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easier in many spots with stone steps. Generally the path is a dirt and rock bed that
can be very muddy after a good, hard rain. From spring through early fall, the can-
opy is very thick, providing excellent shade as it gets warmer outside.
The trails at Ruffner Mountain have excellent blazing, and getting lost is virtu-
ally impossible. The Quarry Trail is blazed with white paint blazes, the Overlook
Trail with red blazes. All intersections have unique wooden signs pointing the dir-
ections to each trail. They resemble the old “hometown signs” you see in movies
about World War II or the Korean War—you know, the large wooden signs with
one end tapered, pointing the direction to “San Francisco 2,000 miles” or “New
York 5,000 miles.”
The Quarry Trail has some of the best and most informative signage to help you
identify the trees along the route that I have ever seen. They are very descriptive
and easy to read. You will learn about shagbark hickory, littlehip hawthorne, tulip
poplar, sassafras, red buckeye, white oak, black gum, black locust . . . the list goes
on and on.
A highlight of the hike is at the end of the Overlook Trail, where you begin a
challenging climb up to the Cambrian Overlook, a deep cut with impressive lime-
stone walls. This is the turnaround for this trip. I had to leave the mountain in a
hurry, as a severe thunderstorm was bearing down on me. But I can tell you from
past hikes of Ruffner Mountain, it is well worth your while to continue on just a
bit farther to get a bird's-eye view of the city of Birmingham from the Hawkeye
Overlook.
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