Southeastern Outings 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.
Info: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or phone 205/631-4680
DECEMBER 6, SATURDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings moderately easy approximately 6-mile dayhike on the Black Creek Trail in Fultondale and Gardendale, just north of Birmingham
Details: Walk on a rails-to-trails conversion route on an old railroad right of way. This smooth trail is wide and level. No hills! This finely-crushed rock surface trail goes through mostly wooded terrain. Note that the trail has been extended recently. Our route on December 6 will include both the previously-hiked section and the new section. So come out to see and experience what the new part looks like! Total hike distance is 6 miles.
No motorized vehicles are allowed on the trail! This outing should be lots of fun for everyone. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age seven and up able to walk 6 miles without complaining are welcome on this walk. This outing has consistently been one of our most popular events since it is easy and close to Birmingham.
Meet 9:45 a.m. at the Black Creek Park in Fultondale, Alabama. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or 205/631-4680
CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER
DECEMBER 12, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Moderately Strenuous Dayhike on the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail System at Lake Martin, near Alexander City, Alabama
Details: Located on the banks of Lake Martin, Alabama’s largest and allegedly most beautiful lake, the area offers linked loop trails. Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trails are among the most scenic and diverse hiking trails in Alabama. The trails skirt the shoreline of beautiful Lake Martin, a 40,000-acre, 700-mile-shoreline lake. Other areas of the trails are high rocky ridges and bluffs, some with vistas of 6 to 8 miles overlooking Kowaliga Bay, Chimney Rock, and others along rocky shoal creeks, and rippling brooks. 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 trails are built to blend into nature, free of bicycles, motorized vehicles, horses or other pack animals. All trails are built on Alabama Power Company land that is set aside as naturally undeveloped.
The trails are well-marked and maintained, the terrain is varied, and the scenery on a clear day is spectacular. We will hike about 4 miles. We will see longleaf pine and mixed hardwood forests, open airy sections, and other trail sections under fuller forest canopy. We also will see pristine lake views, boats, birds, boulders and deer tracks.
Please wear hiking boots! Please meet 8:45 a.m. at Publix in the Village at Lee Branch in Greystone. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age ten and over welcome.
Optional restaurant dinner in Alexander City after the hike.
Info: Dan Frederick, email seoutings@bellsouth.net or phone 205/631-4680
DECEMBER 13, SUNDAY, Meet 12:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings 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 12:45 p.m. in the Oak Mountain Park office parking lot. We plan to depart from there at 1:00 p.m.
Please bring $5/person ($2.00 seniors) park admission fee plus your drink.
Info: Randall Adkins, 205-317-6969
DECEMBER 19, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings 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. 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.
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.
Fees
Adult Ages 12+ $5.00
Seniors 62+ $2.00
Children Ages 4-11 $2.00
Please be sure you bring exact change park admission. You will deposit your admission fee in an honor box. There is no park agent there to make change for larger bills.
Optional dinner at a Thai restaurant in Huntsville after the hike.
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 8 and over welcome. Please 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.
Info. and Trip Leader: Wayne Rosetti, email wlr765@icloud.com or phone 256/651-7363
DECEMBER 20, SUNDAY, Meet 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Moderate Dayhike Along Buck Creek in Helena, AL
Details: Come explore the wilder side of Helena. Hike with SEO on a lovely creekside trail in Helena in Shelby County. Total hiking distance is less than four miles. Hike rated moderately easy. We will be walking briefly off trail and walking up some hills when the trail routes us away from the creek. Well-behaved, properly supervised children age eight and up welcome.
Meet at 1:45 p.m. in the parking lot for the Helena City Park on AL Highway 261by the bridge over Buck Creek in Helena. We plan to depart from there at 2:00 p.m.
Directions to Meeting Place: Take I-65 to Exit #247, the Shelby County Route 17, Valleydale Road exit. Go to end of ramp and turn right regardless of whether you come from the south or the north. Take Co. 17, which changes from Co. Route 17 to AL 261, all the way into Helena. You will cross one railroad and then drive over a bridge with a dam and waterfall on the left. Immediately past the bridge, turn sharply back to the right just before you cross a second railroad and then drive into the parking lot for a city park right on the shore of the creek. Distances on Valleydale Road, (Shelby County Route 17) and then Alabama Route 261 from I-65 exit number 247 to driveway into Helena Park parking lot are 5.5 miles from bottom end of southbound ramp and 5.9 miles from bottom end of northbound ramp.
Info: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or 205/631-4680
DECEMBER 26, SUNDAY, Meet 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Easy Walk
Where: Vulcan Trail inside the City Limits of Birmingham
Details: Enjoy an easy walk in the woodlands overlooking Birmingham on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The trail is level, as it is on an old mining railroad right of way just below the crest of Red Mountain. This walk is an ideal activity for those Christmas guests who have been in your house for several days and with whom you are looking for something to do to get them out of the house. A previous walk on this trail drew one of the highest number of participants, 67, on any outing SEO has ever sponsored. Don’t miss it!
Please meet at 1:45 p.m. in the Vulcan Park and Museum Parking Lot where you would normally park to visit the statue and Vulcan Park. We plan to depart from there at 2:00 p.m. We will walk from the big parking lot a short distance down some new stairs to the trail head and then on the trail to Green Springs Highway and back. The formerly unpaved section of the Vulcan Trail has recently been widened and resurfaced.
There is no charge to participate in this hike and there is no charge for admission to either Vulcan Park or the trail.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 7 and older able to walk 4 miles welcome. After the walk is completed, there will be an optional dinner at Jim 'N Nick's 11th Avenue Grill at Five Points South.
Share an adventure. Bring a friend or friends.
Info: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or 205/631-4680
