turn right. 81st Street dead ends into the nature center. Look for signs at major intersections and streets. The center's address is 1214 81st Street South, and its phone number is (205) 833-8264.

For more information:

Ruffner Mountain Nature Center http://www.ruffnermountain.org/

Forever Wild Additions http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ RuffnerMountainAddition/Ruffner.pdf

27. Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park

Upon entering Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park you will see a sign saying that this is the southern end of the Appalachians. Actually, the Appalachian Ridge and Valley extends down into middle Bibb County, but the park is still close to end of this province. Before and during the Civil War the trees on the low Appalachian ridges of this area were used to make charcoal. This charcoal was used with local brown iron ore in smelting pig iron. This was the first iron made in the Birmingham area. The iron furnaces were disabled by Union raiders at the end of the Civil War, 40

but the area has since been made a historic park with restored iron furnaces, a museum, relocated pioneer structures and plenty of nature trails. Forever Wild recently acquired lands adjacent to the park, which protect special habitats including streams containing Cahaba or shoal lilies.

Directions: From Birmingham, take Interstate 59/Interstate 20 South about 26 miles and take exit 100. Turn left on Alabama 216 East and travel 0.2 miles to Bucksville Road. Continue on Bucksville Road 0.4 miles to Tannehill Parkway. Turn right onto Tannehill Parkway and go 1.4 miles before turning left, remaining on Tannehill Parkway for 1.3 miles to Confederate Parkway. Follow Confederate Parkway to Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park.

For more information:

Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park http://www.tannehill.org

Forever Wild Addition http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/7 9TannehillLandRidges/Tannehill.pdf

28. Fort Toulouse/Jackson State Historic Site

Fort Toulouse/Jackson State Historic Site is located at the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers where they form the Alabama River. The park was created to protect the area's historic significance. The area was home to prehistoric natives who built the mound in the park. Later during the 1700s, the Alabamas, the most influential group of the Creek Confederacy lived here, and the French established a trading post known as Fort Toulouse here to court their favor. This tribe and the adjacent river named after them helped give our state its name. During the French and Indian War, Cherokee allied to the British may have prowled the area for scalps, but the fort's history was largely peaceful. The fort was abandoned by the British who won the French and Indian War and much of France's New World empire. The famous naturalist William Bartram visited the ruins of the Fort during the American Revolution period and commented on how this land at the river junctions would make a grand city site. Such a river town was built, but to the south. It is known as Montgomery.

In the Creek War/War of 1812 period, Andrew Jackson established a fort at this site after defeating the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend. At this site, Red Eagle, a Creek chief associated with the Fort Mims massacre, surrendered to Jackson and won his respect. Jackson forced both Creek allies and enemies to give up large amounts of land at the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The site where Red Eagle surrendered to Jackson is part of 254 acres that was added to the park through a

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purchase by the Forever Wild Land Trust. Today, the area's natural and historic resources are preserved in the park‘s 434 acres, and fort reconstructions and re-enactors bring alive the historic relationship between man and this beautiful natural area.

The park contains a short nature trail along hardwood bluffs, which border floodplain. This area has been designated as the Bartram arboretum. The trees of this area are festooned in an abundance of Spanish moss, and signs provide natural history information. Longer walks are available on the trail system located behind the Fort Jackson reconstruction. This marked trail system, composed of old roads, leads toward the junction of the rivers.

Directions: From Montgomery, Take exit 173 on Interstate 65 in Montgomery onto Northern Boulevard. Follow Northern Blvd. east to U.S. 231. Take U.S. 231 north towards Wetumpka for about 8 miles. Look for the Key West Inn on the left and turn left at the next red light onto Fort Toulouse Road. Follow it into the historic site.

For more information:

Fort Toulouse/Jackson State Historic Site http://preserveala.org/forttoulousejackson.aspx?sm=g_h and http://www.forttoulouse.com/

Forever Wild Addition http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/F tToulouse/FtToulouse.pdf

29. Lowndes Wildlife Management Area

The 11,118-acre Lowndes Wildlife Management Area is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state of Alabama. A significant amount of the land purchases were made by the Forever Wild Land Trust. Most of the terraces and floodplain on the site are covered in young hardwoods, and one day they will make a great bottomland forest. However, there are more mature Spanish moss-draped tupelo, cypress, and bottomland hardwood swamps along streams and the Alabama River impoundment known as Lake Woodruff. There is also some upland hardwood and pine on slopes within the area.

You can reach the management area by land along its various roads, although most of them are closed outside of hunting season. Visitors should see turkey, barred owls, beavers and their lodges. The best way to see this area is by boat or canoe. The boat launch of the Prairie Creek Campground is a great place to enter the reservoir backwaters that border the wildlife management area. Canoeist and boaters can see alligator, swamp iris and other wetland life. The 42

bottomlands show the influence of the alkaline Black Belt chalk through the presence of lots of atamasco lilies in the spring. These white flowers are so beautiful that they almost do not look real. Gigantic needle palms with 3-foot tall trunks are another beautiful sight deep in the bottomland hardwood forest.

