Red Mountain Park in Birmingham

Fall is great time of year to go hiking and enjoy being outside. Red Mountain Park is an 1500 acre urban green space in Birmingham with 15 miles of trails, incredible tree houses with views of the city, a 6 acre dog park, a climbing tower, zip line adventures, and more! It is my favorite place to hike in the city. You will see a lot of bikers and trail runners in the park too. The park was built on land that was once an iron ore mine. If you check out the Red Mountain Park website you can find out more info on the park and the history of the mines.

There are several historic mining sites you can check out in the park. The Redding Hoist House is worth checking out. It is very accessible (2.64 mile round trip walk) on the flat gravel BMRR South Trail.

Here are a few shots from Haskell Hideaway Treehouse

There are three tree houses in the park. Rushing Rendezvous (4.10 mile round trip hike) and Haskell Hideaway (2.74 mile round trip hike via Smythe trail) are my favorite two tree houses.

My favorite trail in the park is the Skyhy Ridge Walk. The loop I hike more than any other is BMRR South Trail to the TCI Connector to the Skyhy Ridge to the Smythe that connects back to the BMRR South. That loop is a little under 3 miles but its has some elevation change that make it challenging and fun. When I have time I will extend this loop and go to Haskell Treehouse before I head back down the Smythe. The Smythe trail is steeper than the Songo. It saves some milage but the Songo is an easier trail to get up or down the ridge. The Skyhy Ridge makes some people little nervous because it is so narrow.

Whatever adventure you pick in Red Mountain Park make sure you grab a map before you go! They have a map online that you can print out. Trust me it will come in handy otherwise you might get lost and end up hiking a lot further than you had planned. Also check out their website for special events. They offer guided group hikes and HOGA (Hiking & Yoga) you just have to sign up in advance because they limit the size of the groups. I am dying to check out the HOGA. They just started offering it and I signed us up for the one last weekend but it was canceled due to weather. Maybe next month!

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