Southeastern Outings Potluck Lunch plus kayak and Canoe Trip in Oak Mountain State Park

Prior to the canoeing and kayaking, boaters and other Southeastern Outings people and guests will get together in the vicinity of the Beaver Pavilion which in turn is in the general neighborhood of the Flip Side Water Sports office, (FS and formerly the Fishing Center), for a group picnic.

Please note that the meeting place pavilion for this outing is different from where Southeastern Outings has usually gathered in the past for this outing!

Note-To view photos of what we will see on this trip, please click on this link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/q22p47EpWdeUi6Xf1

Please be sure to click on the link and view the photographs.

Please bring your own picnic lunch and beverage.  We will not have a potluck lunch at this event this year due to the Covid 19 pandemic.  Please bring also $5/person ($2 seniors and children) park admission fee.

Please bring also folding lawn chairs.  We are required to observe social distancing during this outing, so almost all of us will be seated for lunch in our respective lawn chairs.  We will not be seated in or eating in the pavilion.   We will begin eating lunch at 12:00 noon regardless of whether you are there or not!

After lunch you can enjoy boating on the lower fishing lake.  You may bring your own boat (no charge) or you may rent a canoe from the park by paying for your rental canoe at the back gate to the park.  The park says they have 5 tandem canoes for rent.  Two of the canoes each used to have one broken seat in them.  Rental rate for canoes is $14 per hour. Cash only.  No credit cards accepted.  First come, first served.

FS has available for rent 5 solo kayaks and 8 paddleboards.  Rental rate for either is $20 per hour.  Cash or credit cards accepted by FS.

No shuttle involved in any of these boating activities.  Share an adventure!  Bring a friend.

We’ll launch our boats about 1:30 p.m. at the lake shore.

You are welcome to participate in the boating and skip the group picnic; you are welcome to skip the boating and come just for the picnic; or, as most people did the previous five times we have sponsored this outing, you are encouraged to enjoy the outdoor exercise activities AND the picnic.

Meet near the Beaver Pavilion which is almost straight downhill from the back gatehouse entrance to the park.

For more essential information about this trip, please contact Dan Frederick, 205-631-4680 or email seoutings@bellsouth.net and ask for the Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips.

Info: Dan Frederick, seoutings@bellsouth.net or phone 205/631-4680;

DIRECTIONS TO MEETING PLACE

Beaver Pavilion, Near the Flip Side Water Sports office building (formerly the Fishing Center), Lower Fishing Lake (now called Beaver Lake), Oak Mountain State Park-If you choose to drive to the Beaver Pavilion area from the front, main park entrance, enter the main gate of the park.  Then follow the main park road which goes through the main front gate to the park all the way to where the road goes over a bridge across the spillway on the dam between the visible upper fishing lake which is on the right, above the dam, and the larger, lower fishing lake which is probably not visible from the spillway.  Drive on the bridge over the spillway and on ahead to the far end of the dam and turn left.  Park in the parking spaces you’ll see on the sides of the road immediately before you get to the obvious rear gatehouse.

If you choose to drive to the Beaver Pavilion area from the back park entrance which is much closer to the Flip Side Water Sports office and the Lower Fishing Lake than is the front park entrance, take U.S. 31, I-65, or U.S. 280 to Alabama Route 119, Cahaba Valley Road.  Turn left onto 119 if coming from Birmingham on 31 or 65.  Turn right on 119 if coming from Birmingham on 280.  Drive to near the traffic light at the intersection of Caldwell Mill Road and AL 119, Cahaba Valley Road.  Caldwell Mill Road is County Route 14.  It is signed for the county route, but there is no visible sign saying “Caldwell Mill Road”.

See sign on 119 for Oak Mountain Lake where you should turn off of 119.  Turn right at that sign if coming from 31 or 65.  The road off 119 going up into the back entrance to the park turns off of AL 119 5.6 miles east of the I-65 exit for Cahaba Valley Road off of I-65.

Turn left off of 119 if coming from 280.  You’ll drive through and pay your park admission fee at the back gate entrance to the park.  Also pay for canoe rentals at the back entrance gate.  Immediately past the gatehouse turn left and park in the parking spaces you’ll see marked on the sides of the road.  Then walk back to the gatehouse.  Walk left on the downhill-heading driveway which you’ll see close to the gatehouse.  The drive will probably be chained off.  It goes right to the Beaver Pavilion which is the smaller of the two pavilions near the lower end of the driveway.

You’ll also see the Flip Side Water Sports office (formerly the Fishing Center Building) and restrooms to the right of the lower end of the drive you walk on to get to the Beaver Pavilion.

A few years ago when we sponsored this event, three people had difficulty finding the eleven of us who were already at the pavilion where we were meeting.  Please put these detailed directions in your car NOW and BE SURE TO TAKE THESE DIRECTIONS WITH YOU AND READ THEM WHEN COMING ON THIS OUTING!  Go to the Beaver Pavilion which is downhill almost straight ahead of you when you pay your park admission fee at the rear entrance gatehouse.

DESCRIPTION OF SOUTHEASTERN OUTINGS

Do you wish you had friends who share your active lifestyle and enjoyment of outdoor activities?  Then become active with Southeastern Outings (SEO), a nonprofit organization committed and created to serve people who enjoy being active in the outdoors.  The organization plans, organizes and leads outings such as dayhikes, easy kayak and canoe trips, stream and waterfall walks, bicycle rides, lake events and other fun activities to beautiful sites in our natural environment.  From time to time we also sponsor potluck suppers and other socials.  All events and activities of the group are open to the public.  Participating in SEO activities is a splendid, simple way to make congenial new friends who enjoy the outdoors.

NO DOGS OR SMOKING ALLOWED, PLEASE, ON ANY SOUTHEASTERN OUTINGS EVENTS.

The organization currently has over 250 members.  We scheduled eighty-seven events during calendar year 2019 for an average of 7 fun events per month.  We enjoy the outdoors in all seasons throughout the year.

SEO does not charge for participation in any of its outings.  You do not have to be a member to participate in one or two SEO activities.  Dues are only $10.  Please contact Dan Frederick, President, 205-631-4680, or seoutings@bellsouth.net for more information and to obtain three free monthly newsletters with membership application and a complete description of all our outdoor events.

Southeastern Outings now has a website.  Just go to seoutings.org to find announcements of all our upcoming outings scheduled plus some brief, general information about Southeastern Outings, a membership application and 1500 lovely photographs from most of our outings.

Thank you.