Cane Creek Preserve

[Joshua Szulecki]

I just ntoiced that Robert Schuffert, who brought us the excellent book Scenic North Alabama, has put up a flyer on Cane Creek Preserve.

http://schuffertstudios.c...isc/CaneCreekPreserve.pdf

I should also mention that I'm interested in visiting the preserve in the next few weeks.

[Joshua Szulecki]

And it looks like multiple waterfalls are wedged in there, too. I may e-mail them and see what their wildflower and waterflow situations tend to be for the next few weeks. I really need to visit this place before I leave the state, but I'd like to do it at a photographically productive time.

[Joshua Szulecki]

I think so.

It looks like they actually live on that property, and I'm guessing they picked it for a reason. Thanks for pointing that book out, btw, I'll have to read it eventually.

[Suz]

They are the same.  Jim is a geologist and has been buying up the canyon for a while.  It has fabulous flowers, good falls, and they keep it open to the public.  Maps are available for visitors as you go in.  If they are home they will tell you tips.  There are a few trails at the top, but you have to descend into the canyon to really get the feel of the place.  I thought I'd hiked all of it, but I can't recall 11 miles.  There are trout lilies, and all the standard wild flowers for this area plus some real rare ones.  Yellow ladies slipper, and some I can't recall the names but remember where they were.  Its a full day with the hike and drive.

[Joshua Szulecki]

Suz,

When do you think the best time in the next three months would be to visit? March? April? May?

[Joshua Szulecki]

Jaybird, Skippy, my friend Jeff, and I made it out to Cane Creek Preserve yesterday. I highly recommend a visit for anyone who has never been there. The trails are well-marked and maintained, and the sights are worth seeing. It is one of the greenest places I've seen in Alabama, with wildflowers scattered everywhere. Jim and Faye Lacefield are some of the friendliest people I've ever met, and they really have something special up there.

We visited one waterfall directly, and could hear a few more trickling in the distance. We saw the Cane Creek Preserve exclusive French's Shooting Star flowers, along with many others. We were two or three weeks past the best of the wildflowers, but it was evident that the place really blooms out during late March and all of April.

All I can say is that it is more than worth the drive up there, even with gas at $3.60/gallon+.

Some pictures...
Bee Balm: http://www.szulecki.com/i...reekPreserve/IMG_8306.JPG
French's Shooting Star: http://www.szulecki.com/i...reekPreserve/IMG_8326.JPG
French's Shooting Star: http://www.szulecki.com/i...reekPreserve/IMG_8329.JPG
Waterfall: http://www.szulecki.com/i...reekPreserve/IMG_8333.JPG
Waterfall: http://www.szulecki.com/i...reekPreserve/IMG_8339.JPG
Waterfall: http://www.szulecki.com/i...reekPreserve/IMG_8342.JPG
Smoothed Rock: http://www.szulecki.com/i...reekPreserve/IMG_8336.JPG
I forgot the name already: http://www.szulecki.com/i...reekPreserve/IMG_8310.JPG

The waterfall pictures actually are level, the pool below the falls was closer on one side, so they ended up looking crooked. I confirmed that by trying to adjust the tilt in GIMP, but then the waterfall was flowing sideways, making me realize what was going on.

[Skippy]

Jay and Josh, your pictures are great!! Thanks so much for sharing them with everyone. I sure had a good time on the walk, and the BBQ wasn't bad either