Day 35 - Oak Mountain State Park

For this hike, we have returned to Oak Mountain State Park. We spent an afternoon here last summer visiting with some friends that live nearby in Montevallo.

Oak Mountain has a little of everything; Boating, fishing, camping, swimming, golfing, horseback riding, and of course hiking.

Like our last hike at Chewacla, we did a combination of trails on this trip to try to see and/or do everything that we wanted to. A trip back to the Peavine Falls was in order.

This is the most physically difficult hike that we have done so far. Like last weekend's hike at Chewacla State Park, we actually hiked portions of 6 different trails. The main trail, the Green Trail or Peavine Falls Trail, was only about 1.5 miles long, but rose over 1,000 feet in that distance.

We started off today in the parking area adjacent to the park office. From there, we took the Wildlife Center Trail south through the first set of enclosures to the Yellow (Foothills) Trail which we followed west until it met up with the Green (Peavine) Trail. Up to this point the trail rose and fell about 200 feet. At the point where we picked up the Green Trail, the trail climbed over 600 Feet over a span of 1/2 a mile. At the top of the mountain, the trail turns west and runs along the top if the mountain for a while before it turns south again and drops steeply down towards Peavine Falls. It ends just a short ways away from the falls. We picked up the white trail going west which takes you to the top of the falls. After spending a while visiting the falls, we followed the white trail south and then west where it climbs up and circles around back to the top of the falls. From this point we retraced our original route back to the car.

The weather was sunny in the low 70's with little humidity. It was rather warm, but there was an intermittent wind which cooled us off just enough. Another perfect day for a hike. The set of trails we hiked today was about 3.94 Miles total and took us about 3 HRs to finish.

The paths had some severe level changes and there were a lot of obstacles such as patches of loose gravel, rocks, stumps and roots. We would suggest you wear hiking boots as the gravel and rocks were tough on the feet. Because of the steep incline we ran into in places, it would be a good idea to have a walking stick to help you keep your balance, especially on the downhill slopes.

We are very proud of everyone on this hike. It was a tough one for the girls and definitely pushed our older bodies quite a bit. It was not as bad as we feared though. The previous hikes were definitely an advantage in getting us prepared for this one.

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Overall Difficulty: 8/10

Park Entrance Coords: N 33 19.202, W 86 46.703
Park Entrance via Google Maps: Park Entrance

Park Office Coords: N 33 19.603, W 86 45.370
Park Office via Google Maps: Park Office

Peavine Falls Lower Trailhead: N 33 19.494, W 86 45.478
Peavine Falls Lower Trailhead: Lower Trailhead

Peavine Falls Parking Area Coords: N 33 18.153, W 86 45.714
Peavine Falls Parking Area via Google Maps: Peavine Falls Parking Area

More Trail Information (PDF): Oak Mountain Trails

Day 28 - Chewacla State Park

For this hike, we returned to Chewacla State Park where we have been hiking before. This is quickly becoming one of our favorite parks to visit. It is small enough to be able to become familar with the whole geography of the park, but big enough that there is lots to do and has some good and varied hiking trails. There are also campgrounds and a beach for swimming when the weather is warmer.

The park is also becoming known for Geocaching. Several local cachers have placed geocaches throughout the park. The park rangers themselves have even set up a geocaching challenge for visitors. If you are interested in geocaching at the park, more info can be found Here, or through the Geocaching.com website.

As far as the hike for today, this is a difficult one to describe in a lot of detail. We actually hiked portions of 6 different trails and in the process, circumnavigated a good portion of the park. We started off at the lower pavillion parking area located a short ride inside the front gates of the park.

From there, we took Trail 1 (Sweet Shrub Trail) east to Trail 2 (Boy Scout Trail), which ends at Murphy Drive towards the eastern side of the park. From there, we hiked south along Murphy Drive a short distance and picked up Trail 4 (Eagle Scout Trail), which headed towards the eastern side of the park and then turns south until it ends on Trail 8 (Mountain Bike Trail). We followed the outer, southern course of this trail which turned into Trail 5 (Deer Rub Trail). We followed that along the river all the way up to Chewacla Falls. At this point, we picked up Trail 7 (Mountain Laurel Trail), which bisects the park along the south side of the lake and followed it until it ends at Murphy Drive just south of where we initially came out from Trail 2. The final leg was to follow Trails 2 & 1 back to our car.

