It’s a fun pastime for active residents of Birmingham to remind friends living in more chilly northern climes that they are playing tennis in Alabama in January in shorts and a T-shirt. Or that they’ve been hiking in the Appalachians or paddling on the river on a sunny 60-degree day in December. It may be a bit petty, but the truth hurts: Birmingham is a year-round outdoor playground. From Oak Mountain State Park on the outskirts of the city to Linn Park in the heart of downtown, Birmingham offers a multitude of parks that provide for the various outdoor needs of its residents and visitors. Sure, it gets plenty hot in July and August, but at least it’s sunny.
Nestled at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountain range, Birmingham finally seems to be recognizing that its greatest natural resource is no longer the coal, iron ore, and limestone that formed its foundation during the city’s formative years. The dramatic Ridge and Valley geographic environment, the many rivers and streams, the rich diversity of flora and fauna, and the tracts of undeveloped or underutilized land are what many now advocate as the future of the region. Instead of exploiting natural resources, it is in their preservation that the city has reason for hope in the future. Red Mountain Park, Railroad Park, and the ever-expanding system of greenways and trails in the area are solid proof of this movement.
On weekends, the parks come alive with a flurry of events. Linn Park’s annual Birmingham Art Walk draws thousands of art lovers to downtown Birmingham every year, while over on the Southside, Caldwell Park’s DoDah Day brings Birmingham’s pets, with their humans in tow, together for a Frisbee-filled day of excitement (there’s also live music for the non-furry). And don’t miss Free Friday Flicks in suburban Homewood’s Central Park on summer weekends. From canvases to tennis balls, Birmingham’s parks offer a variety of activities that are both enjoyable and easy on the wallet.
And for something a little more adventurous, you need not look far. Just outside of Birmingham sits Oak Mountain State Park, an outdoor playground where park goers can camp, hike, fish, swim, and more. Spread out over nearly 10,000 acres of land, Oak Mountain State Park makes it very easy to forget that downtown Birmingham is just a 20-minute drive away. And with the 1,011-acre Ruffner Mountain Nature Center on the east side of the city and the new 1,200-acre Red Mountain Park on the west, Birmingham now has more park space per citizen than any city in the country.
Other than sports that involve snow and freezing weather, Birmingham is ideal for those who love the outdoors. From golf and kickball to swimming and biking, Birmingham offers a full range of recreational activities for just about every interest imaginable. With its ever-expanding green spaces and energetic residents, Birmingham is full of opportunities to compete, exercise, or simply get out and enjoy some fresh air. Before and after work and on weekends, you’ll see Birmingham residents flocking to the gyms, golf courses, running trails and other recreational sites all over the city. It is not uncommon, particularly in the summer months, to see hordes of runners and cyclists jogging and biking together along the city’s most popular routes (watch for the Wednesday-evening Trak Shak runners in Homewood).
In addition to these everyday activities, Birmingham and its surrounding areas also offer seasonal recreational activities of which residents take full advantage. Youth and adult soccer runs fall and spring. Kayaking and canoeing, while year-round options, tend to be best in the winter and spring months when the water level is highest. From basketball to softball to the increasingly popular kickball, Birmingham surely has a seasonal league that will interest you. Summer is for swimming, and you’ll find a number of public and private pools in the area. State parks like Oak Mountain offer bow-hunting opportunities and Lake Guntersville, which has hosted the Bass Masters Classic, features some of the best fishing in the south. Be sure, however, to check local laws and licensing procedures on hunting and fishing before planning an outing.
Golf, as any aficionado will tell you, is a year-round sport in Alabama. Birmingham is dotted with beautiful award-winning public and private courses throughout the city and surrounding areas. From the exclusively private Shoal Creek, two-time host of golf’s PGA Championship, to the public Ross Bridge, gem of the famed Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Birmingham is a golfer’s paradise.
Whether you’re into more traditional recreational pastimes or if more extreme sports like mountain biking and rock climbing help you find your focus, Birmingham has a course, court, field, or trail for you.
There’s no doubt about it, one of Birmingham’s biggest assets is a climate that lends itself to year-round outdoor activities. Yes, you’ll sweat in the dog days of July and August, but when you’re running, walking, or biking on area greenways and trails on a sunny 55-degree day in January, don’t forget to be grateful for what you’ve got.
The Olmsted Brothers, the nation’s foremost park-planning architectural firm, finalized A Park System for Birmingham in 1925 that recommended numerous active and passive parks throughout the booming young city. It was a forward-thinking blueprint with a series of recreational green areas for the city’s citizens that the planners thought would increase economic growth, connect communities, and promote better health and happiness for residents. Some of the plan was completed until the Great Depression, local dithering, world war, and subsequent recovery delayed much implementation. Yet today, recent additions like Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve, Red Mountain Park, and Railroad Reservation Park are showing that Birmingham’s unofficial tag line, as advocated by local environmentalist Roald Hazelhoff, “The Gateway to Nature,” can still ring true.
The Olmsted Brothers’ vision for Birmingham has never been as close to being realized as it is right now. The next few years could be crucial as many exciting greenway projects are currently funded and dozens of others are in the final drawing stages. “Other cities are making these greenway and pedestrian path connections, and considering the great natural advantages we have here, there’s no reason Birmingham can’t be a leading livable city,” explains Jane Reed Ross, a landscape architect who developed the master plan for the Homewood Shades Creek Greenway as well as worked on the Our One Mile Greenway Master Plan for Jefferson County by the Freshwater Land Trust. “When this is all done, Birmingham will be a better city because of it.”
Overview
But there’s a flip side: In true Birmingham fashion, much of what has occurred in the way of greenways and pedestrian paths has been achieved through the perseverance and hard work of an assortment of individuals, advocacy groups, and individual municipalities. Concerted, consensus-building efforts across community lines have been perhaps talked about more than implemented in actual practice. But that, too, may be changing for the better.
That has started to change, most notably with the new $13.5-million grant awarded to the Jefferson County Health Department to combat tobacco use and obesity in the county. The Freshwater Land Trust, the entity administering the grant, is finalizing a comprehensive greenway master plan to fulfill the grant that identifies a workable network of over 100 miles of greenways, trails, and blueways. In 2010 the Alabama Trails Commission became a reality, advancing the interconnection of lands for trails of all sorts. Similarly, the Birmingham Metropolitan Planning Organization is working on an Active Transportation Plan that addresses and identifies ways to develop alternatives to motor vehicle travel in the region. It makes for encouraging times. All greenways and trails listed are free and open to the public.