Explore a section of this 350-acre forested park in Hoover on a moderately strenuous 2-3 hour hike with some climbing up and walking down hills on Shades Mountain.  We’ll experience the preserve’s diverse natural features which include longleaf pine forests, huge boulders, grassy areas, outstanding views and several beautiful streams and waterfalls which hopefully will be running bountifully when we are there.  We recommend that you bring hiking poles with you on this hike if you have them.

Please bring water to drink.  Well-behaved, properly supervised children age seven and up able to walk the distance and complete the hike without complaining are welcome.

Note-To view photos of what we have seen on previous hikes in this park, please click on this link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/lPpyQ7X4jwjQp5ag1

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

Please meet 2:00 p.m. at the Moss Rock Preserve Boulderfield Dirt Parking Lot just off Preserve Parkway. We plan to depart from there promptly at 2:15 p.m.

Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age eight and over welcome.

Below is a link to the website for Moss Rock Preserve, where you can print a map of the trails in Moss Rock Preserve for use on this hike or on future hikes there on your own,

http://www.hooveral.org/219/Hiking-Map-Trail-Guide

Info:  Scott Myers, 205/393-5230, email myers.scottv@gmail.com

DIRECTIONS TO MEETING PLACE

The directions to the October 4 hike meeting place via I-459 and AL 150 given below are different from the directions to the meeting place originally given in our October newsletter AND on our website.  After we had prepared the initial directions to the meeting place at the Moss Rock Preserve Boulderfield Dirt Parking Lot, Scott Myers, our trip leader, very kindly informed us that Patton Chapel Road is blocked by a bridge out and being repaired (for many months now).  It is not possible to get to Preserve Parkway at this time on Patton Chapel Road from U.S. Highway 31 in Hoover.  If you want to come on our delightful hike in the Moss Rock Preserve this coming Sunday, October 4, please be sure that you follow the directions in the announcement below and not the directions previously posted in our October newsletter and on the SEO website.

Moss Rock Preserve Boulderfield Dirt Parking Lot just off Preserve Parkway-

Take Interstate Route 459 to Exit Number 10 regardless of whether you come from intersection of I-65 and I-459 in Hoover or from the Bessemer area.  If coming from I-65 on I-459, turn left onto AL 150 at the end of the exit ramp and drive 4/10 miles to second traffic light and turn left onto Preserve Parkway.  If coming from Bessemer, turn right onto AL 150 and drive 3/10 miles to second traffic light and turn left onto Preserve Parkway.  Then follow directions below.

Drive 2.7 miles on Preserve Parkway to roundabout at row of businesses in The Preserve Subdivision.  Drive ¾ of the way around the roundabout.  Then turn right off the roundabout and take the driveway going uphill into the dirt parking lot on the right.  See sign for Moss Rock Preserve Parking at start of this driveway.  Park in that dirt parking lot and meet the hike leader there.

Please note that the paved parking lot across Preserve Parkway from the row of businesses and the restaurants is NOT repeat NOT the parking lot where the group is meeting to start the hike.  Please do not park in the paved parking lot across from the businesses and expect to find the group there.

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.