Drive Highway 48 west from the Wedowee intersection at US 431 in October and you will pass two separate signs pointing toward something called Fox Creek. One sits about 9.5 miles out, at a boat ramp. The other sits closer to town, around 7 miles out, at a turn onto County Road 863. They point to two different trail systems, built by two different organizations, at two different times, for two different reasons. Most people who live here have only ever walked one of them.
That distinction matters more in October than any other month, because this is the stretch when both trails are actually worth the drive. The lake's fall drawdown pulls the shoreline back and exposes walking ground that stays underwater the rest of the year. The humidity breaks. And the bird list on both trails starts filling in with species that only show up once summer lets go.
The Trail at the Boat Ramp
As the Randolph Leader reported, the first Fox Creek trail opened on December 21, 2012, with a ribbon cutting attended by county officials and local business leaders. It was built as a joint effort between the Lake Wedowee Property Owners Association, the Randolph County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Authority, the Alabama Tourism Department, the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Alabama Power, which owns the land and makes it available at no cost. At the time it opened, the site had more than 1.5 miles of fully developed walking paths and another mile of rustic trail, with more planned.
The Randolph Leader reported that Randolph County Commissioner Terry Lovvorn, a birder himself, credited the volunteers who built it and called the finished site simply, "a beautiful place." Trail coordinator Tom Garland of Wedowee had spent the prior year soliciting sponsors and clearing brush, and pointed out that the payoff wasn't limited to birders. The trail was built for walkers and wildlife-watchers alike.
The terrain here is a working mix of open land, brush, forest, and lakeshore, which is exactly why the bird list is long. Swallows and Purple Martins move through in spring and summer. Belted Kingfishers, wading birds, and Wood Ducks are around all year. Once the temperature drops, the list expands to include additional waterfowl, gulls, and terns, and this is prime season to watch for Ospreys and Bald Eagles working the open water near the boat ramp. A boardwalk section near the far end of the trail carries you through wetlands to open lake views, which is the payoff most people are actually walking out there for.
The Trail Alabama Power Built at Fox Creek
The second Fox Creek trail is a different animal entirely. According to the Randolph Leader, Alabama Power started building it in early 2018 as part of a company-wide project to develop outdoor recreation land around its Alabama lakes. It sits inside the Fox Creek Subdivision, off County Road 863, and it was built using old power line easements and existing roadbeds rather than cut fresh through the woods. Locals and visitors have taken to calling it The Preserves.
It totals about 5 miles if you walk every loop, though shorter options branch off along the way. Every trail is marked with color-coded signs. Parts are boardwalked for accessibility. The benches are cedar, harvested on site. Two gazebos are built from osage orange, a tree native to Alabama, each with interpretive signage explaining the wood. Additional signage along the route covers the fish, trees, birds, and aquatic plants you'll pass, and one section runs through a dedicated wetland area with its own display. There's no lighting anywhere on the property, so it's open dusk to dawn only.
An Alabama Power representative involved in the buildout put the intent plainly: the goal was to get people onto land the company already had, not to create something showy. It's a quieter, more built-out walk than the boat ramp trail, and it rewards people who want mileage and structure over a short in-and-out to the water.
Here's the side-by-side that most people never see written down:
| Fox Creek Birding Trail | The Preserves | |
|---|---|---|
| Distance from Wedowee | ~9.5 miles on Hwy 48, at the boat ramp | ~7 miles on Hwy 48, then CR 863 |
| Built by | LWPOA, county, state tourism, Alabama Power (land donation) | Alabama Power, company-built |
| Opened | December 2012 | Started early 2018 |
| Total trail length | Roughly 2.5 miles at opening (more since added) | About 5 miles across all loops |
| Signature features | Wetland boardwalk, lake-view finish | Color-coded loops, cedar benches, osage-orange gazebos |
Neither trail is better. They're just not the same errand.
Two More Stops Worth the Gas
Closer to town, Wedowee Kiwanis Park sits about 0.6 mile south of the US 431 and AL 48 intersection, through a metal arched gate. It's a shorter outing, mostly hardwoods, with a ball field and parking area up front and the better birding in the woods beyond it. A small stream is spanned by a covered bridge, and the open field past the bridge is where you'll find Eastern Meadowlarks and Northern Bobwhites in warmer months. Push into the understory on the loop road and you're in Carolina Wren and sparrow territory year round. There's even a display of antique farm equipment partway around the loop, which makes it an easy one to bring kids to without committing to a full afternoon. By late fall the wintering songbirds move in, including Dark-eyed Juncos, Winter Wrens, and Hermit Thrushes, and the woods are good for Pileated and Hairy Woodpeckers any time of year.
Flat Rock works differently. It's known for its sandbar and swimming in summer, but its playground stays open year round, and once the water drops, the exposed shoreline near Flat Rock becomes one of the two places locals default to for a walk, alongside Fox Creek. If you've got restless kids on a cold Saturday, this is the one that doesn't require a real hike.
Why Fall Is the Window That Makes All of This Worth Doing
None of this is new terrain. What changes in fall is that the drawdown pulls the shoreline back far enough to actually walk it, the heat and humidity that make a Wedowee July miserable finally break, and the bird activity on both Fox Creek trails picks up as migrants pass through and winter species start arriving. It's a short window. By the time the coldest part of winter sets in, the novelty of a low-water shoreline walk wears off fast.
It also happens to overlap with downtown's fall events. The East Alabama Arts Society has run Arts & Crafts on the Median for years, held on the second Saturday of June and again on the second Saturday of October, right on the grassy median downtown. It's the fall counterpart to the bigger June show, and it's free to attend. Later in October, Witches of Wedowee and the annual Trick or Treat in Downtown Wedowee bring people back to Main Street. The Trick or Treat tradition has been championed for years by Miss Amber's Cafe on Main Street South, with the rest of downtown's merchants joining in, and Tanner Hospital has hosted its own Trunk or Treat as a companion event.
So the same six or so weeks that put the lake at its most walkable also bring a cluster of small-town events downtown. That's not a coincidence anyone planned. It's just what happens when cooler weather, a lower lake, and a handful of civic and community groups all move on the same clock.
If you're already living on the lake, none of this changes anything about your address. It's just the two months where the walk out your door is worth taking twice.
Bill Coats has lived on Lake Wedowee long enough to have a strong opinion about which Fox Creek trail is better for a Sunday afternoon, and he still conducts a lot of his showings by boat because that's genuinely the fastest way to see this lake properly. If you're weighing a move to this stretch of water, or just curious what the fall calendar looks like for someone who already calls it home, reach out to Bill Coats to Schedule a Free Consultation.
