Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Judson College “Earth Team,” for doing such a great job of creating and main-
taining the trails.
The Perry Lake Loop is a nice, easy 1.5-mile loop that uses portions of the
Ridge, Secret, Bird, and Perry Lake Trails to give you a good overview of the
park. For the most part this route is a traditional dirt footpath with the occasional
dirt fire lane. Travel is easy over flat terrain. The trail is marked with plastic
green-and-red direction indicators tacked to trees or on red 4-by-4-inch posts. Ma-
jor intersections have very nice wood-burned signs showing the way.
Like I said, this trail is a good overview walk of the park. Right at the begin-
ning you'll cross the tin-roof covered bridge and soon after that come to the
100-foot observation tower, a decent little climb for those who care to make it
(and can) but well worth the view. As the trail wanders through the forest, you'll
have the chance to experience many of those picture-postcard views, especially as
you walk the banks of Round Lake. As you near the end of this hike, there is an
optional side trip on the Barton's Beach Trail that will take you to the beach.
Admission to the park is free; however, just after the observation tower there is
a lockbox where they ask that you leave a donation for park upkeep. Also keep in
mind that after a good rain, some of the trail could be deep in water. When I vis-
ited, the Barton's Beach Trail was impassible. Needless to say, in the summer all
this water means mosquitoes, so be prepared with insect repellent.
The Cahaba lily can only be found in three states: Alabama,
Georgia, and South Carolina. This beautiful white flower with
a delicate fragrance requires swift-running water to grow. It
blooms from late May to late June, but each flower blooms for
only one day. The Cahaba River Society schedules float tours to
see the flowers (see appendix A, “Clubs and Trail Groups”).
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