Flying Creek Nature Preserve
Watershed worked closely with Thompson Engineering and a steering committee made of community stakeholders to design Fairhope’s newest park, the 72-acre Flying Creek Nature Preserve.
Bounded by Fly Creek, Highway 181, Main Street, and Veterans Drive, the park offers diverse experiences in nature, from high bluff overlooks to narrow gullies and cozy hummocks. The three miles of new trails are equally diverse, with wide trails that follow the tracks of an old highway and logging roads, multi-use trails looping through the park, and narrow footpaths meandering along the creek.
The landscape of the park was once long leaf savannah, last logged in the 1950s and now grown up with a mix of hardwoods and pines, and dense underbrush. Fire management is being introduced to clear underbrush and facilitate the transition to a native long leaf habitat, so essential to migrating birds and wildlife.
Park amenities include a new restroom within the park, an outdoor classroom, trailhead facilities, and a bird blind. The John Martin Nature Center will greet visitors at the entrance to the park and offer interpretive materials, restrooms, meeting rooms, and classrooms to visitors and school groups.
Project type: civic new construction
Location: Fairhope, AL
Key Team: The Osprey Initiative, Flying Creek Nature Preserve Steering Committee, The Triangle Conservancy, Thompson Engineering, Dell Consulting
