Forever Wild Shoal Creek Nature Preserve also known as Billingsley-McClure Shoal Creek Preserve is a 298 acre of fields, hardwoods, and creeks that have many shoals. There are a couple of trails that total 4.3 miles. I went to see the shoals, since water features are always the targets when I’m exploring. Individually nothing really stood out, but as a whole this makes for a nice serene and easy hike in nature along some loop trails, and it gets some extra kudos for having loop trails because far too often places don’t.
You’ll find Shoal Creek Nature Preserve along Butler Creek Rd in Florence, AL 35634. This makes it not too far from the Wilson Dam Waterfall, another great place to stop by. There’s a dirty road leading up to it, you’ll find a very basic parking area, and a kiosk that helps out with a map. I did the Lawson Branch Loop on this to see the biggest of the shoals.
The photos here show what you’ll find at the parking area, the map found at the kiosk when I went, and what most of the shoals look like.
