~ Restored Outdoor Park and a New Nature
Preserve ~
Perry County, Alabama
Located on State Hwy 175 East
of Marion beside the Marion State Fish Hatchery
GPS Waypoint Coordinates: N 32-41.883 W
087-15.639
Directions to the Park: The State Highway Department
pulled down every sign leading visitors to the Park. The District Highway
Permit Engineer will not allow County signs on a State Highway. The entrance
road to the Park is gravel and it is beside the new Aquatic Biodiversity
Laboratory which is on the same side of the road as the State Hatchery ponds.
If you drive aobut 100 yards down this road, you will see the first Park sign.
Please write Gov. Bentley and complain about this sign problem for scenic
byways. Thank you. TW
Fall colors in the
Park are beautiful. This American Beech with its yellow leaves makes stark
contrast with the gray colors of the cypress and
tupelos.
Images of Secret Lake
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa (above image),
Outdoor Action - Honors Program Outreach in the
Park...video (August, 09)
Outdoor
Action...University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa... Aug. 2010 Secret Lake
Project
Perry Lakes Park swamps (Round
Lake image) is in an article about the Cahaba River in the August, 2009,
Smithsonian Magazine. Thomas Wilson took
photographer Beth Maynor on a canoe trip through the
swamps and she was thrilled with the beauty of the Spanish Moss draped Bald
Cypress forest. Beth is famous for her photographs of the Cahaba River and
other wild places in Alabama..
Dr. Wilson
was guest speaker at the Alabama
Sierra Club's Annual Retreat on 15 Nov.
08...
"Saving Perry Lakes Park and Woods"
Southern Living
Magazine features Perry Lakes Park the the Judson College Earth
Team
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Dr. Thomas Wilson and wife, Doris, enjoyed
seeing the new
Lower Cahaba Historic and Recreational
Corridor sign newly installed at the entrance to Perry Lakes Park
and Barton's Beach Cahaba Nature Preserve (March, 10).
Thomas
Wilson and Judy Martin of Judson College and John Martin, Chairman of the Perry
County Chamber of Commerce, worked with the Auburn Urban Studios group in
designating and describing the sites of interest in Perry County. |
Joe Rada,
Freelance writer and editor, features Perry Lakes Park on his personal web
site
 Fox Channel 6 Park Video... Judson College Earth Team and the Birding
Tower
The Friends of Perry Lakes
Park Plead with Governor Robert Bently and Commissioner of Conservation, Mr.
Gunter Guy, to establish this Park and the adjacent Marion Fish Hatchery woods
as the First Alabama State owned "Wilderness." This designation would prevent
any logging of any kind and would save this wonderful natural resource for
Perry County and all people who love this swamp park.
Tuscaloosa News ... an interview with the AL
Department of Conservation officials and with Thomas Wilson ( Jan.
2008)
Letter in
Support of the Preservation of the Marion Fish Hatchery Woods and
Perry Lakes Park...a response (posted with permission) to the above Tuscaloosa
News article of 15 June, 2008
Alert...Warning! The Fisheries Section of the
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is considering logging
the mature trees in the Marion Hatchery Woods. This warning is current until
posted otherwise on this web site. I will post the State Management Plan when
it is made available to the public. Thomas Wilson, 26 Sept.,
2010.
Map of Proposed
Logging of "Perry Lakes Park"
Here is one of the majestic
100+ year old Loblolly
Pines that may be cut for cash. Loblolly pines are
native trees of the Cahaba River bottomland
forest. Imagine the damage to the Park that will be done by cutters, skidders,
and logging trucks!
Recommendations for a
forestry management plan for the Marion Hatchery Woods and for Perry
Lakes Park ... made by the Friends of Perry Lakes Park
Website developed,
maintained and paid for by
Thomas
Wilson, Marion, AL
(images by Thomas
Wilson) |
Park History:
Judson
College Earth Team members asked Governor Bob Riley to please "Don't let the
Department of Conservation log the big trees from the Marion Hatchery woods."
These big trees make up the heart of Perry Lakes Park. Miles of developed
interpretive trails wind through the areas that are proposed for
logging.
Perry Lakes Park and the adjacent Marion Hatchery woods
represent a bottomland hardwood forest of the Cahaba River. Preservation of
this type of habitat is a top priority for the Alabama Department of
Conservation... all the more reason to not log the big trees. |
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Park History:
Judson College
Earth Team members lobbied Senator Hank Sanders to help save the old trees at
the Marion Hatchery woods. Senator Sanders asked Governor Riley and
Commissioner Lawley to "please do not cut the old trees which represent an
irreplaceable resource for the Black Belt and for Perry County."
February,
2006 |
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Perry Lakes Park, the Barton's Beach
Cahaba River Preserve, and the Marion State Fish Hatchery represent wonderful
and exciting nature areas which provide outstanding opportunities for
recreation and education in a remote and undeveloped West Central Alabama old
growth river bottom. Visitors will experience exceptional birding, hiking,
interpretive nature trails, and recreational opportunities in the three
adjacent natural areas. The mature hardwood canopy of these ecosystems
represents a rarely experienced component of nature that is well worth
preservation and deserves a visit.
The Park gate is opened at sunup and
is locked at sundown...every day of the year.
ATVs and horses are not allowed in the Park. We are
trying to protect this natural environment for outdoor education and for
research. Visitors and Park creatures deserve the peace and quiet of nature.
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There is no entrance fee to visit Perry Lakes
Park. We want the Park to be available to all citizens, especially the people
of the Black Belt region.
There is no budget for the Park. Volunteers
designed, created, and maintain the Park.
