Brief Form Post #46: Singing River Trail at Richard Martin Rails-to-Trails in Elkmont, Alabama
Note: I am flagging this photo essay as one of a sub-series that chronicles the Nature of the emerging Singing River Trail:
A 200+ mile greenway system that strengthens regional bonds and creates new health and wellness, educational, economic, tourism, and entrepreneurial opportunities for the people and communities of North Alabama.
I am pleased to add the 46th of my GBH Brief-Form Posts (Less than five minutes to read!) to my website. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So, I will occasionally publish these brief Posts.
I co-led a group of University of Alabama in Huntsville OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) members on a Sunday afternoon Nature Walk on July 13, 2025 on the Richard Martin Rails to Trails segment of the Singing River Trail. We departed from Elkmont, Alabama, and sauntered along the trail south to the September 1864 site of the Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle. I was pleased to see the SRT signage in Elkmont.
Elkmont is an historic whistle stop mid-way between the Tennessee line and Athens. Completed in 1859, the railine brought Union troops and war materials south druing the Civil War. Elkmont is a gem along the otherwise woodland and agricultural 11-mile Rails to Trails.
The scenic crossroads is rich with history and rural beauty. Signage at Elkmont tells the story.
Some of our group biked the trail; others walked.
I enjoy the quaint village, yet I relish trailside Nature. I recorded this 60-second video south of Elkmont.
Next year, I vow to plan no mid-afternoon OLLI Nature activities during peak summer months. I will limit my summer ventures to morning outings. When we retired to southern climes, I recognized that hot season outings should begin at dawn and end before noon. I violated that rule to accommodate hosting OLLI participants. I now affirm that I’ve been there…done that. My retirement spirit demands of me that I will lead and co-lead future ventures on my heat-of-the-day terms.
I find delights hidden in plain sight on every walk in the woods. Charlotte directed my attention to one such marvel. A three-inch diameter dead tree hung suspended in mid-air, held aloft by a clinging supplejack vine. She and Dave demonstrated that the tree’s base, since rotted away, no longer supports the stem. This is my first photograph of sylvan suspended animation.
Here is my video approaching the battle site as we walked across the earthen fill that carried the railroad traffic across the span where the trestle once stood.
Although uncomfortably warm in the open, we enjoyed the shaded trail. Small wonder I am a lifelong fan of full canopies. John Muir mused:
In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
I recordeed this 59-second video at the Battle of Sulphur Creek site.
Although we did not tally the tree species we encountered, I believe we exceeded a dozen during our meager one-mile sojourn to the battle site and return. A cool season exploration will be perfect for such intensive woody botanizing.
Several summer flower photos merit inclusion in my Post. Brown-eyed Susans populated the trailsides, the edge between trail and forest.
Moonseed vine earned its place in our brief journal, its dark green foliage meriting a photograph.
A member of the aster family, giant ragweed is common along roads and trails across north Alabama. Like brown-eyed Susans, giant ragweeds proliferate wood edges.
Domesticated hydrangeas in Elkmont proclaimed their urban beauty.
I published a Great Blue Heron photo essays from my May 17, 2022 Richard Martin Trail venture, providing more detail than this Brief-Form Post: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2022/06/07/early-summer-on-the-richard-martin-rails-to-trail/
Closing
I accept the challenge of distilling these Brief-Form Posts into a single distinct reflection, a task far more elusive than assembling a dozen pithy statements. The dual identity (SRT and the Rails-to-Trails) belies the multiple dimensions inherent in this linear stretch of diverse Nature (from swamp to forested upland to streams to meadow to pastures to small town Elkmont) and rich history (Civil War to cotton gin to railroad to Grand Ole Opry stars). The Delmore Brothers, Elmont natives, captured the essence of their whistle-stop hometown:
I’ll be riding that midnight train when I’m leaving
And I’m goin away to stay
Always wanted to know where this engine did go
Gonna go where it goes today
The Nature of the Singing River Trail
The Singing River Trail will be a 200+ mile greenway system that strengthens regional bonds and creates new health and wellness, educational, economic, tourism, and entrepreneurial opportunities for the people and communities of North Alabama.
The trail will prominently feature many off-shoots of the core trail. The Richard Martin Trail is an 11-mile (22 out and back) route segment reaching from Athens to the Tennessee line. My hope is that SRT venturers can search these Great Blue Heron Posts to better understand the Nature of our region. Again, here is my May 2022 Post on the Richard Martin Rails to Trails: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2022/06/07/early-summer-on-the-richard-martin-rails-to-trail/
As a lifelong devotee of hiking/sauntering, running, biking, and Nature exploration, I envision another Great Blue Heron weekly photo essay series focused on The Nature of the Singing River Trail. I will incorporate individual essays into my routine Posts that total approximately 450 to-date (archived and accessible at: https://stevejonesgbh.com/blog/). I offer these Mooresville Cemetery related photo essays as an orientation to the new component series.
