Gulf State Park

Gulf State Park is a 6500-acre park between Orange Beach and Gulf Shores in Baldwin County. The park provides access to 3.5 miles of beautiful white sand beaches. There are three spring-fed lakes, a campground, cabins, a fishing pier in the Gulf of Mexico, concessions, and a golf course. The Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail is a network of 25 miles of paved and boardwalk trails throughout the park. Hiking, bicycling and Segway tours on popular on the trail. The park was originally constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and officially dedicated as one of Alabama's first state parks in 1939.

Contact Information:

20115 State Highway 135

Gulf Shores, AL 36542

Phone: (251) 948-7275

Fax: (251) 948-7726

Map:

Beach:

Gulf State Park provides access to 3.5 miles of public access to beautiful white sand beach between Orange Beach and Gulf Shores.

Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail:

Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail is a network of 25 miles of paved and boardwalk greenway trails throughout the park. They are multi-use trails open to hikers, bicycles, and Segway tours. The trail network is named for the long-time park superintendent who managed the park from 1970 to 2009.

Beach Mouse Bypass:

Beach Mouse Bypass is a boardwalk Trail that leads from Rosemary Dunes Trail to the campground, passing along the south shore of Middle Lake.

Catman Road:

Catman Road is a 2-mile trail leading from AL-161 to the Campground Road. There is a parking area along AL-161 as a trailhead. From the trailhead, Cotton Bayou Trail splits to the left in about a mile. Shortly after the trail passes by the Pavillion and Butterfly Garden. Rosemary Dunes Trail splits off the left here.

Rosemary Dunes Trail:

Rosemary Dunes Trail is a 1.75 mile trail that leads from Catman Road to a trailhead at AL-182. The trail passes a gator swamp where alligators are common.

Wildlife:

Nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) seem to be pretty common in the park. I saw at least two burrowing around from the boardwalk on Beach Mouse Bypass.

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)

Blog Entries:

07-Mar-2018: Gulf Coast Hikes

External Links:

Alabama State Parks website: http://www.alapark.com/gulf-state-park

Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail website: http://backcountrytrail.com/