The 4.4-mile extension of the Fort Morgan Trail is open. A ribbon-cutting and ceremonial grand opening on the Fort Morgan Peninsula drew community leaders, elected officials, Alabama State Parks staff and the public, marking the completion of a $5.6 million project that connects the peninsula trail to Gulf State Park and pushes the park’s total trail network to nearly 40 miles.
For anyone who has tried to walk or bike Fort Morgan Road, the significance is immediate. The peninsula is a narrow strip of land with one highway running down it, and until now, getting from one end to the other on foot or two wheels meant sharing pavement with traffic.
What the Extension Actually Adds
The new section runs westward along Highway 180 — Fort Morgan Road — beginning at Plantation Boulevard and extending to a new trailhead near Ewing Place and Fort Morgan Pizza.
The trail is paved, 10 feet wide and open to both pedestrians and cyclists. That width matters: a 10-foot path allows two-way bicycle traffic and walkers to coexist without anyone stepping into the grass.
Twelve bridges carry the trail over coastal wetlands along the route. The bridges are not a construction convenience — they are the mechanism that lets the trail pass through sensitive marsh habitat without filling or disturbing it. Users get to see the ecosystem; the ecosystem does not get a causeway through it.
A new bathhouse at the trailhead offers four private, family-style suites. On a trail this long, in this climate, restroom access is the difference between a facility families can actually use and one they turn around on.
The extension brings the Fort Morgan Trail to approximately 10.5 miles along Fort Morgan Road.
The Connection Is the Point
The extension links the peninsula trail to Gulf State Park, Alabama’s second-largest state park at 6,150 acres with more than two miles of sugar-white beaches.
Specifically, it ties into the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail system, which provides access to roughly 28 miles of paved trails running through the park and into Orange Beach. Combine the two and the result is a continuous corridor from Orange Beach to halfway down the Fort Morgan Peninsula.
Alabama State Parks Director Matthew Capps described what that adds up to.
“When you visit Gulf State Park, you have access to all these trails that go from Orange Beach to halfway down the Fort Morgan Peninsula,” Capps said. “We now have almost 40 miles of trails. That’s a big story. It’s something that strengthens the reason you choose Gulf State Park. You have the trails, the beaches and other amenities. Then you have all the shopping. You have got a little bit of everything.”
The Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail has been named the top recreational trail in a national readers’ choice awards program three years running.
What Officials Said
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Chris Blankenship framed the project in terms of both recreation and economics.
“This is another great asset for Baldwin County, our great state and the millions of visitors who come to enjoy our beautiful Gulf Coast,” Blankenship said. “More and more, people are trying to connect with nature. Extending the Fort Morgan Trail gives residents and visitors more opportunities to walk, bike and enjoy the beauty of our wonderful coastal environment.”
“Projects like this create new ways for people to experience the outdoors, support tourism and enhance the quality of life for the communities all across the state,” he added. “I’m proud to support this project and excited to see this important connection completed.”
State Sen. Chris Elliott made the local-business case directly.
“Trails like this draw tourists to our coast, support local businesses and give our families a safe, beautiful place to be outside together,” Elliott said. “It’s always good to offer more outdoor recreational facilities along our scenic Gulf Coast.”
Capps returned to the experience itself.
“We’re making investments to build more access, more pathways to make memories with your friends and family,” he said. “You never know what you’re going to see when you’re in the park — all sorts of wildlife, plants and flowers native to the coast. You travel over marshes, bogs and beaches. You get to experience all types of habitats and ecosystems when you hike or bike around Gulf State Park.”
Where the $5.6 Million Came From
The project was funded through the federal RESTORE Act, which directs civil and administrative penalties paid under the Clean Water Act by the companies responsible for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill toward projects that restore and protect the Gulf Coast environment and economy.
That funding chain is worth pausing on. The trail exists because of the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history. Penalty money that originated in an environmental disaster is being converted into permanent public access to the coast the disaster damaged — and the bridges that protect the marsh are part of the same logic.
Mary Walker, executive director of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, attended the opening.
The Larger Restoration Picture on the Peninsula
The trail is one piece of a much larger effort. Blankenship said Deepwater Horizon restoration work continues on the Fort Morgan Peninsula through 11 projects worth more than $88 million.
That work includes:
- Preservation of 99 acres at historic Pilot Town
- 836 acres on Oyster Bay
- 487 acres at the Navy Cove and Three Rivers section of the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
- New public access inside the refuge
- Rebuilding of the Steve McMillan Fort Morgan Pier
ADCNR has also completed significant land acquisitions, including Gulf Highlands in 2018 and Beach Club West in 2024. Together those two properties total 192 acres with 2,700 feet of Gulf frontage.
“I would like to thank Dr. Amy Hunter and the DWH Restoration Section for all their diligent work on these projects,” Blankenship said. “In total, more than 1,660 acres of coastal habitat have been protected on the Fort Morgan Peninsula. I am grateful that we all get to enjoy that for generations. I am pleased with the way we have been able to piece together the various oil spill funding streams with other sources of funding to create and protect something really special here in south Baldwin County.”
More than 1,660 acres protected on a peninsula facing relentless development pressure is the quiet headline inside that quote.
Part of a Statewide Push
Blankenship said the trail extension is part of more than $350 million in investments in Alabama State Parks under the current administration.
Recent projects across the system include a new executive RV resort at Gulf State Park, a new access road at Rickwood Caverns State Park, and the complete renovation and reopening of Lake Lurleen State Park. A new 32-room, bluff-side lodge at Cheaha State Park — at 2,407 feet, Alabama’s highest point — is expected to be completed later this year.
What Else Is at Gulf State Park
The trail network sits inside a park with substantial infrastructure. Gulf State Park offers 496 modern campsites in its traditional campground plus 104 modern sites in the executive RV campground, 35 cabins and cottages — 31 of them on the 529-acre Lake Shelby — and The Lodge at Gulf State Park, a 350-room hotel.
The park also has a Learning Campus, a nature center, a 1,540-foot fishing pier, picnic areas, group pavilions and nature programs.
Dining runs to six options. The Lodge houses three — Foodcraft, Perch for fine dining, and The Dragonfly Pool Bar and Grill — alongside Barnacle Bill’s Pool Bar and Roasted Oak Coffee & Wine Bar. The Woodside restaurant sits near park headquarters.
What Comes Next
Additional expansion of the Fort Morgan Trail is anticipated, though no timeline has been announced.
The case for building trails in the first place is one the department returns to repeatedly: time spent outdoors has been shown to benefit physical, mental and spiritual health. At nearly 40 miles, the combined network now offers everything from a short walk after dinner to an all-day ride — which is, by Capps’ account, exactly the range the park was aiming for.