Another good site to reach the area’s waterways is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Holy Ground Battlefield Park. This park commemorates a nearby battle of the Creek War. The Creek Indians’ prophets told them that this land was holy and that they could not be hurt here. European-American soldiers from southwest Alabama proved them wrong. Chief Red Eagle had been skeptical of the prophets’ claims, and when the battle was lost he escaped by swimming his horse across the river. The Holy Ground trail follows the river bluffs through terrain similar to the battlefield. The river is visible through Spanish moss-draped oaks found on this hilly terrain, and an abundance of atamasco lilies can be seen here as well. The trees have been labeled in this area.

Directions: To reach the Lowndes Wildlife Management Area and the various Corps of Engineers parks on the Alabama River follow U.S. 80 west from Montgomery until you take a right on to Lowndes County 29 at Lowndesboro. Follow County Road 29 through the antebellum town of Lowndesboro and then take a left onto Lowndes County Road 40. County Road 40 goes west and passes through the wildlife management area and by its various access roads as well the sign marked side road to Holy Ground Battlefield Park. County Road 40 continues to White Hall where another section of the wildlife management area can be reached to the north going toward the river. If you continue west, the road become Jones Bluff Road and passes by Prairie Creek Campground.

For more information:

Lowndes Wildlife Management Area: http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/land/wildlife-areas/wmamaps/2012-201 3%20Lowndes%20WMA%20Final%20Mao.pdf

Forever Wild Additions http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ Riggins/LowndesWMA.pdf

Prairie Creek Campground and Holy Ground Battleground Park http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/al_lakes/Parks%20at%20ARL.htm

30. Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

Sheltered sounds and bays form estuaries (mixing zones of fresh and salt water) that are very productive for seafood species and other marine wildlife such as

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dolphins, pelicans and gulls. The seafood and other wildlife of bays and sounds are linked to surrounding salt and river marshes because many of these species use the marshes as nursery grounds. So protecting all coastal marshes is important to maintaining the large amount of seafood harvested in Alabama. Forever Wild has helped protect various coastal habitats including the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was established to protect and study a small relatively pristine subsection of the Mobile Bay estuary. The reserve covers 6,016 acres, most of it water. Only 1,600 acres of the reserve is land. Forever Wild helped acquire lands within this reserve. The reserve is located in the northern half of the bay where the Fish River spills into it. The reserve includes a nature center and boardwalks out into the area’s Spanish moss-draped cypress-tupelo swamps and marshes. The preserve also includes one of the best opportunities found anywhere to observe a pitcher plant bog. The pitcher plant bog has a boardwalk that allows visitors to see the bog without harming it or getting their feet wet. The bog contains insect-eating sundews, white-topped, yellow, and frog britches pitcher plants as well as various other wildflowers, such as the white-topped sedge. The bog occurred historically in a coastal pine savanna, but much of it had grown thick with brush due to fire suppression. The reserve is working to restore the bog to its original natural condition using controlled burns. The bog boardwalk leads out of the bog through shrub swamps to the embayed Fish River, which is bordered by bald cypress and edge marsh.

Directions: To reach the Weeks Bay area take U.S. 98 west from Foley in Baldwin County. Shortly after passing the town of Magnolia Springs you will see a small, fenced park on your right which is labeled Inspiration Oak Park. Turn right on to County Road 17 at the corner of the park to shortly reach the Weeks Bay Reserve pitcher plant bog and boardwalk. The parking lot on the right side of County Road 17 and the bog boardwalk are on the left side of the road. To reach the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Reserve Visitor Center continue west on U.S. 98 until you reach the bridge over the Fish River and the upper end of Week’s Bay. The visitor center lies on the left in this area.

For more information:

Weeks Bay National Estuarine Reserve: http://nerrs.noaa.gov/Reserve.aspx?ResID=WKB and http://www.weeksbay.org/ and www.weeksbayreserve.com

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Forever Wild Additions http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/FWTracts/ WeeksBay/WeeksBay.pdf

Ferns in Swamp-Weeks Bay National Estuarine Reserve Photo By Greg Harber

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Forever Wild Is Helping to Conserve Our State’s Natural Heritage For Future Generations

Humankind has a responsibility to be good stewards of the Earth’s natural resources. Alabama’s natural habitats and associated plant and animal species face threats associated with urban sprawl, water pollution and other modern phenomena. The Forever Wild Land Trust has helped Alabama conserve some of its special natural places so that they can be enjoyed by present and future generations. However, many of Alabama’s special natural areas still need to be conserved. On Nov. 6, 2012, please vote yes on Amendment 1 to renew the highly successful Forever Wild Land Trust program.

We hope this guide has been helpful in learning more about the lands conserved by Forever Wild. We hope it will inspire you to visit the sites and support the Forever Wild Land Trust that conserved them. If you have any questions about the information in this guide or how to help support the renewal of the Forever Wild Land Trust program please contact the author or Alabamians for Forever Wild.

For More Information:

This Guide

Ken Wills [email protected] (205) 823-1641

Helping to Renew the Forever Wild Land Trust Program http://www.alabamiansforforeverwild.org/

Birmingham Audubon Society http://www.birminghamaudubon.org/

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