Richard Martin Trail- Elkmont area

Published length: 10.2 miles

Start point: Piney Chapel Rd in Athens, AL

End point: Veto, TN

Where I hiked: south of Elkmont, roughly miles 3.5 to 5.5

Runkeeper stats: 4.8 mi, 1 hr and 40 min

This is a rail-to-trail north of Huntsville. Based on their website, it's a little hard to find if you aren't familiar with the area, but you can park and get to about the middle of the trail if you just go to Downtown Elkmont (park at the caboose, you really just need to enter "Elkmont, AL" into your GPS, it's not a big town). I went south from the parking lot, towards the Battle of Sulfur Creek Trestle and the wetland area. Since it used to be a railroad bed, it's very flat which is nice. I picked up a map when I drove to the parking area at Veto (mile 10.2) which made navigation a bit easier. 

The first area of interest we got to was "Therese's Garden" which looks like an overgrown wildflower area on the power line that crosses the trail. 

The area where the Battle of Sulfur Creek Trestle was is marked, about mile 4. As you get closer to the marker, it feels a lot like where a Civil War battle would have been. The hills fall away from both sides of the trail and although it is hard to see much because of the close grown trees on both sides, there's just something about the area that made it easy to imagine the bloodiest battle on Alabama soil. None of the original structures of the fort remain which is disappointing. 

Further on (mile 3.5), you get to the wetland area. The water is perfectly still and reflective. We saw a few frogs and birds. However, we also saw quite a few mosquitoes and other bugs, which was unfortunate. 

On the return trip, Herriot got a bit hot and as usual, decided to cool off in the nearest mud. This is why I never take her hiking in the Jeep- my car is now even dirtier than it usually is. Thanks Herriot. 

Elkmont is also the home of Belle Chèvre creamery. We stopped by at closing time and tried a bunch of their cheeses but we are going to try to go back for lunch one day. 

People: 2/10. Monday afternoon in the summer heat, so I'm going to guess there's likely more on a regular day. A friend of mine said she used to run there when she was in high school. 

Squirrels: 2/10. We only saw 2 and those were on the return journey!

Monte Sano South Plateau Loop

Published length: 3.5 miles

Trail markers: white blazes

Runkeeper stats: 3.82 miles, 1 hr and 33 min

Start point: parking lot by the office, clockwise travel on the loop

This was a great, super flat trail through Monte Sano, with lots of good rest points and views (see above- Herriot at O'Shaughnessy Point). It's almost all in the shade, which was great for a hot summer afternoon (I'm pretty sure it was about 10 degrees cooler than down in Huntsville). 

Couple of hard to navigate spots but nothing that prompts getting lost (still not sure how we've had such a rash of that this summer) but good things to remember: about a half mile in, there's a service road that the trail is supposed to cross, but you actually have to go back towards the fire tower a bit to find the trail on the other side of the road. Also when you get to "Gravel Road," the sign says that you should go left to continue on the South Plateau trail and then you are on a road, with hard to find blazes. Hey found them! They are on the power poles.

People: about a 5/10, but that could have been the weather- it's a Monday afternoon with 100 degree heat index, but I still ran into several bikers, joggers, and hikers. It's a busy trail. 

Squirrel stats: very high. Herriot was a fan. My shoulder not so much.