Map Illustration
by Danielle Marks
Danielle Marks Design
364
Lakeview Drive
Hartfield, VA 23071-3110
804 238-1539
dmmarks@va.metrocast.net
danielle@daniellemarks.com
www.daniellemarks.com
All artwork © 2014
Danielle Marks
in service from roughly 1884 until the
early 1930s.
The old rail lines are a major part of
the overall plan for trail development at
Red Mountain Park. Currently, about
2.5
miles of the park’s trails are con-
verted railbeds and tramways. Within
the next five years, rail-trails will account
for about 8 miles of what by then will be
a 21-mile trail network.
Writing early in the 20th cen-
tury, Alabama historian Ethel Armes
described Red Mountain in her book
The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama
as “shorne of timber,” its face a welter
of “long, clear-cut, deep red lines, sharp
against the sky.” Armes observed, “The
railroad track, ascending by a series of
switch backs, runs along the slope near
to the summit, then curves down in and
out of the gaps. It is an interesting sight
to watch an ore train heavily laden with
its rich cargo wind its way slowly down
the hillside and go on its journey to the
huge furnaces.”
I read that passage to the kids before
we left home this morning. Now, from
our lunchtime vantage point on the
Maston Trail, it’s clear that the scenes
of which Armes wrote are long gone,
largely replaced by forest. Named for a
local man who was a longtime laborer
on the Red Mountain “slope track,” this
dirt trail runs parallel to the old Mineral
Line grade, parts of which remain vis-
ible about 100 feet down the slope. Ike
Maston is featured prominently in an
ongoing oral history project being con-
ducted by park staff.
Sitting near the top of a steeply
angled ridge on this cool autumn after-
noon, I look through the trees, and into
and across a deep, narrow hollow that
knifes between here and the adjacent
ridge. We are two-thirds of the way
along our hike through these hills and
hollows. The leaves are two or three
weeks past their brilliant peak of fall
color, but scattered patches of bright
red, yellow and orange remain, arrayed
against the browning landscape like
vivid daubs of paint on a palette.
I am deeply into admiring the view
when Hannah announces that it’s time
we get moving. The two of us begin to
pack away our trash, but Wilson is still
pondering the terrain. Hannah repeats
her earlier question, this time with an
added note of urgency: “What is it?”
“
Just a minute,” her brother answers.
“
I’m thinking about what it was like
when all of those mines were here.”
In many ways, Wilson’s reverie
encapsulates the broad mission of Red
Mountain Park. Established in 2007 by an
act of the Alabama Legislature, the park
officially opened to the public in 2012
and continues to be developed in accor-
dance with a 15-year master plan. Widely
recognized as one of the most ambitious
and historically significant urban park
projects in the nation, Red Mountain
Park is the single largest link in a park,
greenway and trail system that makes
Birmingham one of America’s “greenest”
communities in terms of dedicated green
space per capita.
Even at this early stage of its availabil-
ity to the public, the park is becoming
a major destination for families on out-
ings, school and community groups, his-
tory buffs and outdoor enthusiasts from
throughout Birmingham and Alabama,
as well as an increasingly attractive tour-
ist stop. “We just seem to be getting
busier and busier,” says park staff mem-
ber Mike Boody. “What’s really impres-
sive to me is that, so far, it has been very
much a word-of-mouth thing. There
hasn’t been a great deal of marketing
yet, so people are hearing about it from
friends, and then coming out here and
being blown away by it.”
A 31-year-old Birmingham native,
Boody has worked at the park since the
spring of 2012, assisting with landscap-
ing and development of the trail system,
among other tasks. We encounter him at
the small shed that serves as the entrance
to two of the park’s paid attractions, the
Red Ore Zip Tour—which transports
users through the treetops via a series of
zip lines, sky bridges and tree houses—
and the Hugh Kaul Beanstalk Forest, a
treetop challenge course with more than
20
rope-course obstacles.
Walking up the trail to scope out
the Beanstalk Forest for a future visit,
we strike up a conversation with three
generations of the Clark family, who
are visiting the park from Birmingham
and Nashville, Tenn. Geared in the
requisite protective helmets and v sts
with clamps that secure safety lines, the
Clarks—four adults and five children—
are eager to get their adventure under
way. According to 11-year-old William
Clark
III, the group “decided this would
be th
e thing to do” today.
B
irmingham lawyer Bill Clark
explains,
“My wife and I have been out
here hiking quite often. But with the
grandchildren here from Nashville, it
seemed like a great time to come out
and do this course. I’ve been impressed
at the progress they’ve made here in such
a short time—developing the trails and
opening access to the old mining struc-
tures. It’s a neat place and a great thing
for Birmingham.”
Boody says he takes pride in the
park’s role in building on Birmingham’s
growing regional and national reputa-
tion as a center for year-round outdoor
recreation. That’s part of an ongoing
renaissance of the city as a whole, he
adds, pointing to numerous awards
and other recognition Birmingham has
received for its innovative approaches to
economic growth and the development
of cultural amenities.
“
There’s a lot going on in
Birmingham,” Boody says. “It’s not just
outdoor activities, but Red Mountain
and the other parks are a huge part of
what’s happening here. The whole atmo-
sphere is invigorating, and I think that
bodes well for the future—of the park
and of the community as a whole.”
Whoa, indeed.
Mark Kelly is a Birmingham-based writer and
the publisher of
Weld
,
a news and information
website and weekly newspaper. Kelly has writ-
ten about the history, politics and culture of
Birmingham for more than 25 years.
jeff newman
The scenic beauty of the
Ike-Maston Trail makes it
popular with families.
rails
to
trails
u
spring/summer.14
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destination