Canoeing the Cahaba Lilies

[Magic City Matt]

Where are the good places?

[highlife]

just a few sites I have come across...
http://www.fws.gov/refuge...ofiles/index.cfm?id=43665
http://www.frankemory.com...rticles/cahabalilies.html


DIRECTIONS TO SEE THE CAHABA LILIES

   1. Take I-59 south from Birmingham for about 30 miles to the Highway 5 West Blocton/Centreville exit.
   2. Hwy 5/Hwy 11 is 4-lane for about 3 miles where Hwy 5 turns abruptly south as a 2-lane. Watch for this turn!
   3. Travel 10 miles south on Hwy 5 to a Blinking yellow light. Turn left (onto county road 24) to West Blocton.
   4. Continue straight at the stop sign (passing West Blocton High School and West Blocton Elementary on the right) for 5 miles to the Cahaba River.
   5. A couple of hundred yards before you can actually see the bridge, turn south (right) on a dirt/gravel road which runs along the west side of the river. This is the new Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge.
   6. There is a good stand of lilies just under 1 mile down the road, and the largest stand in the world just over 2 miles down the road.

[PastorLarryT]

The Cahaba River NWR was particularly beautiful when I was there in May07...

[Joshua Szulecki]

To canoe? There is a put-in right above the primary stands described in Highlife's post. I have no clue where you take out.

That said, I just walked out to them every year. The Cahaba is rarely deep in May, and usually pretty warm, although it does tend to have a stinky-itchy thing going on in warmer months. You have to huff it to the really big stand, but some stands are within a few hundred feet of parking. Great general wildflower area.

[Firedog]

Here's some discussion on that very subject.


http://alabamawhitewater....pBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5508

[DeShazo]

http://www.cahabalily.com

Very informative.