DECEMBER
6, THURSDAY, Meet 8:15 a.m.
Weekday
Hike in Tannehill State Park
Details: Come with us on our weekday hike. Enjoy an easy 3 or
so-mile hike on trails in an especially lovely Alabama Historical State Park.
And the site is very near Birmingham!
Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park has more than
1,500 acres in three counties set aside for hiking, camping and outdoor
recreation. A miniature railroad chugs through the pines. From spring through
fall, the blacksmith, miller and craftsmen demonstrate their trades. Craft
shops occupy restored pioneer cabins and artisans chat with visitors from their
front porches. Steeped in history, Tannehill feels timeless. The cotton gin,
pioneer farm and working gristmill preserve a long-gone way of life. Hiking
trails retrace historic roadways. Artifacts of Alabama’s 19th century iron
industry displayed in the Iron and Steel Museum put in perspective the massive
stone furnaces, Tannehill’s awe-inspiring centerpiece.
The same ingredients afford today’s visitors a pleasurable
escape from modern life.
If you are retired or not working on this particular
Thursday, you are urged to participate in the Southeastern Outings’ group hike
on the trails and get a feel for the location and scale of the land.
This walk will be Southeastern Outings’ third hike in
Tannehill Historical State Park. Come
with us for a guided tour of easily walkable trails. Please bring water and wear good walking shoes or boots. Dress
appropriately for the weather.
Please meet 8:15 a.m. at the parking lot behind the McDonald’s Galleria on U.S. Highway 31 in
Hoover. We plan to depart from
there at 8:30 a.m.
Optional restaurant lunch after the hike.
Day-Use Park Admission: $5 Adults (12 years and older); $4 Seniors (Ages 62 and older); $3 Children (Ages 6-11); ages 5 and under free
Information: Christine Heckemeyer, 205/979-5730
CANCELLED
DECEMBER 8, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45 a.m.
Moderately Easy Dayhike, Alum Hollow on Green Mountain,
Nature Trail also on Green Mountain, and Monte Sano State Park--all in the
Huntsville, AL Area
Details: Our first adventure of the day will be hiking Alum Hollow
Trail. Sitting atop Green Mountain in Huntsville, Alum Hollow Trail just opened
to the public in the spring of 2016 and is on property donated to the Land
Trust of North Alabama. The mile long trail (one-way) is an easy stroll through
light woods, ending at two waterfalls. The last hundred feet of the trail down
to the waterfalls is steep but very walkable with time and careful
footing. If you wish to not walk down to the falls, there is an area
where you can sit and wait for those who do go down. While waiting, you can
explore a rock overhang that probably served as shelter for Native Americans. This
hike is rated easy to moderate based on the last hundred feet.
After our hike at Alum Hollow, we will go to the Madison
County Nature Trail on Green Mountain for a picnic lunch. We can sit amongst
the trees in the picnic grounds and enjoy the view of a covered bridge across
the lake. There are restrooms there. This is really a pretty setting.
From Green Mountain we will travel to Monte Sano State Park
and hike the Sinks and Stone Cuts Trails. This 3 to 4-mile hike is moderate mainly
based on length. There is some elevation gain, but it is not strenuous. Trails
are generally in good shape, but in some places the trails have what is known
as the 3 R’s of hiking; rocks, roots and ruts. While known for their spring
wildflowers, these trails will showcase the fall forest and should offer us
beautiful fall colors if conditions are right. The Stone Cuts are large,
natural rock formations on the mountain. When you enter the large
limestone rocks to see the Stone Cuts, you feel the temperature drop.
This is especially refreshing during the warmer months of the year.
Please wear hiking boots or sturdy shoes and clothing
appropriate for the weather.
Bring water, snacks, a picnic lunch, hiking poles if you use
them and
Monte Sano Park entrance
fee.
Adult Fee Ages 12+ $5.00
Seniors 62+ $2.00
Children Ages 4-11 $2.00
Optional dinner at a Huntsville restaurant after the hike.
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 8 and over welcome.
