As a kid I loved trains. Any kind of train. The L&N tracks ran 500 yards behind our house and…read moreduring potato season, I'd see all sorts of strange engines, box cars and cabooses going by. Sometimes I'd stand near the tracks and wave at the engineers and they'd wave back. But probably the best thing that happened to me was when the General, the original Civil War-era train involved in the greatest train chase, came through town. I got to go aboard and look around and ooh and ahh as the rest of the townsfolk did. Well, the L&N now longer comes through. The tracks are all gone but in place is Alabama Trail, part of 1600 nationwide Rail Trails. No amenities such as bathrooms or water, just a gentle trail following the original tracks.

Was anticipating a leasurely walk thru the woods but found no trails. Looked like maybe one path…read moreinto weeds.

Bohemian Park is a hidden gem, perfect for both dogs and their owners. The park features a natural…read moreriver or pond that's great for swimming--whether you're bringing your pup for a splash or planning to take a dip yourself. My dog absolutely loves it! I can toss his toy into the water, and he joyfully retrieves it every time. The park also has scenic trails and picnic benches, making it an ideal spot for a peaceful outing. Just a heads-up: the path down to the water can be a bit slippery and muddy, so wear sturdy shoes and skip your best outfit. Bug spray is also a must, especially if you visit during warmer months. I'd recommend going during off-peak hours for a more tranquil experience, but even when there are more people, everyone has been friendly, and it never feels overcrowded. Bohemian Park is not just a dog park--it's a great place to enjoy nature and relax. Gravel and dirt parking too btw.

We went by the Preserve to walk after Breakfast today and discovered they were decorating for their…read moreHaunted Forest. This looks like so much fun for the whole family! I can see teenagers having a blast with each other and siblings driving each other crazy. Support the Preserve and get your tickets on their page. Have fun!!!

Let be going there. Well maintained and plenty of safe trails to navigate…read more Archery, disc golf, fishing...

Did a Groupon for one of the zip lining adventures for two. We came during off season so it was…read moreonly the two of us lol. Approx 1.5 hours away from Destin but the drive wasn't terrible. You sign a waiver and you have to weigh between 70 to 250 pounds for the zip line. Our two tour guides Jaeda and Spencer were amazing. As someone who's never zip lined before, they were comforting and patient. I think this zip line tour was good for beginners and kids. I think there were 10(?) zip lines that were approx 300 feet each. I'd prefer a longer one next time!

We brought our scout troop for the combo challenge course and a 4 mile canoe trip. It was…read morefantastic. The facilitator was a former scoutmaster and was great with the kids. The paddle was not too strenuous and everyone had fun. Would definitely recommend for a day trip!

This is a nice nature walking trails in Daphne, AL. There is great parking and nice restrooms with…read morepicnic tables. You can choose a trail to fit your needs or your personality that day or you can spend the whole day hiking and exploring. We love this place!!

A simply stunning small strip of paradise at the end of a quiet street in Daphne, Alabama…read more Take a moment to walk the nature oath, it is small, but it is simply amazing and leads out to an even more beautiful strip of beach. Just as an aside, there is an amazing barbecue restaurant called Moe's on that quiet street, stop by there before going. It is one of my favorite barbecue places.

Nice Medium Sized Park In Silverhill, Alabama that also has a stream & covered bridge. Park has…read moreolder, well maintained playground equipment with metal slides. Two small parking lots that can accommodate 4-6 vehicles each. Large picnic pavilion that has a large BBQ, sink, counter, tap water, wooden picnic tables in the shade. Pavilion can be rented by contacting phone number on the sign. Disc Golf Course & open green-space. Also, other benches, tables, and pavilions near the stream that is very shallow. Public restrooms have no doors on either of the two stalls, but have an electric plug in above light switch. Hand washing sink outside restrooms. Clean, quiet, litter-free park. Great for kids, Pet Friendly, dogs allowed on leash. Park is about a mile from the other local park, Silverhill Kids Municipal Park. Great place to spend your day.

We absolutely love camping here. So many spacious sites. Most with full hookups (water, power, and…read moresewer) but some that just have water & power, and some primitive tent sites. Several access points to the river for swimming. At the largest area, there's a big concrete platform with a ladder to climb up and jump off into the water. You can pay $5 per person to tube down the river, or rent a kayak. You can also kayak, canoe, and fish in the lakes. There is a large playground area for the kids, horse trails, trails to ride golf carts down (electric only, gas carts and ATVs not allowed there.) They do not allow alcohol there, so don't bring it. Camping is $30 per night for RVs. Not sure about tents, but the website will tell you. You can get day passes to go swim for the day.

I loved my camping trip to this Wildlife Preserve. I swam in the river and took 4 showers. The only…read morereason that I am not giving this 5 stars is the camping is not clearly marked, and I got a camman18 sunburn. Wear sunscreen. :)

Best trail I've ever walked in and I've been on a few in my travels. We love walking here because…read morewe always see something different. Yes it is a sidewalk but the scenery is the best ever. We love it and invite others to explore the entire Eastern Shore Trail, all 24 miles.

32 mile all purpose trail runs the west outline of Alabama. Walking, running or cycling -…read moreBeautiful, green n lush. The Eastern Shore Trail runs along the east side of Mobile Bay from Spanish Fort to Weeks Bay, passing through the communities of Daphne, Montrose, Fairhope, Battles Wharf and Point Clear along the way.

