Alabama’s Five Mile Creek Greenway now the longest multiuse trail in Jefferson County
Bicyclists check out the new extension of the Five Mile Creek Greenway in Jefferson County. (Michael Sznajderman / Alabama News Center)
Two-mile extension is the latest addition to the Red Rock Trail System
Outdoor enthusiasts and local officials gathered on Friday, the eve of National Trails Day, to cut the ribbon on the latest addition to Jefferson County’s Red Rock Trail System: a 2-mile extension to the Five Mile Creek Greenway.
“This is truly a labor of love,” said Rusha Smith, executive director of the nonprofit Freshwater Land Trust, which is the lead agency for the ongoing expansion of the Red Rock trail network across Jefferson County.
“It’s a true symbol of cross-jurisdictional partnership,” added Carolyn Buck, the Land Trust’s Red Rock Trail System director. She and Smith praised the six Jefferson County cities that have worked together to expand the greenway over more than a decade. The cities are Brookside, Center Point, Fultondale, Gardendale, Graysville and Tarrant.
The new section extends the Five Mile Creek Greenway to the west, from Gardendale into Brookside, along an old rail line. Originally constructed in the late 1800s as part of the Birmingham Mineral Railroad system of tracks serving mine operations across the region, the six cities worked cooperatively in 2018 with the Freshwater Land Trust to purchase 16.5 miles of the corridor from CSX Transportation.
The 2-mile extension means the Five Mile Creek Greenway now stretches, unbroken, more than 8 miles, from Fultondale’s Black Creek Park to Newfound Creek in Brookside, making it the longest trail in the Red Rock Trail System.
Officials prepare to cut the ribbon on the new, 2-mile extension of the Five Mile Creek Greenway. (Michael Sznajderman / Alabama News Center)
“It’s exciting to see this portion of the trail opened,” Brookside Mayor Mike Bryan said, just before he and other officials cut the ribbon on the new section. He attributed the progress to “the collaborative efforts of the community.”
He and Smith praised a host of local partners who supported the trail extension, including Vulcan Materials Co., the Thompson Family Foundation, C&S Contracting and Dunn Construction. Other longtime supporters of the Freshwater Land Trust and the Red Rock Trail System include Jefferson County, the Jefferson County Department of Health and the Alabama Power Foundation, among others.
The Land Trust and its partners continue to work on further expansions of the Red Rock Trail System, which envisions 200 miles of shared-use greenways and trails along six main corridors, plus over 600 miles of street-based bicycle and pedestrian pathways, including sidewalks, connecting neighborhoods and communities, parks and greenspaces across Jefferson County. To date, more than 130 miles have been completed, drawing an estimated 2.5 million users per year, according to Land Trust figures.
Smith said the Five Mile Creek Greenway extension is significant, “not only because it is an incredibly beautiful trail, but because it’s what the people want …” – greater access to outdoor recreation.
Mayors Mike Bryan of Brookside (in the blue T-shirt) and Larry Holcomb of Fultondale (right) celebrate the newly expanded Five Mile Creek Greenway. (Michael Sznajderman / Alabama News Center)
Other trail expansions are underway across the county as part of the Red Rock system. Most recently, The Land Trust celebrated completion of the final segment of the Hugh Kaul Trail, connecting the thriving Avondale neighborhood to the Rotary Trail and downtown Birmingham. Also in the works is an extension of the downtown Civil Rights Trail, connecting it to City Walk BHAM and farther west, to Legion Field. Also coming is a new section of the Lakeshore Trail in Homewood, part of the Shades Creek Greenway, extending it farther westward into the Wildwood area, west of Interstate 65 and closer to Red Mountain Park.
And in the latest, updated master plan for the Red Rock, the Land Trust proposes an ambitious, 36-mile loop around greater Birmingham, with 19 miles of proposed, new trails linking Red Mountain Park, Railroad Park and the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, and Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve.
Learn more about Red Rock Trail System here.