Meet 8:45 a.m.at
the Hayden/Corner Park and Ride. We plan to depart from there at 9:00
a.m. You may also meet at 10:15 am in the parking lot in front of the
Target Store in Valley
Bend at Jones Valley. The whole group plans to depart from there at 10:30
a.m. Address of the Target Store is 2750 Carl T. Jones Drive, Suite 7,
Huntsville, Alabama 35802-4914. Please park in the shopping center
parking lot. You can then use the restrooms in the Target before we leave to
start our
hike.
DECEMBER 9, SUNDAY,
Meet 1:45 p.m.
Second Sunday Dayhike
in Oak Mountain State Park
Details: Enjoy a moderate 4-mile walk in the
woodlands near Birmingham on a Sunday afternoon. This is an excellent outing for introducing your friends to
Southeastern Outings and for making new friends who enjoy the outdoors. Parts of this hike may be off the color-coded
trails. There will be some ups and
downs.
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age eight and up
able to walk the distance of about 4 miles and complete the hike are
welcome.
Share an adventure!
Bring a friend. Optional dinner
after the hike.
Please meet at
1:45 p.m. in the Oak Mountain
Park office parking lot. We plan to
depart from there at 2:00 p.m.
Please bring $5/person ($2.00 seniors) park admission fee
plus your drink.
Info: Doris Hatch, 205/901-8367
DECEMBER 15, SATURDAY,
Meet 8:45 a.m.
Dayhike on the
Deadening Trail at Lake Martin near Alexander City, Alabama
Details: The Deadening Trail is among the
most scenic and diverse hiking trails in Alabama. The cliffs of the
Tallapoosa, the Needles Eye, and Lichen and Jasmine Bluffs are just a few of
the unusual and unique rock formations that await the hiker. The trails
are routed through a variety of flora and fauna. There are high rocky ridges with mountain long leaf pine,
mountain laurel, low and high bush blueberry, and lush hardwood forests that
include redbud, sourwood, dogwood, native azalea, umbrella and big leaf
magnolia. Large thickets of Catawba
Rhododendron are numerous. Deer, turkey
and numerous bird species, including bald eagles, can be seen along the
trail.
The Deadening Trail is a moderately strenuous 3.6 mile loop
trail at Lake Martin. The trail is a
more challenging footpath than other trails located along an area of the
southeast shore of beautiful Lake Martin (a 40,000-acre, 700-mile-shoreline
lake) in Tallapoosa County, Alabama.
In order to manage most effectively hiking on this difficult
trail it is highly recommended that you wear hiking boots, not tennis shoes,
and that you bring a trekking pole (hiking stick) or two. Also be sure to bring plenty of water with
you.
Optional dinner after the hike.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the parking lot of the
Publix in the Village at Lee Branch in Greystone. We plan to
depart from there at 9:00 a.m.
DECEMBER 22, SATURDAY, Meet 9:45
a.m.
Dayhike
Where: The new Shoal Creek Park, Montevallo, Alabama
Details: Southeastern Outings has planned an
easy hike to the new Shoal Creek Park in Montevallo. On October 30, 2018, ten people participated in an SEO scouting
trip there led by Shane Baugh, the Montevallo Parks and Recreation Director,
and we were delighted at what we found.
This 167-acre
park has some new trails (2.1 miles and 1.6 miles) already constructed and some
less developed trails which we will also hike.
One trail does follow the creek a good ways. The park is located on both sides of Shoal Creek about 2 miles
upstream from Orr Park where we have begun our past hikes on the Montevallo
Parks Trail. There is already a foot
bridge over the creek in the new park.
The park is located very close to American Village on AL Highway 119 in
Montevallo.
You are
invited to come on this hiking trip with us.
Please bring your picnic lunch and water with you and please
meet at 9:45 a.m. in the parking lot behind the McDonald’s on U.S. Highway
31 at the Riverchase Galleria.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 7 and older
able to walk 4 miles without complaining welcome
Admission to the park is free!
DECEMBER 29, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45
a.m.
Dayhike
Where: DeSoto State Park and Lost Falls
Details: Moderately easy hike in DeSoto State
Park. We will hike along the beautiful West Fork of Little River. We’ll also hike various other trails in the
park and visit Lost Falls and possibly DeSoto Falls. This is one of the most scenic state parks in Alabama. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children
age 9 and over able to walk about 5 miles without complaining welcome.
After the outing we’ll enjoy an optional restaurant dinner
together.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Applebee’s Trussville.
We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m.
