OCTOBER 7, SATURDAY, Meet 10:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike, Richard Martin Trail (previously named Limestone Rail Trail), Elkmont, Alabama
Details: This trail is located in extreme North Alabama just to the west of I-65 and a few miles south of the Tennessee-Alabama border. The hike is rated easy. We will hike a total of 5.3 miles. There is much lovely scenery along the path that was once a part of the Tennessee and Alabama Central Railroad.
Walk on one of Alabama’s rails-to-trails conversion routes on an old railroad right of way. This smooth trail is wide and level. No hills on this trail. On this particular hike you will be walking on a scenic trail which goes through fields, near houses and through the woods. The trail winds through wetlands with wildlife and a great variety of birds. On the trail you will pass the site of the Civil War Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle.
Please bring your picnic lunch and drink with you.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 8 and over able to walk 6 miles without complaining are welcome.
Absolutely delicious optional dinner afterwards at Terranova’s Restaurant in Athens, Alabama.
Please meet 10:45 a.m. at the Hayden/Corner Park and Ride. We plan to depart from there at 11:00 a.m.
Info. and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com , phone 205-631-4680
OCTOBER 8, SUNDAY, Meet 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Second Sunday Dayhike in Oak Mountain State Park
Details: Enjoy a moderate 4 to 5-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 without complaining and complete the hike are welcome.
Share an adventure! Bring a friend.
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. and Trip Leader: Randall Adkins, 205/317-6969
OCTOBER 12, THURSDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Leisurely Weekday Hike
Where: Veterans Park, 4800 Valleydale Road, Hoover, AL 35242
Details: Come with us on a weekday hike. Enjoy an easy 3-mile hike on trails in North Shelby County just off Valleydale Road. Veterans Park is an 82-acre park with numerous walking trails, a four-acre lake and a one-acre pond.
If you are retired or not working or have off 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.
The hike is about three miles. The walking pace for this hike will be moderately easy. We’ll stop often to catch our breath and note views, trees, birdsongs, the trail and woods around us. Happy hiking!
This walk will be Southeastern Outings’ ninth hike in Veterans 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 at 9:45 a.m. in the Veterans Park parking lot right beside the building with restrooms in it at the park. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Optional lunch nearby after the hike at Metro Diner Restaurant in Inverness.
Admission to Park: Free
Information and hike leader: Randall Adkins, 205/317-6969 cell
OCTOBER 14, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Hike
Where: Shoal Creek Park, Montevallo, Alabama
Details: A pleasant 5-mile hike through fields and woods on a well-developed loop of trails through Montevallo's newest city park.
Southeastern Outings has planned an easy, approximately 5-mile hike in 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. We subsequently had highly successful hikes there for the entire group on December 22, 2018, March 9, 2019, May 14, 2020, November 21, 2020, March 17, 2021, December 8, 2021 and November 12, 2022.
This 167-acre park has nine miles of trails already constructed and some less developed trails which we will also hike. One trail does follow Shoal Creek for some distance.
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.
The restrooms and picnic pavilion in the park are now completely constructed and open for your use.
The park is located 1.1 miles south of American Village on AL Highway 119 in Montevallo.
Please bring your picnic lunch, water, and a hiking pole or two with you.
Please meet at 8:45 a.m. in the parking lot behind the McDonald’s on U.S. Highway 31 at the Riverchase Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m.
Admission to the park is free!
Information and Hike Leader: To be announced
OCTOBER 18, WEDNESDAY, Meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Weekday Hike
Where: Moss Rock Preserve
Details: Explore a section of this 350-acre forested park in Hoover on a moderately strenuous 2-3 hour hike with some climbing up and walking down hills on Shades Mountain. We’ll experience the preserve’s diverse natural features which include longleaf pine forests, huge boulders, grassy areas, outstanding views and several beautiful streams and waterfalls which hopefully will be running bountifully when we are there. We recommend that you bring hiking poles with you on this hike if you have them.
Please bring water to drink.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the Moss Rock Preserve Parking Lot on Patton Chapel Road. We plan to depart from there promptly at 10:00 a.m.
Below is a link to the website for Moss Rock Preserve, where you can print a map of the trails in Moss Rock Preserve for use on this hike or on future hikes there on your own,
http://www.hooveral.org/219/Hiking-Map-Trail-Guide
Information and Trip Leader: David Shepherd, 205/240-4681
OCTOBER 21, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike: Cahaba River Park in Western Shelby County north of Montevallo
Details: The Cahaba River is among the most scenic and biologically diverse waterways in the United States, and the public now has access to a portion of the river in Shelby County. Work is underway on the Cahaba River Park, a 1,500-acre site near the Bibb County line in western Shelby County. Please come with us for our fifth, moderately easy 3 to 5 mile-long hike in this newly created park.
