MARCH 7 SATURDAY, 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike
Where: High Ore Line Trail in Birmingham and Midfield, Alabama
Details: This will be Southeastern Outings fourth hike on this relatively new in-city trail. The hike, which is rated easy, will be 3 miles long with very little change in elevation. Birmingham’s three-mile High Ore Line Trail is now complete and open to the public. We will start our hike on the High Ore Line Trail from the Jefferson County Western Health Center in Midfield and hike along an old railroad line to Red Mountain Park’s entrance and parking lot on Venice Road. The trail is mostly flat and off road and provides an accessible place to walk in Greater Birmingham’s outdoors.
In 2012, the City of Birmingham won a competitive Department of Transportation TIGER grant for $10,000,000 in order to develop active transportation routes in Birmingham. With this funding, the City of Birmingham, Freshwater Land Trust, Jefferson County Health Department, and many partners have built 14 trail miles throughout Birmingham. The first two miles of the High Ore Line Trail opened in 2016. With its third and final mile complete, High Ore Line now connects Red Mountain Park to Jefferson County’s growing Red Rock Trail System. “We are thrilled to open this new portion of High Ore Line and hope it will continue to be a valuable asset to the community,” said Carolyn Buck, Freshwater Land Trust Red Rock Trail Director. “With each trail opening, we are one step closer to our goal of building and connecting 750 miles of trails in Jefferson County.”
“We are excited to celebrate this long-anticipated connection to Red Mountain Park as it creates more opportunities for more communities in Birmingham to engage in outdoor recreation and learn about our shared history,” said T.C. McLemore, Red Mountain Park Executive Director. In Midfield, an industrial suburb of Birmingham near the towering U.S. Steel plant, a railroad track once sliced through the air, an elevated track running ore and coal from the mines at Red Mountain to the steel works at Fairfield. Today, decades after the railroad went out of operation, the elevated track has a new lease on life: a green one. Spanning three miles from Midfield to Venice Road at the base of Red Mountain, the High Ore Line Trail now occupies the raised railroad line as one of the newest additions to the Red Rock Ridge and Valley Trail System. Connecting neighborhoods in West Birmingham to Midfield, the trail passes its visitors over Valley Creek with a glimpse in the distance of Red Mountain Park – to which the trail is now connected. It is a space of recreation and peace, a place where a simple stroll can become a scenic experience blending the urban industrial suburbs with natural, preserved greenspace.
As greenspaces around Birmingham help the Magic City make a resurgence, the High Ore Line Trail is a project that makes sure the western neighborhoods of Birmingham get their own piece of the puzzle.
Please bring water to drink and comfortable footwear suitable for walking three miles. We expect to complete the hike about lunch time.
For those who would like to enjoy lunch with their fellow hikers, you may join the group for lunch at the Subway sandwich restaurant on Lakeshore Parkway after the hike is concluded.
Please meet 9:15 a.m. at the new Jones Valley parking lot for Red Mountain Park, 2109 Venice Road, Birmingham, Alabama. We plan to depart from there at 9:30 a.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com, landline 205/631-4680
MARCH 8, SUNDAY, 1:45 p.m.
Southeastern Outings Second Sunday Dayhike
Where: 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 without complaining and complete the hike are welcome.
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.
Information and Trip Leader: Randall Adkins, 205/719-7719
MARCH 12, THURSDAY, 9:30 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Leisurely Weekday Hike
Where: Beeswax Creek Park, Lay Lake, Wilsonville, Alabama
Details: Beeswax Creek Park, bordered by Beeswax Creek to its north and Lay Lake (Coosa River) to its east, is located in the Columbiana/Wilsonville area in Shelby County, Alabama.
Beeswax Creek Park has many amenities including two picnic pavilions, three fishing piers, a 2.8-mile multi-use trail for hiking, two restroom facilities and a huge parking lot. A resident caretaker provides security for the park. Alabama Power Company, through its "The Preserves" program, has added a boardwalk and a bridge to the trail system, created a pollinator plot with interpretive signs, and Alabama Power has also built two gazebos on the trail overlooking Lay Lake.
The walking pace for this hike will be moderately easy. We’ll stop often to catch our breath and note views, trees, birdsongs and the trail and woods around us. We recommend that you bring binoculars with you on this trip if you have them. We will be walking along the water for over ½ of the hike distance. On our scouting trip in December, 2024, we saw numerous herons, egrets, gulls, ducks and even possibly a loon on or over the water. Admission to the park is free.