PLEASE READ THE REVIEWS AT THE BOTTOM. The reviews at the top are misleading…read more If you are looking up this place on Yelp, I would highly recommend that you turn around and go somewhere else if you value your life. This establishment is run by a shady couple who are racist and just want your money. A group of us went to kayak with this company because we found a good deal on groupon. A woman by the name of Hannah (Finnish accent) who we contacted by phone told us to meet her on the side of the highway and that she would take us to the kayaking site. After we got to the site we had to unload the kayaks from the trucks by ourselves and carry it to the river. Her husband, Will, showed up with the remaining kayaks 45 minutes later. They didn't know any of our names. They didn't have us fill out any personal information or emergency contact numbers in the event of an emergency. They handed us life jackets and told us that we didn't have to wear them if we didn't want to. Before we started kayaking, Will decided to lecture us on his Christian beliefs and how Hinduism & Buddhism were wrong. He kept insisting that the christian in our group should educate the hindus in our group about christianity. He then kept continuing this tirade about Jews, Evolution, 7 headed dragon ? We didn't receive any information regarding what to do in an emergency or how the water was in the river or what to expect. He just kept saying to stick to the florida side on the left. When we started kayaking, we found out that there was a strong current which lead our boat capsizing in the middle of the river. We were stuck in the middle of river perdido with no cell phone reception and hanging on to a tree stump for our dear lives hoping help would arrive. After 30 minutes, a couple who were hiking on the Alabama side of the river (Chelsea and Billy) risked their lives and their 2 dogs to help us ashore. When we called Will and told him what happened, he told us to get back on the kayak and to keep going despite the strong current. Whenever we called him he didn't know who we were or our names because he was bringing many people to kayak. These people have no idea how to run a kayak company and they really don't care about you. For all the troubles we went through he said he would give us a discount for our next trip and gave us sprite as consolation. NO THANK YOU. They use the low price on groupon to lure beginner level kayakers. BEWARE.

Truly an absurd (and, by the end, surreal) experience. I called the day before, was asked a quick…read morebarrage of questions (Kayaks, canoes, or tubes? What time? You know where it's at?), and found myself wondering why the person answering the phone had not asked for my name or phone number. It turns out that these details are trivial to a man with so much on his mind. Cut to the next day. My girlfriend and I are excited (we'd been looking forward to this for a month) as we hurriedly assemble our waterproofed supplies, sunscreen, bathing suits, etc. We make it to Fran's Country Grill (that is the address found above; the official address is a P.O. Box) at 12 P.M. sharp and... nothing. 20 minutes pass, so I give the number another call. "Oh, yep, I'll be there in 10 minutes." Still no inquiry regarding my name or phone number, which still had me scratching my head. I was still scratching my head 35 minutes later (don't overscratch those heads, kids), when we finally see a truck with the company name pull up. By this time we were both pretty steamed, and had been almost ready to cut our losses and spend our day off doing something else. If only he had taken 5 minutes longer, the rest of this... event could have been avoided. We have a bewildering 10 minute talk with a man who did not seem to introduce himself (and who did not ask my name), but who would later turn out to be named Will. This part is kind of a blur, but he apologizes for being late (he had, apparently, been left waiting by another group... understandable, though a phone call would have been nice), gives us directions to a parking area near the Perdido River, and tells us that he will meet us there in ten minutes. 25 minutes later (it is now nearing 1:30 P.M.), he shows up with a canoe, and this part is kind of a blur too. Let me explain: he seems like a personable fellow, but he talks. And talks. He told us about this particular landing, and then about the landing a mile down the river, about the nature trail leading there, and then about the local government agency which was cleaning things up, and then about how there is a place that we can reserve for up to 25 people at the landing down the river, and how we can make these reservations online, all the while occasionally veering back to the issue at hand: the river, how long the trip will take, etc. Imagine all of this delivered very rapidly, with 5 discrete ideas touched upon each minute. Dizzying and time consuming. I think that about 15 minutes passed. We finally get into the car, and something a bit traumatic happened. Will, upon getting a captive audience, becomes part bible scholar and part conspiracy theorist. Ignoring all social cues, he started in on a rich, savory stew of the following topics: the dead sea scrolls; how Jews influenced Google to replace "Yahweh" with "The Name" (these two topics took up much of our time); how the Jews prefer Elohim to YHWH, the former referring to many gods (Ra was one example), which Christians think refers to the trinity (but apparently doesn't); something about how Muslims consider Christians infidels for believing in a trinity, and how Jews consider both groups infidels... I'm going to stop here. I want to emphasize that I showed no interest whatsoever in any of these topics, except that I thought it was interesting that Google had indexed the dead sea scrolls. All he got from me otherwise were a variety of guttural sounds along the lines of "hm." Moving forward (my apologies, gentle reader, but I want you to be prepared): the Mayan calendar, 2012, and how it's going to be a catastrophe. This was all said with a gleam of zealotry that was not present in any of his previous intimations, as I believe that he was genuinely trying to keep us from harm. That did not stop this part from making me feel slightly used and trod upon. Apparently my girlfriend and I were just as "in the dark" as the last couple, as we did not know about the following: that the planets will line up in 2012, and that it will do "all sorts of stuff" to the tides; that not only the planets will lines up, but the SUN will line up, causing who knows what calamity; that astronomers are either ignoring or covering these phenomena up (look up 2012 on wikipedia... there's nothing to cover up, of course); interspersed with these grave admonitions was something about the Antikythera mechanism, an archaeological find that... I'm going to stop again, just because I'm tired, and you must be too. Suffice it to say that we didn't get in the water until about 2:15, and that all we could talk about was Will. We both felt uneasy, slightly disturbed, and more than a little upset. It's no fun to be held captive to social niceties (which I have since discarded, being on the internet) in a moving car with a stranger. We didn't know what, exactly, to be offended about, as his hour of speaking seemed to have no central thesis or upshot. We left the experience feeling drained. The river was nice.