Five Mile Creek Greenway District

A recent article about Fultondale’s Black Creek Station by Lori Pickett Culpepper, Special Assignments Writer, of the Birmingham News touted the benefits of connecting to a rail trail from a neighborhood.

Black Creek Park on future Rail Trail

While homeowners will probably enjoy spending time inside their new home, all they have to do is step outside to find a whole other world to explore. The neighborhood has nice landscaping, sidewalks and streetlights that make it easy to walk to nearby Black Creek Park and Five Mile Creek, where residents will find softball fields, a picnic pavilion and a creek flowing along one side of a one-mile, lighted walking track. There will soon be other options as well.

No matter how big or small your family is, what types of amenities you’re looking for or what style of home you prefer, Black Creek Station provides a variety of housing options that will suit almost any need.

See the full article here

An old mineral rail line – known as CSX Transportation “Cane Creek Branch” – runs 16.5 miles from Fultondale, Alabama to where Five Mile Creek joins the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River. Since 2003 the Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership has worked to make this rail line the backbone for a network of parks and trails. The Partnership began as a response to destructive flooding along Five Mile Creek in 2000 and 2002. A public-private partnership of cities, towns, Jefferson County, Cawaco RC&D Council Inc., the Freshwater Land Trust, and the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham vowed to turn flooded home sites into an string of outdoor recreation destinations.  Collectively the partnership has leveraged over $4 million in grants to plan and build sections of connecting trails. The Five Mile Creek Greenway District was incorporated in March 2010 to acquire, develop and manage the Five Mile Creek Rail Trail. Member cities include: Center Point, Tarrant, Fultondale, Brookside, Graysville, and Gardendale.

One of the founders of the Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership, Chief William C. “Billy”  Hewitt was honored by a  NBC 13 Making  a Difference award through a nomination from Joe Posey.  See the NBC Footage on the link below.

NSC 13 Making A Difference Award

http://www2.nbc13.com/social_networking/2010/sep/01/making-difference-chief-hewitt-and-five-mile-creek-ar-777951/

Join Alabama Hiking Trail Society for the 10th

Anniversary Celebration!

Don’t miss the biggest hiking and backpacking conference EVER in Alabama!

It’s the Alabama Hiking Trail Society’s 10th Anniversary and we wll be celebrating BIG TIME at Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville Feb 25-27, 2011!

Each day will be filled with 3 Tracts of presentations and demonstrations of hiking and backpacking gear, skills, and destinations, plus beautiful hikes along the trails at Monte Sano, lots of food, music, prizes, and PLENTY OF SURPRISES!!

You WON’T want to miss this one! Be watching for complete details including info on our 5th annual “Give Us Your Best Shot” photo contest and a special pre-registration offer too good to miss!

Please remember, this is our biggest fund raising event of the year. Your attendance helps AHTS continue our mission to build, maintain, promote, and protect hiking trails in the state and continue planning and building the over 900-miles of trail in our charge!

If you are a business owner, we have a very attractive sponsorship package available where you can help AHTS continue building trails and get maximum exposure at what promises to be an amazing weekend! Contact conference chairman Lucas Veverka at ljverv @ yahoo.com or co-chair Joe Cuhaj at jcuhaj @gmail.com to receive a sponsorship package.