Field trip to
Cane Creek Canyon Natural Preserve
and other Alabama native plant sites

Join other Wild Ones members for a memorable weekend trip to northwestern Alabama to visit Cane Creek Canyon Natural Preserve.  During the 3-day and 2-night field trip, the group will visit other interesting sites in the northern Alabama area.  The trip will be led by Leon and Pat Bates.  Leon is retired as an urban forester/horticulturist (Florence, AL) and former senior botanist for TVA.  He is an avid hiker with the Cherokee Hiking Club, leading wildflower, tree/shrub, and invasive plant hikes walks and presenting programs for local conservation groups. 

Our group will depart from Chattanooga on Friday morning, April 28 and return on Sunday afternoon, April 30. The trip is free and available for Wild Ones members only.  Participants will be responsible for the cost of their own lodging, meals and car transportation.  Carpools can be arranged, and the group will depart together from a designated location on Friday morning.  All registrants are responsible for making their own hotel reservations in advance (specific hotel information will be provided after registration).  The estimated cost of the selected hotel will be +/- $125 per night.  Hotel rooms can be shared if desired (2 queen beds/room).

Based on participants’ preferences, one of two sites will be visited enroute on Friday.  The Vernon Bush Garden at Jackson County Park in Scottsboro should provide a spectactular floral display and/or the Huntsville Botanical Gardens with exceptional wildflower and shrub displays.

On Saturday, we will go to Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve, a 713-acre privately protected scenic area in the Little Mountains region of Colbert County, Alabama. It serves as a sanctuary for native plants and animals and offers 11 miles of hiking as well as camping, picnicking, and creek wading. This remarkable area of natural beauty is still unspoiled largely due to an equally remarkable couple, Jim and Faye Lacefield. The retired educators bought a 40-acre tract of land in 1979 and have gradually added to that original purchase, keeping the land in its natural state.  The preserve includes a 60-foot waterfall, wetlands, sparkling streams rushing through boulder-strewn notches, sunny glades, sheer canyon walls and towering cliffs overlooking seas of hardwood forests. The canyon itself is steep and deep. In some places it is 350 feet from the rim to the clear blue-green waters of Cane Creek.

The popularity of this nature preserve is illustrated by 14,414 visits last year.   Visitors are welcome year round, and our group will be visiting during near-peak spring wildflower season on Saturday, April 29. It should be one of the best shows in North Alabama.

On Sunday morning, two sites will be available to visit Sunday morning: the Hall Memorial Wildflower Garden located on the TVA Reservation and Deibert Park which is a City of Florence Park.

 This program is free and open to Wild Ones members.

Limit: 15 participants.

Driving directions and additional program details will be provided upon registration.

 

 

 

Register Now!