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Staff photo.
Fly fishing on the Cahaba River.
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Maps courtesy of city of Hoover.
Map of the trails within the city of Hoover
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Maps courtesy of city of Hoover.
A map of the Blueway Routes and access points along the Cahaba River
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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Veronica Walker, a student at John Carroll Catholic High School, practices at the Hoover Archery Park. Residents in a survey expressed a desire for more non-traditional sporting opportunities, including archery and skateboarding.
The Hoover City Council early this year put its stamp of approval on a new Parks, Public Spaces and Recreation Plan for the city, setting out goals and objectives for the next 20 years.
The top priority for the next five to 10 years is to expand the trail and greenway system in the city, focusing first on developing a trail along the Cahaba River and opening up recreational opportunities related to the Cahaba River and Shades Creek.
Other goals include upgrading and adding to existing city parks and recreational amenities, adding more parks and amenities to fill in gaps of service, and expanding recreational programming, in particular to include more outdoor adventure, nature and environmental, fitness and wellness programs.
Surveys, town hall meetings and focus group meetings revealed that Hoover residents like to use the existing trails in the city and have a strong desire for more, especially trails that lead to waterways such as the Cahaba River and other scenic spots.
GREENWAYS AND BLUEWAYS
The Cahaba River is the longest substantially free-flowing river in Alabama and among the most biodiverse rivers in the United States. Twenty miles of it are in the city of Hoover, the most Cahaba River frontage of any city, Hoover City Planner Mac Martin said.
“That should be our No. 1 emphasis, utilizing that wonderful asset in our community that, unfortunately to this point, we’ve kind of grown with our backs to it,” Martin said. “We should be proud of the amount of miles on the Cahaba and that wonderful resource.”
The concept is to build a highly accessible, hard-surface trail along the river that is 8 to 12 feet wide and secondary trails that link people to the river’s edge, key destinations, rest areas or other paths.
The city should treat the Cahaba River Trail like a linear park, according to the plan, and consider high-quality wayfinding and interpretive signs, scenic rest areas with trailside amenities and river access points to further develop the corridor as a tourist destination.
“The Cahaba River Trail has the power to be an iconic and transformative project for Hoover,” the plan says.
The proposal is to create five new access points to the river (kayak and canoe launches) and upgrade three existing ones to make it easy and fun to enjoy the river.
Trails along the river and new and upgraded access points or kayak launches should adhere to standards identified by the Cahaba River Society in order to make sure the trails and amenities are functional, yet protect the river and minimize degradation of water quality and habitat in the floodway, according to the plan.
The plan calls for a feasibility study for the Cahaba River Trail that would identify “quick-win” segments that can be moved into design while the city continues to secure funding for future segments.
The long-term plan also identifies five other proposed trail corridors throughout the city, which could be developed as greenways that connect with the Cahaba River Trail:
- Shades Crest and Shades Creek Trails: This trail network would give people a way to enjoy both the top and bottom of Shades Mountain. It would include a primary trail along the ridgeline near Shades Crest Road to give people access to scenic vistas, another primary trail along Shades Creek for people to enjoy the riverbed and at least one trail connecting the two. This trail network also could potentially connect with the Moss Rock Preserve trails and a proposed Bluff Park Preserve in the area of Tip Top Grill and the historic Lover’s Leap/Sunset Rock. Further south, this same trail network could potentially connect with the Black Creek Mountain Bike Park in Trace Crossings, the Hoover Met Complex and Flemming Park along the Cahaba River.
- Patton Creek Greenway: This would be a trail from Shades Crest Road near Interstate 65 to Shades Mountain Elementary School, Blue Ridge Park and down the mountain to Patton Creek and Hoover Country Club, eventually tying into the Moss Rock Preserve and the Patton Creek and Riverchase Galleria shopping centers.
- Galleria Trail Loop: This would be a 4.3-mile circuit loop around the Patton Creek and Riverchase Galleria shopping centers that connects with the Cahaba-Riverchase Greenway Trailhead next to Riverchase Elementary School, as well as Chase Lake Park and the Riverchase Sports Park.
- Sports Park Loop: This would be a 9-mile loop between Hoover Sports Park East, the Spain Park Sports Complex and Riverchase Sports Park via the Cahaba River Trail, Acton Creek and side paths along Heatherwood Drive and Southlake Parkway. This loop would tie into the existing trails at Veterans Park and could provide a location for 15K races.
- Greystone Connector: This trail would branch off the Cahaba River Trail and connect with the Hoover Archery Park, Inverness Nature Park and a playground in the Greystone community.
Currently, many of the city’s trails are in isolated areas. The idea here is to connect these trail networks and give people non-automobile routes between different parts of town, pedestrian paths to amenities and places to exercise or enjoy nature.
These greenways also could connect other trail networks, such as the Red Rock Trail System, Lakeshore Trail and Red Mountain Park in Jefferson County and Oak Mountain State Park and trail systems in Pelham and Helena in Shelby County, Martin said.
