The Tensaw Parkway Drive Is Not Well Known but Is Full of History

The Tensaw Parkway is a beautiful drive that is approximately 58 miles long and runs from its beginning in Mobile Alabama, to the Little River.

Located primarily in Baldwin County, Alabama, which was founded in the year 1809, this quaint area has maintained a deep heritage that is steeped in several numerous traditions and cultures.

It was inspired by the earliest settlers in the area which included the Native Americans, and then was inspired and transitioned by the European conquerors that settled into the area.

These European settlers included the French, the Spanish, as well as the British.

This blend of vesting different traditions created culturally unique situations and characteristics that mixed the Native American lifestyle with the technology from these European countries.

Tensaw Parkway Dock

What the Tensaw Parkway Offers

The Tensaw Parkway is very unique in that it offers a very wide range of visual treats that will absolutely highlight the splendor of nature for you and your family.

It highlights not only the magnificent river system that runs along the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta; it also highlights the numerous historical sites that are located along the way.

These historical sites offer you and your family some of the same experiences that the early Native Americans shared, as well as the European settlers and the soldiers that fought the Civil War.

The Tensaw Parkway would help to ensure that this increased exposure would help to highlight the natural beauty of the area, and let newcomers explore this little-known remarkable area of the state.

It would bring in a lot more visitors on a daily and yearly basis, but at the same time help to preserve all of the wonderful assets that exist there now.

In short, the Tensaw Parkway would expose the area to a larger audience yet preserve the delta’s assets as they exist in their natural beauty.

The assets of the region are very much the same now as they were back in the founding of the area, which include its very rich and unique biodiversity and the rich farmland that surrounds it.

This is added to by the complete ease of transportation that is provided by nature via the abundant waterways located in the area.

All of this is becoming a lot more evident to all involved in the North Baldwin County area along the State Highway 229/59 corridor.

This corridor runs north and south along the eastern perimeter that lines the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta.

When guests drive along the proposed Tensaw Parkway, they will very quickly witness several key factors that include the following:

The Tensaw Parkway Factors

The immerse diversity of the many attractions
The nature and history of the area
The Numerous boats launches the waterways provide
The beauty of the river delta
The history of Fort Blakeley State Park
The history of the Fort Mims State Park
The World-Famous Alabama Coastal Birding Trails

The large quantity of natural resources of the gorgeous river delta is what first attracted settlers to the area.

These natural resources included both fresh and saltwater marine life, a large and diverse number of game animals, as well as abundant and rich timber lands.

The Delta itself covers a whopping 400 square miles that includes four different types of land that includes the following.

Numerous Rivers
Bottom Land
Several Swamps and Marshes

Most experts agree that this pristine area known as the Delta Wetland Conservation Project, that allows the delta filters to discharge fifteen rivers into the drain, offers something very special.

It may be the most biological and geological diverse area in the entire United States.

Maintained by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, it is recognized as the third largest river system in the County for average discharge.

It is because of this discharge that there are reported on an annual basis over 500 different species of both plants and wildlife in the area.

Some of the wildlife includes a wide range of migrating songbirds all the way to Florida Black Bears.

All of this can easily be seen by visitors from both the north and the south along the Tensaw Parkway.

Historic Fort Blakely State Park

More Tensaw Parkway Features

There are currently fourteen boat landings that are very easily accessible just off of the corridor of the Delta.

You and your family can very easily set up a one-day canoe trip or a much more advanced overnight canoe trip.

One of the most favorites by the locals is the Globe Creek Trail, which is a modest 6.8-mile route that will take you and your family through several adventures that include sloughs, lakes, and creeks.

There is also camping available for families and friends along some of the canoe trails.

There is also the two-hour river tour onboard the famous Delta Explorer, which is set up and takes out of Blakely State Park.

In addition to this tour, Blakely State Park offers some simple camping sites for small groups.

One of the major attractions at this State Park is the numerous songbirds that will migrate through there.

However, for the most serious and enthusiastic of bird watchers there is the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail, which follows the Alabama State Highway system of 225/59.

There is numerous permanent bird sanctuaries located in the bottom lands that are absolutely amazing to see and hear.

One of the main attractions located there is the abundance of not only breeding songbirds, but kites and large waders as well.

For your family ease in finding them, there and several conveniently placed trail markers and signs to show you the way.

One of the other major factors at the Historic Blakely State Park is the number of diverse communities that have called it home over the years.

Over 4,000 years ago it was the home of Native Americans that thrived in the rich and pristine area.

In the year 1814, Josiah Blakeley, an entrepreneur from the state of Connecticut, charted the town.

Once it was started and began to expand, it began to rival the city of Mobile, and at one time was the county’s first seat of government.

There is also a lot of Civil War history in the area as the last major battle of the Civil War was fought on the Site on the exact same day that Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrounded to the Union Army.

The other most famous and prominent site along the Tensaw Parkway in the Tensaw community is the Historic Fort Mims Memorial Park.

This was the site of one of the worst massacres of white settlers ever by the Red Stick Creeks, where it was estimated that over 500 whites and friendly Native Americans were slaughtered.

Fighting in the area developed as the result as more and more Europeans and American moved into the area and started with the Battle of Burnt Creek.

However, it was the massive slaughter of life at Fort Mims that changed the course of Alabama history.

Fort Mims

Today Fort Mims is a very quiet and peaceful setting that will allow you and your family to see a key piece of Alabama history.

There is an annual reenactment of that fateful day in 1813, to never forget what actually happened there.

To add to the final charm of the Tensaw Parkway there is the Red Hill Spring, that is located just north of the town of Stockton.

This site offers a natural artesian well that has served all kinds of visitors with cool water since 1922.

The Tensaw Parkway is one of the must-see day trips for you and your family to take, as it is well worth the trip.

References

https://www.alabamabyways.com/2012/04/29/tensaw-parkway/

The Tensaw Parkway Drive Is Not Well Known but Is Full of History

What the Tensaw Parkway Offers

The Tensaw Parkway Factors

More Tensaw Parkway Features

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