Jeff Friend Trail, Centennial Trail, Pine Beach Trail - Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge

Park: Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge
Ammenities: Day use, only open during daylight hours.
Page: ??
Entrance fee: Free
Photos: Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge - Day 1, Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge - Day2

I did this park twice over two weekends, to hit all of the trails.  Day 1 was the Jeff Friend Trail and the Centennial Trail, and Day 2 was the Pine Beach Trail.

Day 1

I started out heading for the main trail for this refuge, the Pine Beach Trail and instead stopped when I saw the sign for the Jeff Friend Trail. I decided it was short (1 mile loop), so I’d do it first.

People hike for different reasons: exercise, just to be outdoors, bird / animal watching, photography, the reasons are countless.  The Jeff Friend Trail is just about only good for exercise, as it’s completely graveled so any sort of walking scares off any animal or bird that might be in the vacinity.

About halfway around I found a sign for the Centennial Trail, which is supposed to be a 2 mile trail between the Jeff Friend Trail and the Pine Beach Trail. It was a normal trail through the woods, so I decided “why not” and off I went. Apparently I had the bad luck all around to be out during the wrong time of day and the wrong season- about the only wildlife I saw was millions of lizards and a few birds.  I don’t really count the billion + stinging flies.

The trail was fairly flat and easy, and swaps between sand and dirt, but the area has a fairly high water table as it stretches the length of the very narrow Bon Secour penninsula. It’s so low in fact, that in some areas water was seeping up through the ground to make little saltwater ponds.   The water throughout seemed to be brackish, and there was even some fairly large bodies of standing water about a football field in size.

Overall, there just wasn’t that much to see.  I ended up being on the trail between 10 and 2, so most wildlife (if it was there) was hiding out.  It was also miserably hot, and no shade since most of the trees were broken off from hurricanes or fires over the years.  I understand the environmental value of wetlands, but they’re just not that fun to visit in summer.  I reached the Pine Beach Trail around 1, but turned around as it’s 80% sand and hiking boots just aren’t made for that.

Day 2

Since I had read that the Pine Beach Trail ends at the beach, this time I packed a back and decided to make a day of that.  I got there earlier (cooler!), so  the walk was pleasant and I ended up doing the beach section barefoot.  Some better pictures this time around, there was definitely better weather, but still not much in the way of wildlife.

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.