Southeastern Outings
Southeastern Outings is a non-profit organization committed to sponsoring outings for people who enjoy participating in simple outdoor adventures. All activities of the group are open to the public.
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November and December Activities
NOVEMBER 2, SATURDAY, please meet 10:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike, Richard Martin Trail (previously named
Limestone Rail Trail), Elkmont, Alabama
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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.
Optional
restaurant dinner afterwards 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
NOVEMBER
7, THURSDAY, please meet 9:30 a.m.
Southeastern
Outings dayhike
Where: Double Oak Park
Details: First of all, please note that this location is NOT Oak Mountain State
Park. Double Oak Park is a new Shelby
County park located on top of Double Oak Mountain and accessed from Shelby
County Route 43 near Chelsea.
Double Oak Park is approximately
750 acres. Here’s a look at what you’ll find at the park:
- Hiking trails
- Mountain bike trails
- Horseback trails
- A picnic pavilion
- Restrooms with running water
This park is owned and maintained by Shelby County.
The park
is located between Dunnavant Valley Road (County Highway 41) and Bear Creek
Road (County Highway 43). The expansion of the Dunnavant Valley Greenway
includes Double Oak Park, which features 8-9 miles of single-track trail that
combines with the double track. Besides
providing an option for recreation and a place for visitors to enjoy, the park
will also preserve the land from development. Chad
Scroggins, Shelby County, County manager, stated, “Double Oak Park is an
opportunity for the Shelby County Commission to invest in an outdoor recreation
park for hiking, biking, trail running, and very soon, horseback trails. The
park consists of 750 acres at the tail end of the Appalachian Mountain chain in
Shelby County just outside of Chelsea on County Road 43. We are excited to
offer this pristine piece of the outdoors so close to residential areas and
employment centers on US 280.”
Please bring picnic lunch and
water with you. Please
meet 9:30 a.m. at the Shelby County Highway 43 entrance to the park.
Info. And Trip Leader: Chris
Heckemeyer, 205-979-5730
NOVEMBER 9, SATURDAY, please meet 8:40 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Cave Tour and
Woodland Hike
Where: Cathedral Caverns
State Park, Woodville, Alabama
Reservations Required
If you want to come on this outing, you must call trip leader Dan
Frederick,
205-631-4680 before noon on Friday, November 1 so that we can abide by
the Park’s group tour reservation deadline policy.
Please give Dan your name, telephone number including area code, and email
address if you have one. Cave tour admission fees for participants who
register by this deadline will be compliments of Southeastern Outings. This means that Southeastern Outings will
pay your $15 cave admission charge provided that you make your reservation with
Dan Frederick, trip leader, before noon on Friday, November 1. If you try to make a reservation to
come on this outing after the November 1 deadline, you will have to pay your
own cave admission fee, and you risk being denied admission to the cave because
the total number of people, including our group and all other people who want
to come on the 11:00 a.m. tour on November 9 cannot be exceeded!
Details: Tour one of Alabama’s largest developed caves. After we
arrive at the park, you can use the restrooms there. We then are required
to assemble together at 10:45 a.m. right outside the cave entrance for our tour
which starts at 11:00 a.m. sharp. The
cave, which maintains a constant temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, includes
a very large entrance and several beautiful formations.
The cave
tour walk with tour guide is 1.5 miles in length and takes 1.5 hours.
Following the cave tour, we will enjoy having our lunches on the park porch,
and then we will hike in the park through hardwood forests on gentle slopes and
through grassy meadows.
Please
bring your picnic lunch and water with you.
Optional
dinner in Guntersville after the outing concludes.
Please meet 8:40 a.m. at the Cleveland
Chevron, 36320 AL Highway 79, Cleveland, AL
35049. We plan to depart from there at 8:55 a.m.
Remember—Reservations
for this outing are required before noon on Friday, November 1!!
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, phone 205-631-4680, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com
NOVEMBER
10, SUNDAY, please meet 12:45 p.m.
Southeastern
Outings Second Sunday Dayhike in Oak Mountain State Park
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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 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. and Trip Leader: Randall Adkins, 205/719-7719
NOVEMBER 14, THURSDAY, please meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Weekday hike
Where: Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve, Springfield, Alabama
Details: This will be Southeastern Outings’
second ever hike in this new nature preserve.
The property is located along a beautiful, tree-canopied section of St.
Clair County Highway 9 within the city limits of Springville in north St. Clair
County. The property encompasses hilly, forested terrain and aquatic riparian
habitat in and near Big Canoe Creek.
Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve consists of 422 acres of pristine
meandering creek, lush forest, one-of-a-kind species, wildlife, stunning flora
and trails of all kinds to be traveled.
