Paul Grist State Park: Red Trail (Blog Hike #1008)

Trail: Red Trail
Hike Location: Paul Grist State Park
Geographic Location: north of Selma, AL (32.59877, -86.99130)
Length: 3.7 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: February 2024
Overview: A loop hike around Valley Creek Lake.
Park Information: https://www.alapark.com/parks/paul-grist-state-park
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=957206
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming February 7, 2025)

Directions to the trailhead: From the intersection of US 80 and SR 22 on the north side of Selma, take SR 22 north 11 miles to CR 222 and turn left on CR 222.  Drive CR 222 west its full length of 1.7 miles to CR 37 and turn right on CR 37.  Drive CR 37 north 1.2 miles to the signed park entrance on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, pay the park entrance fee, and drive the main park road to the park office, which is located at the entrance to the main campground.  Park in the parking lot in front of the park office.

The hike: Somewhat of a hidden gem in rural western Alabama, 1080-acre Paul M. Grist State Park has a long and somewhat tortured history.  The park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930's as Valley Creek State Park.  In 1973, the Alabama State Legislature renamed the park to honor Paul Malone Grist, a nationally famous director of the YMCA who lived and worked in this area.

            In 2015, the park was closed by the state due to budget cuts, but 2 months later an agreement reached with Dallas County allowed the park to reopen under joint county/state management, a status that continues today.  The cozy park is centered around its 100-acre Valley Creek Lake, and it features swimming and fishing on the lake, a small 11-site developed campground, some picnic areas, and several trails open to hikers and equestrian users.  The hike described here forms the shortest loop around the lake.  I came into this park with a little trepidation, but I had a great hike and left the park with a high opinion of it.

Lake dam at end of park road

            The park road runs right along the west lake shore, and therefore this hike begins and ends with a road walk.  Head south along the park road, walking back out the way you just drove in.  At the first road intersection, turn left to stay close to the lake, heading for the primitive campground.  After 0.5 miles of road walking, you reach the primitive campground near the lake's dam.  The park road ends here.  Walk across the dam, looking for red trail markers.

Trail markers near spillway

            Upon reaching the spillway, the trail rolls off the right (downstream) side of the dam and crosses Valley Creek on a raised concrete structure.  Now the trail leaves the developed park area and enters the woods, where we will stay for most of the rest of this hike.  The forest here features some beautiful large beech trees, but the most common tree is the pine.  All of this park's trails are open to horses.  While this park is most famous as an equestrian destination, the trails did not show signs of heavy horse use on my visit.

Hiking the Red Trail

            At 0.75 miles, the Orange Trail exits right for the first of 4 times.  In all cases the Orange and Red Trails come back together, and the Orange Trail forms a looser loop around the lake.  Thus, you could use the Orange Trail if you wanted to lengthen this hike, but I chose to stick with the Red Trail to get better lake views.  I saw a large number of Canada geese and other birds in the lakeside areas of this hike, and some benches encourage you to sit, rest, and enjoy the lake.

Looking across the lake

            1.5 miles into the hike, the trail curves right to leave the lakeside area and embark on a rolling course in and out of a couple of ravines.  Soon the Orange Trail exits right for the last time, and shortly thereafter the trail starts heading northeast up one of the 2 main feeder streams for Valley Creek Lake.  A steep hillside can be seen to the right, and a marshy wetland area can be seen to the left.

Bridge over feeder stream

            2.1 miles into the hike, the trail curves left to head into the wetland.  Plenty of wet areas will need to be negotiated, but both of the main feeder streams are crossed on nice wooden bridges.  I managed to keep my shoes mostly mud-free while walking through the wetland.  A low ridge is crossed in between the two bridges, and this ridge provides the steepest areas on this hike.

Returning to the lake

            At 2.9 miles, you cross the second feeder stream.  The balance of the hike heads south on a wide trail.  The hillside rises on your right while first the wetland and then the lake appear on your left.  Ignore the Green Trail where it exits right.  At 3.5 miles, you come into the small developed campground, and 1000 feet later you return to the park office to complete the hike.