Family Hike on Borden Creek, Sipsey Wilderness Area, Alabama

This video is a family-friendly trip into to the Sipsey Wilderness of North Alabama. We did a very easy hike starting at the Borden Creek trail head with the Borden Creek Bridge and the Fat Man's Squeeze as highlights.

I convinced a friend to bring his family along on a super-easy hike in the Sipsey Wilderness. It was the first time any of them had ever been there. We did a very easy and family friendly hike starting at the Borden Creek trail head with the Borden Creek Bridge being our first stop. We then continued down the Borden Creek Trail, past sandstone cliffs and overhangs, to the Fat Man’s Squeeze cave. After hiking through the cave, we went a short distance further, along more cliffs and through beautiful forest to a popular camp site and stopped there for a break and snacks. We then turned around and went back up the Borden Creek Trail, back through the Fat Man’s Squeeze and then made our way to a nice stretch of the sandy creek bed so that the children of all ages could explore a wild stream bed. We hunted for fossils, animal tracks, dragonfly larva, small fish and crawfish in the creek bed and otherwise just relaxed and had a good time. Finally, we returned to the old bridge over Borden Creek and took the short road walk back to the trailhead and parking area. It was an amazing fall day, with perfect weather and with the leaves changing color and raining down from above. It’s always fun to introduce new people to some of my favorite places.

The Sipsey Wilderness (#sipseywilderness) lies within the Bankhead National Forest in northwestern Alabama. Sipsey was the first designated wilderness area in Alabama in 1975 and now encompasses about 24,922 acres (10,086 ha). Rivers and streams have carved canyons and valleys in the limestone and sandstone of the local plateau resulting in a wide range of micro-climates in a short hiking distance, some amazing natural features, a few historic sites, as well as endless nooks and crannies to explore. Wilderness camping, building campfires, hunting, and fishing are permitted. Sipsey is a "Leave no Trace" area (https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/) with, despite appearances, no designated fire rings, camp sites or facilities. Unfortunately, there are many traces of the hundreds who hike and camp here every year. Please be considerate and do not add to the already extensive damage in this special place.

My custom maps of the Sipsey Wilderness: https://drive.google.com/drive/folder...

My other videos of the Sipsey Wilderness:
   • Sipsey Wilderness  

Borden Creek Trail info: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/tra...
Sipsey Wilderness info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sipsey_...

Equipment:
Camera: GoPro Hero8 Black: https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/cameras/...

Title card music by Lobo-Loco: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lob...

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