Five Mile Creek Greenway
The Five Mile Creek Greenway is a planned 16.5-mile recreational trail following the path of the abandoned Cane Creek Branch of the Birmingham Mineral Railroad through northern and western Jefferson County, crossing Five Mile Creek at several points along its westward course from Chalkville to the Locust Fork River west of Graysville.
It is being developed by the Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership, which was organized in 2002 by the Freshwater Land Trust, Cawaco RC&D Council and Regional Planning Commission with the Jefferson County Commission and the cities of Birmingham, Brooksides, Center Point, Fultondale, Gardendale, Graysville, and Tarrant. The partnership also has volunteer support from the Alabama Power Service Organization and other private contributors.
In 2004 the Partnership published the "Five Mile Creek Watershed Management Plan". That was followed by a "Five Mile Creek Trail Location Study", released in April 2008.
Since 2012 the Five Mile Creek Greenway has been included as a component of the area-wide Red Rock Ridge & Valley Trail System. The Surface Transportation Board issued a Notice of Interim Trail Use (NITU) in 2015 which allowed the Partnership to negotiate use of the rail corridor property with CSX Transportation. That negotiation resulted in CSX executing a quitclaim deed as part of a purchase-sale agreement with the Partnership in 2018.
The Birmingham Mineral Railroad Signs Project has participated in the trail development by erecting historical markers.
Trail segments (east to west)
Chalkville and Center Point
Tarrant
Fultondale
Fultondale's section of the rail-to-trail greenway is opened from Black Creek Park westward along Black Creek for 3.5 miles to Shady Grove Road, where Gardendale's section picks up. Planned future improvements in Fultondale include an eastward extension to Tarrant's segment as well as connectors to Lewisburg Coke Oven Park and Five Mile Creek to the south.
Gardendale
2.0 miles completed
Brookside
The first segment of the Brookside portion opened in June 2023.
The greenway was planned to cross the massive Newfound Creek Trestle, but it was destroyed by fire in 2006.
Graysville
External Links
- Five Mile Creek at the Freshwater Land Trust website
- Freshwater Land Trust interactive trail map
- Birmingham Mineral Railroad Signs Project
References
- Lindberg, Robert J. and Mitchell, Joseph (Fall 2014) "Highest wooden railroad trestle in the United States in 1904." Newsletter of the Jefferson County Historical Association.
- Harris, Erik (June 14, 2019) "5 Mile Creek Greenway opens newest section in Gardendale" The North Jefferson News
- Rebman, Stephanie (June 14, 2019) "New stretch of Five Mile Creek Greenway opens in Gardendale" Birmingham Business Journal
- Byington, Pat (June 2, 2023) "Open Now: Extension of the Five Mile Creek Greenway makes it the longest trail in the Red Rock Trail System." Bham Now