Cahaba River Park includes two sectors: a larger sector on the north side of the river and a sector on the south side of the river that allows for motorized access.
The river splits the park into two sites with different amenities. The north side, which is called the Helena/Hoover Sector, includes most of the park’s acreage. The sector comprises 1,212 acres of Forever Wild property and 127 acres of county property. The south side of the river, which is called the Boothton/Montevallo Sector, comprises 188 acres of Shelby County property.
Cahaba River Park is a Shelby County venture that is being developed in conjunction with Forever Wild Land Trust, an initiative of the Alabama
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Improvements to Shelby County 251, or River Road on the north side of the Cahaba River, are now complete. The Park offers about 15 miles of professionally designed and constructed trails for mountain biking, hiking and trail running; multiple parking locations at trailheads; several canoe launch sites that will allow for short trips or runs as long as 7 miles; 2 sets of pavilions and restroom facilities; and a caretaker’s house for a law enforcement officer.
Our hike in the Helena/Hoover Sector on October 15 may include walking on several trails. The park’s trails offer a nice blend of forest, river and creek views including a good view of the area’s elevation.
Please bring your picnic lunch and water with you on the hike. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 7 and older able to walk up to five miles without complaining are welcome to participate in this trip.
Please meet at 8:45 a.m. in the parking lot behind the McDonald’s on U.S. Highway 31 at the Riverchase Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m.
Admission to the park is free.
Information and Trip Leader: Tim Vann, telephone 205-515-8566, email tvann25@hotmail.com
OCTOBER 28, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike
Where: Chief Ladiga Trail, Piedmont, Alabama
Details: Join friendly folks on an easy 3.5-mile dayhike and picnic on the Chief Ladiga Trail east of Piedmont, Alabama. Walk on Alabama’s first extended rails-to-trails conversion route on an old railroad right of way. This smooth trail is wide and level. Absolutely no hills—guaranteed! On this particular hike you will be walking on the most scenic section of the trail. This paved part goes through mostly wooded terrain.
No motorized vehicles are allowed on your trail! Note this is a relatively easy outing, one which should be lots of fun for everyone. Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age eight and up able to walk seven miles without complaining are welcome on this walk.
Please bring a picnic lunch and drink. From the trail you can see Dugger Mountain, one of the newest national wilderness areas in Alabama.
There will be an optional restaurant dinner after the hike. You will have an opportunity to wash up and change clothes in the Eubanks Welcome Center restrooms after the hike. If you’d like to clean up and/or change clothes, please bring your soap and towel and/or change of clothes with you.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Applebee’s Restaurant in Trussville. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m. or meet 10:20 a.m. at the Eubanks Welcome Center on the Chief Ladiga Trail in Piedmont.
Trip Leader and Info: Sean Boogaard, 256/365-6321.
OCTOBER 28, SATURDAY, Meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings 10.6-Mile Bicycle Ride
Where: Chief Ladiga Trail, Piedmont, Alabama
Details: Join friendly folks for a 10.6-mile bicycle ride on the Chief Ladiga Trail in the Piedmont, Alabama area. Ride on Alabama’s first extended rails-to-trails conversion route on an old railroad right of way. The trail we’ll be riding on is smooth, 8-10 feet wide and even paved. There are no hills on this trail. The trail is suitable for road bikes plus mountain, hybrid and urban bicycles. Ride through towns, fields and picturesque woodlands. No motorized vehicles are allowed on your trail!
Bicycle helmets are required and must be worn. Please bring a picnic lunch and drink.
The pace of this bicycle ride will be leisurely. From time to time we will stop bicycling just to enjoy the scenery and views from the four bridges over the creeks. However, please note that this ride is 10.6 miles long. We recommend that participants intending to come on this outing have bicycled at least a few times during the 30 days prior to October 22. In order to be assured that you can ride comfortably on this trip you should probably be able to ride at an average speed of 8-12 miles per hour on level terrain.
There will be an optional restaurant dinner after the bicycle ride. You will have an opportunity to wash up and change clothes in the Eubanks Welcome Center restrooms after the bicycle ride. If you’d like to clean up and/or change clothes, please bring your soap and towel and/or change of clothes with you.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Applebee’s Restaurant in Trussville. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m. or meet 10:20 a.m. at the Eubanks Welcome Center on the Chief Ladiga Trail in Piedmont.
Reservations Required: If you want to come on this bicycle ride, please make a reservation with Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone
205-631-4680. Also, if you have a bike rack which can hold more than one bicycle, please bring it with you to Piedmont in order to facilitate the required car shuttle and advise Dan that you are doing so. We probably need to leave about two vehicles at the Eubanks Welcome Center in order to transport the drivers of all the remaining vehicles from the end point of the ride back to the start point to pick up their vehicles after the ride is concluded.
Information and Ride Leader: Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com
