Explore your backyard: Connect with nature across Jefferson County

One of Alabama’s most biologically diverse protected natural areas has grown by more than 300 acres. Thanks to the partnership with Alabama Forever Wild Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy of Alabama, Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Jefferson County is now 1,048 acres. The addition includes two formerly privately owned tracts, expanding protected habitat within the Turkey Creek watershed and creating new opportunities for future public access and outdoor recreation.

Whether you’re exploring Red Mountain Park, Ruffner Mountain, or Turkey Creek Nature Preserve, bringing your dog can make it even more enjoyable. We love seeing four-legged friends on the trails with tails wagging and enjoying time at Remy’s Dog Park, the off-leash dog park at Red Mountain Park. To help keep the trails and parks safe and welcoming for pets, visitors, and wildlife, we’ve put together a few trail and dog park etiquette guidelines.

This summer, Breakthrough Birmingham and Jefferson County Greenways partnered once again to provide rising ninth-grade scholars with an unforgettable week of hands-on outdoor learning through the third annual Outdoor Classroom program.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, the average American child spends as little as 30 minutes per day engaging in unstructured outdoor play, and up to seven hours per day on a screen. Some studies suggest that children may be spending as little as four to seven minutes per day outside. Here at Jefferson County Greenways (JCG), we like to promote green time, not screen time - and one of the best ways that we do that is through our outdoor education field trips, where students experience hands-on learning in nature.