Turkey Creek Nature Preserve

Type:
Loop

Difficulty:
Medium

Scenery Ranking:
4/5

Accessibility:
Easily Accessible

Trail Maintenance:
Well Maintained

Facilities:
Restrooms
Picnic Area

Intro

Turkey Creek Nature Preserve is on a 466 acre tract of Forever Wild property located in Pinson, Alabama. TCNP is less than 20 miles north of Birmingham and it's 6.2 miles of hiking trails makes for a scenic and quick getaway from the big city without the long drive.

Note - hours of operation: TCNP is open 8:00 am - 4:00 pm November through March, and 8:00 am - 5:30 pm March-November Wednesday-Sunday. TCNP is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and on major holidays. You can visit their website for more information, including schedule changes, by clicking here: Birmingham Southern College - Turkey Creek Page or the Alabama Forever Wild- Turkey Creek Page.

Trail Head

There are a few places to access trail heads.The highland recreation area, turkey creek falls recreation area, and the main gate.

To access the trail head: Each trail can be easily accessed from the parking areas.

Difficulty

I rated the trails a medium only because there are a few hills on this one.

Hiking the Trail

For my hike I started at the highland recreation area and accessed the Hanby Hollow trail. This trail is about 1 mile one way and leads you up and down the hills of a scenic hollow. The trail will end at the turkey creek falls recreation area where you can catch a scenic view of Turkey Creek. If you are not able to hike very far you can also drive up to this area. After enjoying the view here for a few minutes I started on the Thomas Trace trail. This trail will take you back to the Highland Recreation Area. This trail takes you up on a ridge, giving you some scenic views. This trail winds around a little more than the Hanby Hollow trail so it's a little longer at about 1.4 miles. This is a great loop for about a 2.5 mile hike. You can also hike the Narrows Ridge trail. This is a mountain bike trail so be careful and be on the lookout for mountain bikes. This area is very scenic and worth the trip.

Scenery

Here you will get great views of small cascading waterfall at Turkey Creek and scenic woodlands.

Trail Maintenance

The trails are well maintained.

Facilities

Their are porta potty's at the Turkey Creek Falls Recreation area, and picnic areas at each trail head.