Please follow the
rules....especially the No ATVs in the Park
rule.
The gate is locked at sundown... Read the
sign!
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Google Earth Image of Park
Environment
Waymarking, Geocaching, Benchmarking in the Perry
Lakes Park...maps, GPS numbers |
The Perry
Lakes Park (Recreational Area) project is a restoration and expansion of a park
constructed in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Perry Lakes Park was
closed in 1974 due to the theft of fish from the nearby State Hatchery.
The Park is located five miles east of Marion, near the State Fish
Hatchery on State Hy 175.Perry Lakes Park is positioned between the Marion
State Fish Hatchery and the Barton's Beach Cahaba River Preserve. The Park area
was leased (20 yrs. beginning in 1999) from the Ala Department o f
Conservation.
The four oxbow lakes of the Park and the bright white sand
of Barton's Beach can be seen in this image.
A map of the Park is
available in the Map Box at the entrance to the Park. |
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ADECA and the U. S. Department
of the Interior designate Perry Lakes/Barton's Beach as a Cahaba River Nature
and Canoe Trailhead. Read this interesting sign about the
"Protection and Purpose of Perry Lakes
Park.".
Judson College Earth Team
member, Elizabeth Hinton and LEI participant take a close look at the Paw Paw
tree fruit at the Paw Paw Bridge interpretivie area beside Eagle
Trail. |
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University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Outdoor
Action students conducted their fifth straight year of community service work
at Perry Lakes Park in August, 2011. Fifty students lead by Fran Oneil, Randy
Mecredy, UofA Natural History Museum Director, and Thomas Wilson of Judson
College, spend two days removing fallen trees from trails, mulching and marking
trails, repairing benches and mowing pathways. A long swim in the Cahaba River
at Barton's Beach at the end of the work day completed a great and productive
adventure for these students.
Outdoor
Action 2011 |
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The Atamasco lily (right) is one of many nature
images taken by Curtis Miyasaka (3rd from right in above photo) in Perry Lakes
Park, Barton's Beach and the Golden Club Arum Swamp. Here are some of Curtis's
photos ... let's hope Curtis will spend many more days in the
Park.
Perry Lakes Park, Barton's Beach and the Golden Club Swamp ....
images by Curtis Miyasaka. |
Zephyranthes atamasco (L.)
Herb. |
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West
Alabama Sierra Club members visited the Park and nominated this Florida Maple
to the State Champion Tree Program. The Sierra Club has adopted the Park as a
preservation project. Dr. Wilson led the study tour. Carol Myer, Club
President, is to Dr. Wilson's left (March, 08).
The Sierra Club
has funded a bridge project in the Park. Watch construction of the
Sierra Club/Judson
Earth Team Bridge. |
Applied Botany students from Judson
College, Stacy Lawton, Elizabeth Graverson, and Rikki Morrison, installed a tip
box for the Park security guard. A project directed by Thomas Wilson,
environmental advisor (Dec. 06). |
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The
Atamasco Lily can be found in late March in many of the depressed, wet areas.
This group of lilies is beside the Pawpaw Patch Bridge at the end of the
Devil's Walking Stick trail...well worth the hike. |
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Bald Eagles have nested in a giant Loblolly Pine
tree in the Marion Hatchery woods at the entrance to the Park since 2005
(March, 08).
Greg Harber, Birmingham Audubon Society, took this
image on Sunday, 29 Feb., 2006. Greg took the image of the Park birding tower
(below). |
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 Ridge Trail
leads to the new Birding Tower |
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| Judson College students Elizabeth
Graverson, Stacy Lawton, Kati Eubanks, Tiffany Jernigan and Melissa Adams enjoy
the view from the tower top. Ball Cypress trees present a soft texture to the
forest from 100 feet in the air. The mix of Swamp and Water Tupelo along with
Blackgum completes the oxbow lake swamp ecosystem of the Park. |
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The Auburn Rural Studio Birding Tower is now open (22
April, 2006).
Come look at the floodplain forest and the birds in the
upper canopy from a view few people have experienced. Perry Lakes Park is a
special place... we need to realize how wonderful and important this ecosystem
is and do everything to protect and preserve the entire woods and recreation
area. |
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Important Park Links |
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| Canoeing and Birding the
Four Park Swamp Lakes |
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| 60 Native Tree Species in Perry Lakes
Park/Barton's Beach |
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| Rare and
Declining Species List |
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Barton's Beach, which is owned by The Nature Conservancy, is
the largest sand/gravel bar on the Cahaba River. A footpath leads from the
Perry Lakes Park to Barton's Beach.
Barton's Beach
Cahaba River Nature Preserve |
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| Students in the Judson College Chapter of the
Cahaba River Society study the river on another rewarding day with Randy
Haddock and Glen Black of the Cahaba River Society. |
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Barton's Beach Cahaba River Preserve contains the
largest sand/gravel bar on the river. Beaver ponds, hardwoods, and occasional
open areas add to the diversity of this area. The educational and recreational
experiences available in this wild and scenic riverine and riparion ecosystem
are limited only by one's imagination....more
information |
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(Image ©
Rick Mark)
Bird
List
Breeding Bird List
Nature trails through a mature canopy, swamp
lakes, hatchry ponds, and a beautiful gravel bar on the Cahaba River make the
Marion State Hatchery/ Perry Lakes Park/Barton's Beach ecosystem an exciting
place to visit. This list contain 206 species of
birds.
Perry
County, AL Bird List |
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The natural diversity of the park and the
nature preserve makes this area special and well worth a visit! |
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