Moss Rock Preserve - Hoover, AL

[SteveO]

 This is a pretty well kept secret from what I have seen. Right in the middle of Hoover, the 5th largest city in the State.

Moss Rock Preserve

 Its in the middle of about 3 subdivisions, and almost became one.
It mainly caters to rock climbers, but has some very nice trails. Great for day hiking without driving far out of the Birmingham area. It houses on of only 40 (in the world) sandstone glades, and after a big rain has a very powerful water fall. Though it has been a trickle for the past 6 months or so.

Here is a link to some photos I took in '07.
My Photobucket - Moss Rock Preserve

[Lostsheep]

Thanks for sharing that. I've heard of it, just never knew where. I will need to check that out now!

[PastorLarryT]

I hiked there on a Thursday in November.  Interesting rock formations and an enjoyable hike.  Trails were almost deserted (probably not that way on a weekend).  Some portions of trail were not well blazed and there were no take-away maps available at the trailhead kiosk, but otherwise no problems with route-finding.  There were some great identifying plaques for many trees and shrubs.  Wildlife (birds, squirrels) was abundant.  Some traffic noise was noticeable at times.

Moss Rock is a jewel for Hoover and the surrounding area.  If you have a chance check it out!

[crittcg]

sooo, as an avid climber, I'll have to post on this one 

yes, those were shifty eyes, heres why

http://www.preservethepreserve.com/

if you've ever been there, then you can appreciate what a jewel we have there, more so to the local climbing/bouldering community than anything else i think, but even to the avid hicker ect. that link spells it out fairly well, but to make it short, they want to blow up a number of those rock formations and build a shopping center/ development homes... go figure, they call it a preserve but its the exact opposite of what they are going to do!!??! this is one of my buttons, so sorry for the rant. they already wrecked a good bit of land, and intend to continue... >.<

"More housing developments go up
  Named after the things they replace"
                                            Modest Mouse

[SteveO]

Im with you there. I always enjoyed bouldering there, and had no clue it even had trails for the first year or so.
Theres alot there that needs to be preserved. The City of Hoover, Jefferson County, and the State need to step in and make sure this place is protected. One of only 40 sandstone glades IN THE WORLD exist here. Thats pretty amazing.

Why the hell would anyone want to destroy that to build another shopping center. Peoples logic amazes me sometimes.