What’s So Great About Turkey Creek?

March 1, 2011

There’s a little snatch of memory I have, a bit of a dream, where whorls of color and screams of delight intertwine with splashing, wet rocks and a summer day. That scene is the first memory I have of Turkey Creek. My father had driven my sister and I past the creek in the hopes of convincing us that the move we were about to make to the “country” was idyllic… a daily diary of tanned young bodies, new friends and lazy days. While our move from the city to the country wasn’t quite as smooth as he had, perhaps, hoped, that memory of Turkey Creek has always lingered in a favorable way,  just on the outskirts of my mind. Particularly since, not too many years later, I revisited Turkey Creek only to find it overrun with a rougher type of crowd, hypodermic needles littering the glittery rocks and suspicious stares replacing those open faces we had first encountered. Mind you, that was probably 30 years ago.

I recently revisited Turkey Creek. I’d been meaning to, for Oh… I don’t know, forever. I’d been hearing about how the land had been cleaned up, thanks in large due to a grass roots initiative to protect the area. On the day of my visit the creek was roaring and clear.  I’d like to post a big shout out to the Eagle Scouts who painstakingly prepared a pleasant trail that now ambles by the side of the creek. My daughter, sister and I meandered about, poking and looking, watching for small wildlife and observing the other people, of which there weren’t many that day. What a worthwhile restoration! Restful benches, marked trails, dotted the hill but didn’t intrude on nature’s landscape. To be there on the creek bank is to feel that you are, indeed, in a remote part of the state; when, actually you are only 20 minutes north of downtown Birmingham. My daughter exclaimed, “I didn’t even know this was here!,” even though she has haunted that part of the state since she was small. I’ll bet there are many folks in our city who would say the same.

So, what IS so great about Turkey Creek?
Well, here’s a few things to start:

• Turkey Creek is home to 3 varieties of endangered fish, the Watercress Darter, the Rush Darter and the famous Vermillion Darter, which exists nowhere else on earth. That’s sort of cool, right?

• Turkey Creek has some historical significance. It’s the site of the home and mill of David Hanby, who was an early industrialist entrepeneur. (I think its funny that he holds a place in history for the way he ripped coal out of the bottom of the river, yet, he had to give the coal away at first, because people were distrustful of his methods. You just never know right?)

• Of further historical interest is that Turkey Creek is the site of Mount Pinson Ironworks, which was built in 1863 and supplied horseshoes to the Confederate troops mounts. The troops may not have had shoes, but apparently the horses did.

But to me, the very, best thing about Turkey Creek is that it is beautiful. It’s so close to the city, yet you can get so close to nature so darn fast! And, its such a testament to the rebirth and preservation that can occur when people pull together for a common goal. I hope you’ll go. Take your family. Even the dogs are welcome. Enjoy and keep our earth at her best!

Want more info? Check out these links:

The Southern Environmental Center
Freshwater Land Trust
Alabama’s Forever Wild Program

generations have carved their undying devotion here

Filed under: Green Spaces,Healthy Living,Inspiration,Nature,Uncategorized