The weather was sunny in the low 70's with little humidity and wind, and was perfect for a hike. The set of trails we hiked today was about 3.85 Miles total and took us about 2 HR 45 Min to finish.

The paths had some level changes and there were some obstacles such as a muddy patches and fallen trees, so we would suggest you wear hiking boots and have a walking stick. Also, one stretch of Trail 5 along the river rises steeply with only a foot or two of clearance with a sharp drop-off. Trail 5 near the falls also involves climbing in and around a lot of rocks. (See picture above) Trail 7 has a lot of roots, rocks and springs to be careful of.

We are very proud of both of the kids. They did a great job. There was a lot of complaining at times, but they say that they had a good time. Paige was a bit of a water hog, and we have sworn that she can carry her own water bottle next time. When its gone, its gone... Oh, and she gets the best quote of the day. "It seems like we are nowhere, but we have to be somewhere." Very true kid.

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Overall Difficulty: 6/10

Lower Pavillion Parking Area Coords: N 33 11.130, W 85 28.583
Lower Pavillion Parking Area via Google Maps: Lower Pavillion

Upper Pavillion Parking Area Coords: N 32 58.050, W 85 28.567
Upper Pavillion Parking Area via Google Maps: Upper Pavillion

More Trail Information (PDF): Chewacla Trails

Day 15 - Bartram Memorial Trail

For our second hike, we chose to go to Tuskegee National Forest, and do a portion of the Bartram Trail.


So, today, we hiked a portion of the eastern trail starting at the middle trailhead by the ranger station off of National Forest Road 949. The weather was sunny in the mid 50's with little humidity and wind, and was perfect for a hike. The trail took us about 2 HR 45 Min to finish.


The path had some level changes and there were some obstacles such as a muddy patches and fallen trees, so we would suggest you wear hiking boots and have a walking stick.

Both kids did well with us although our youngest, Paige, wouldn't stop talking...for 3 hours. Next time, we are thinking of giving her an Ipod to listen to.

Kat's Comments: What started as a lovely day in the woods ended as a lovely day in the woods just a bit longer than we originally intended. One of the most important things we have learned with our girls is not to tell them how long the hike will be at the outset, otherwise there will be endless comments about how "I can't" and "I'm tired" and "Are we there yet?". Our hike ended up being about 6.25 miles long (something we haven't done before) and for the most part the girls were really good even though as Tom mentioned Paige talked the entire way. Seriously. The entire way. *sigh*.

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Difficulty: 4/10

Middle Trailhead GPS Coords: N 32 28.790 W 85 36.630
Middle Trailhead via Google Maps: Middle Trailhead

Eastern Trailhead GPS Coords: N 32 28.724 W 85 33.848
Eastern Trailhead via Google Maps: Eastern Trailhead

Western Trailhead GPS Coords: N 32 27.229 W 85 39.244
Western Trailhead via Google Maps: Western Trailhead

More Trail Information: Bartram Trail

Day 1 - Swayback Bridge Trail

We have done a bit of hiking over the past few months and while we were walking back to the car yesterday from our latest hike, we decided to set a modest challenge and see if we could accomplish it: 100 Miles of off-road hiking in 1 year.

We also decided to set up a blog to document this journey. Another first as neither of us has ever done a blog before.

So, today, we hiked the 4 mile trail at Swayback Bridge Trail. The weather, sunny in the mid 50's with little humidity, was perfect for a hike. The trail took us about 1 HR 45 Min to finish over a fairly level path. Not many people out today despite the mild weather. We plan to come back at some point soon to do the 7 mile trail. The longest trail here is 12 miles.

Difficulty: 2/10
Trailhead GPS Coords: N 32 37.466 W 86 14.447
Trailhead via Google Maps: Swayback Bridge Trail
More Trail Information & Maps: Trail of Legends