“We, in essence, are the doorway from one side of the metro area to the other,” he said.
Matt Leavell, an architect and urban planner who specializes in outdoor recreation and conducted a regional trail study for the city of Hoover, said trails and outdoor recreation often are seen solely as something to improve quality of life, but they actually can be used as an economic development tool, similar to what Hoover is doing with sports tourism.
If marketed, maintained and managed properly, trails and outdoor recreational opportunities can be substantial tools to draw in visitors, who stimulate the economy with food, lodging, gasoline and retail purchases, Leavell said.
A 2014 study done for the 28-mile Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail system, located in Gulf State Park in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, found that the average person visiting those trails spent $144 in the area during their visit, Leavell said. That trail system, which opened its first leg in 2003, has brought in 600,000 visitors, which means a multi-million-dollar impact each year, he said.
PARKS AND AMENITIES
Surveys also show that people overall are satisfied with the existing parks and recreation facilities in Hoover and would rather the city prioritize improvements to those rather than build new parks. Focused upgrades and additions could build upon successes and help the parks play to their strengths, according to the Parks, Public Spaces & Recreation Plan.
Survey respondents also indicated that they would like more connections to parks and a more diverse offering of park amenities. Park users said they would like to see parks made more accessible to people with mobility challenges and want the city to use parks as a way to protect naturally sensitive areas, such as wetlands, and community assets, such as scenic viewpoints like the view atop Shades Mountain in Bluff Park.
The plan also calls for the city to have consistent signage among its 32 city parks to help identify them as being part of the city’s park system and to make sure each park has elements such as proper lighting, benches, trash receptacles, dog comfort stations and shade areas.
The city also needs to do a better job of marketing its parks and facilities so people know they are available, Martin said.
“They’re best-kept secrets, and they don’t need to stay that way,” he said.
Building more partnerships with other entities for use of park and recreation facilities would increase awareness and usage, according to the plan. Potential partners include developers, historical societies, schools, libraries, businesses, the YMCA, environmental groups, fitness groups, health care organizations, artists, performers and vendors.
The plan also identified a need to make sure parks are well maintained, with up-to-date amenities and careful attention to wear and tear of facilities.
“Too often, neighborhood parks are cut-and-paste empty lawns, with a faded entrance sign and proverbial tumbleweeds ambling across the landscape in the distance,” the plan says. “Having access to a park is not the same as having access to a high-quality park with relevant amenities that excite and respond to the needs of the residents.”
And while residents prefer additions and upgrades to existing parks in most cases, the park plan identified some gaps in the city that are considered underserved, such as Greystone, Ross Bridge and areas along John Hawkins Parkway and in southwestern Hoover. The plan sets a goal to have every resident within a 15-minute walk of a park or open public space.
The plan also identifies a number of historical and cultural areas in need of protection from development, such as the Bains Bridge over the Cahaba River and the Brock’s Gap railway bed that led to the development of Birmingham.
The Friends of Shades Mountain nonprofit group collected more than 700 signatures on a petition asking the city to purchase property and create a Bluff Park Preserve to protect some undeveloped and historic areas of Shades Mountain. However, the primary areas are privately owned, and the plan recommends a third party such as the Friends of Shades Mountain take the lead in that effort.
PROGRAMMING
The plan notes that Hoover offers an array of traditional sports programs at its parks and facilities, particularly programs geared toward youth.
However, residents have expressed a desire for more non-traditional recreational opportunities. The plan recommends the city considering adding or expanding activities like pickleball, futsal, disc golf, mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking, archery, extreme sports, adventure racing, geocaching, tai chi and yoga.
The No. 1 desired amenity in city parks was skate parks, according to survey results. Dog parks, BMX parks and water spray parks also were noted as popular amenities in today’s world, and some residents called for an outdoor public pool and more indoor activities such as roller skating or bowling.
The plan also recommends the city expand its outdoor programming and explore additional nature-based programs and special events, such as outdoor symphony performances.
As these changes are made, there may be a need for additional support structures, such as parking and restrooms at the mountain bike circuits, trailheads and blueway access points, the plan says.
Also, while sports tourism is deemed an important part of the city’s offerings and economic development, there needs to be a balance between providing space for visitors to participate in sports and activities and providing space for residents to do the same, the plan says.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department currently is adequately staffed for a city its size, but Hoover is nearing 100,000 people, which would put the city into another category for comparison, the plan says. To operate more effectively in the future and to implement the plan, the department will need to hire additional people, according to the plan.
Some suggestions included additional help with park maintenance, a full-time marketing person and a full-time outdoor adventure recreational programmer.
To see the full Parks, Public Spaces and Recreation Plan, which took more than a year to develop and is more than 200 pages, go to hooveralabama.gov/1430/Parks-and-Public-Spaces-Plan-2023.
