Black Willow Trail - Meaher State Park

Park: Meaher State Park
Ammenities: Day use (picnic, etc), two small hiking trails, improved camping.
Page: 59
Entrance fee: $1
Photos: “Meaher State Park” under http://www.thefirestarter.org/photos/

The first trail I began from Hiking Alabama was a tiny one- Black Willow Trail: end to end is barely 1 mile, and it’s almost all boardwalk.  The park itself is REALLY tiny at only about 1300 acres.  The park is stretched across multiple islands, so if you’re planning to explore it fully, bring a boat. I don’t recommend much off trail action as land turns to water very quickly, and there’s a large population of black bears and American alligators.

To be honest, this was probably not my favorite park. I will probably never be my favorite park. If you’re into fishing, this is a great park for you. It has the barest necessities, with easy access to local fishing and boat ramps. It’s also on a 5 mile strip of road that has some of the area’s best seafood restaurants. For the nature lover in all of us, the dense undergrowth and marshy area make it almost impossible to go off trail, and there’s always the danger from snakes, alligators, and bears. I can’t repeat enough- bring a small boat!

I will say this about the park- it has easy access to wildlife, so if you’re into wildlife photography that’s an easy one. I got plenty of pictures of an alligator, not 5 feet from the shore. I didn’t see any bears (I’m sure they’re not on the main island much, too many people), but I saw at least 5 or 6 different types of birds.

All in all, I only spent about 2 hours total in the park. I managed to make the hike 2 miles by parking at the far end from the Black Willow Trail, but that’s about all there was to see. There was a brief trail through a pine forest, but it wasn’t more than a quarter mile. It was apparent someone had been using it as a dumping ground which really detracted as well.

6/5/2008 edit: Apparently, more of the park extends north across the highway. There is absolutely no indication of this, which is a bit dissapointing.  Also, everything through there would be off trail, which I wasn’t prepared for anyway.