Trails traverse this Alabama Forever Wild property in Springville,
perfect for hiking, horseback riding, bird watching and mountain biking,
paddling and a variety of other outdoor activities.
The Forever Wild Land Trust
believes that this property presents a unique opportunity to serve as a focal
point of sustainable regional economic and social activity while simultaneously
helping to protect some of Alabama’s impressive aquatic biodiversity for
generations to come. Experience the
Preserve’s biodiversity – from mountain laurel and native azalea to beech, red
and sugar maple trees. Find hornbeams, black walnut, catalpa, butternut and
bigleaf magnolia trees and perhaps, stands of river cane.
The northern border spans about
2/3 mile of Big Canoe Creek, providing abundant creekside scenery and wildlife
habitat. High points on the property afford views of the uppermost section of
the Big Canoe Creek watershed, including beautiful, rural Canoe Creek Valley
and the opposing ridges of Pine and Blount Mountains.
Take in the spectacular views of
ridges, mountains and valley, or spot a rare bird soaring above.
Each sunrise seems to reveal a new perspective on nature’s many gifts
found beneath the canopy’s trees or along the banks of this stunning creek that
runs for 50 miles. And each sunset beckons visitors to savor the memories of
the sights, sounds and the enveloping feeling of it all. It is a true gift of nature for us all to
enjoy, to experience and to be inspired.
The hike will be relatively
easy. We will be hiking on the Slab
Creek Trail. Total hike distance is
about 2.6 miles.
Admission to the park is
free. Please bring your picnic lunch
and beverage with you.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the
Applebee’s in Trussville. We plan to
depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan
Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or
telephone 205-631-4680.
NOVEMBER 16, SATURDAY, please meet at 8:15 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike
Where: Corral Shelter and Pebble Bluff Native American
Shelters in the Bankhead National Forest
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Details: Moderate
hikes to several spectacular sites in the Bankhead National Forest. First, we’ll hike to the Corral Shelter.
This is a large rock overhang which long ago served as a free barn to the owner
of a stagecoach transportation owner.
He fenced off the entrance to the shelter and then put his horses and
the stagecoach in the shelter each night after they had pulled the stagecoach
on its various routes for the day.
Thus, they were always out of the rain overnight. This shelter is fascinating to view and
contemplate how it was once so very cleverly utilized.
Then we’ll
hike from there to view two of the Pebble Area Bluff Shelters. These are huge overhangs where Native
Americans once lived and assembled for ceremonies and protection from the
elements. These shelters also served as
a place where Native Americans hid out from the white men who were rounding up Native Americans to force them to
walk on the Trail of Tears from Alabama to Oklahoma. Each shelter should have a waterfall drifting off the cliff at
the top. The beauty of each of these
areas is breathtaking. This is a trip
to not be missed!
Please
bring picnic lunch and water.
Well-behaved children age ten and over able to walk over rugged terrain
welcome. Optional dinner after.
Please meet at 8:15 a.m. at the Floor and Décor Store parking lot, 230
Green Springs Highway in Homewood. We
plan to depart from there at 8:30 a.m.
Or you can meet the group at the Jack’s in Double Springs, 15266 U.S. Highway 278, Double Springs, AL,
at 9:45 a.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, phone
205/631-4680 or email southeasternoutings@gmail.com
NOVEMBER 23, SATURDAY, please meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Picnic Lunch and Moderate Dayhike
Where: Paul Grist State Park near Selma, Alabama
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Details: Paul Grist State Park is one of the state’s most
uncrowded, yet scenic state parks containing hills, forests, fields and a
large, beautiful, tree-lined lake.
Prior to
the dayhike we will get together at the smaller pavilion right near the park
office to eat our picnic lunches.
Please bring your picnic lunch and also $3 per person ($2 for seniors
age 62 and older) park admission and a beverage for yourself.
Dayhike Details: Hike rated moderate.
There are only a few ups and downs.
Total hiking distance is approximately 5.5 miles. We plan to walk all the way around the lake
and then also walk on some additional trails in the park to make the drive time
down and back worthwhile.
Well-behaved,
carefully supervised children age nine and over able to walk 6 miles without
complaining are welcome. Please bring
your picnic lunch and drink, and wear sturdy footwear.
Optional
group restaurant dinner after the hike.
Reservations not required for this outing.
Please
meet 9:45 a.m. at the McDonald’s
Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Info. And Trip Leader: Dan Frederick email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or
telephone 205-631-4680
DECEMBER 1, SATURDAY, please meet 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Easy Dayhike
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 Thanksgiving 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 trailhead 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 for our hikers at Jim 'N Nick's 11th Avenue
Grill at Five Points South.
Share an
adventure. Bring a friend or friends.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick,
southeasternoutings@gmail.com or telephone 205/631-4680