Please meet at 9:30 a.m. at the McDonald’s Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 9:45 a.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Caroline Boone, 205-567-8389.
MARCH 14, SATURDAY, 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Dayhike
Where: Barton’s Beach and Perry Lakes Park near Marion in Perry County, Alabama
Details: Barton’s Beach. The area is an extensive sand and gravel beach on the Lower Cahaba River in Perry County near Marion, Alabama. The river floodplain broadens and creates areas of bottomland hardwood forests, oxbow lakes and extensive sand and gravel bars there.
Barton’s Beach, which is a property owned by the Alabama Nature Conservancy, is the largest sand and gravel beach on the entire Cahaba River. It is indeed a spectacular and beautiful sight to behold!
The Perry Lakes Park and Wildlife Sanctuary contains about 600 acres available to the public for outdoor recreation, education, scientific research, and other activities. Interpretive nature trails (fire lanes and primitive paths) make walking through the woods fairly easy and fun.
Several trees in the park have been designated as Alabama State Champion Trees. The park lakes support a large heron rookery along with an abundance of songbirds. A 100-foot-tall canopy observation tower allows for an exciting view of the forest and oxbow swamps.
Hikes at Barton’s Beach and Perry Lakes Park are easy since the terrain is level and the walks are all on trails. The two properties adjoin each other so we can walk readily back and forth between them.
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 7 and older welcome.
Since the trails in the park may be muddy, we recommend that you bring a change of clothes with you in the car, especially a change of footwear and pants.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the McDonald’s Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com, landline 205/631-4680
March 14, SATURDAY, 5:00 p.m. after the hike
Low Country Shrimp Boil Supper
Where: Marion Female Seminary Building, 204 West Monroe Street, Marion, AL 36756
Details: After we complete our hike, the very special, optional dinner will begin at 5:00 p.m. It will be the Low Country Shrimp Boil supper, an annual event in Marion that is perfect following our day of hiking. The dinner will be held at the historic Marion Female Seminary Building in Marion.
You will be able to clean up and change your clothes in the Seminary Building restrooms before dinner.
The function will be very informal. The menu is boiled shrimp (which you peel & eat), sausage, potatoes, corn on the cob, bread, and your choice of a multitude of homemade desserts.
Live musical entertainment will be provided for your enjoyment at the shrimp boil on March 14, 2025 after our hike. Please plan to come!
Price for the meal is $25 per person flat charge to benefit the Perry County Historical and Preservation Society. There will be no tax and no tip. Cash, checks and all major American credit cards are accepted forms of payment for the dinner.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the McDonald’s Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m. for the hike followed by the shrimp boil dinner.
For information concerning the dinner:
Please call Kay Beckett, President of the Perry County Historical Society, at 334-292-0319.
MARCH 21, SATURDAY, Dayhike, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
MARCH 28, SATURDAY, Dayhike, Upper Quillan Creek, Sipsey Wilderness, Bankhead National Forest
Anticipated April events (details later):
- APRIL 4, SATURDAY, Dayhike, Paul Grist State Park
- APRIL 11, SATURDAY, Dayhike, High Ore Line Trail, Birmingham
- APRIL 18, SUNDAY, Second Sunday Dayhike, Oak Mountain State Park
- APRIL 22, SATURDAY,
- APRIL 25, SATURDAY, Dayhike, Horse Creek Trail
Hike at 5-Mile Creek
Southeastern Outings Dayhike
Where: Five Mile Creek Greenway Extension in the Brookside Areas, just northwest of Birmingham
Details: You are invited to participate in an easy and leisurely-paced, fun Southeastern Outings dayhike on a portion of the Five Mile Creek Greenway Trail, 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 hike in 2026 will be entirely on the new section where we have only hiked twice previously. So come out to see and experience what the new part looks like! Total hike distance is about 3.8 miles.
No motorized vehicles are allowed on the trail! This outing should be lots of fun for everyone.
Other portions of this trail have consistently been one of our most popular places to hike since the hike is easy and the trail is close to Birmingham.
Please meet in the WalMart Gardendale parking lot at 1:30 p.m. We plan to depart from there at 1:45 p.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com, landline 205/631-4680
