Trails Start Here…

Trails connect us to each other and to the natural world.   

Ruffner Mountain connects communities and ecosystems across East Lake, Brown Springs, Irondale, Roebuck Springs, Greater Birmingham, and all of Jefferson County.

We thank you for supporting the green spaces you use and love!

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Look How Far We’ve Come

In 1990, Ruffner Mountain had approximately 30,000 annual visitors and over 1,000 members. 

Today, Ruffner has approximately 100,000 visitors and a goal to reach 1,500 members by 2022. 

If you are already a member of Ruffner Mountain—Thank you!

Not a member? Help us reach our membership goal of 1,500 by signing up today. By signing up and becoming a member, you will receive a yearly parking permit that grants you free entry to the preserve and facilities. 

We also have a fundraising goal of $100,000. By making a donation you are helping us maintain the trails and facilities you enjoy at Ruffner Mountain.

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Finally, we'd like to recognize our current and ongoing supporters. Your support demonstrates that you value the ongoing preservation of natural green spaces in your community, and that's something truly special. From all of us at Ruffner Mountain, thank you.

The First Time in 44 Years

City of Irondale Mayor James Stewart with Ruffner staff members (photo by Bob Farley)

For 44 years the City of Birmingham has been the only city in Jefferson County to provide operational funding to Ruffner Mountain — until today. We want to thank the City of Irondale, the City Council, and Mayor James Stewart, for becoming the second city to support the place its residents love and visit.

Irondale is prioritizing natural assets and supporting the maintenance of green space for the benefit of current residents and future generations. Blueprint Irondale, the city's updated comprehensive plan, includes some exciting conservation priorities such as the modification of zoning ordinances to include conservation subdivision regulations and the goal to reduce development intensity near the Cahaba River. You can download and read the entire plan here.

The cities of Birmingham and Irondale understand that our parks, preserves, greenways, creeks, and rivers do not know district lines— our natural spaces impact and benefit all of Jefferson County. From all of us at Ruffner, Thank You!

Photo courtesy of Bham Now

Winter Hours and Other Reminders

Happy November!

A few general reminders as we head into the winter season:

• Beginning November 1st, the trails will be open from 7:00 am - 5:00 pm Tuesday - Sunday through February 2022. Trails are closed on Mondays. The Nature Center will be closed for the remainder of 2021 in order for the staff and board of directors to begin strategic planning, a critical process for the future of the Nature Center, Conservation Education, and stability of Ruffner Mountain.   

• If you are not yet a member of Ruffner Mountain, be sure to sign up soon to ensure you receive your parking permit for 2022! You can sign up for membership here and choose a level that is right for you. Also, if you’ve moved since purchasing membership, make sure you update your address with us so your permit gets delivered to the correct location. Please email carmen@ruffnermountain.org to update your address.

  Thank you and see you on the mountain!  

It's National Bat Week!

Happy bat week!

Hundreds of tricolored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) hibernate during the winter in the old Ruffner mines, but not in a group, these bats are accustomed to social distancing. Once common to the Eastern US, populations have drastically declined in recent years due to a deadly fungal disease, white-nose syndrome. The fungus invades the skin of hibernating bats and causes the bats to wake more frequently and rapidly use up their limited fat reserves. If the infected bats survive the winter, they may succumb to the disease later as their immune systems fight the fungus.

For bat week 2021, we are looking back to the winter of 2017, when two of the mines were closed and fit with bat-friendly gates to help combat the deadly fungus that causes the syndrome.

From Jamie Nobles, Ruffner Conservation Director:

We pushed for this project for several years, especially since the open mines on the mountain are hazardous to our visitors and important for bat hibernacula. With the gates in place, we were finally able to perform an official bat survey with partnering bat researchers. The survey demonstrated that the mines were a significant over-wintering site for hundreds of tricolored bats. We also found through swabbing samples of the bats that the fungus that causes the dreaded white-nose syndrome was also present in our mine and bats. Since that first winter bat survey, we have joined our state and federal agencies’ list of sites of significance for bat conservation and research. We’ve been able to repeat our winter surveys counting bats as well as host various research.

Most of this research has been based around finding solutions to white-nose syndrome which has devastated many bat species throughout the US. An opportunity presented itself last year and continues today for Ruffner Mountain as a site for Bat Conservation International (BCI) continent-wide acoustic phenology survey. We installed a mini bat-acoustic device to one of the gates to record bat calls and sounds. And starting this year, we’re working with additional researchers based out of Virginia Tech to continue sampling bats and the substrate for the fungus and monitoring the fungal disease over time.

Persimmon Facts and Folklore

October may bring the color orange and pumpkins to mind, but here on the mountain, it’s the small orange orbs dropping onto the trails and around the parking lot we think of this month.

The persimmon trees (Diospyros virginiana) have an abundance of fruit this year. If you’ve ever tried to pick and eat a persimmon before it’s completely ripe, you surely experienced mouth-puckering regret. They are astringent and bitter. But a squishy, wrinkly-skinned, ripe persimmon stolen from a yellow jacket is a delightfully sweet treat.

As the fruit drop to the ground, they become important food sources for possums, raccoons, bobcats, deer, coyotes, box turtles, squirrels, chipmunks, and more. You’ve probably seen a few piles of persimmon seed-laden animal scat (poop) out on the trails. Animals help disperse the seeds through the forest. As the seeds travel through an animal’s gut, the hard coating is acid scarified, improving germination success.

Persimmon folklore: If you split open a persimmon seed, you can examine the cotyledon, and depending on if it’s shaped like a fork, spoon or knife, it can forecast the weather. A fork equals a mild winter. A spoon means get ready to shovel some snow. If you find a knife, winter will be cutting cold. Looks like we have knives here!

October Blooms

October is a gorgeous month so far! These native plants are blooming in the limestone quarry. It’s stunning, but it’s about to get even better when the aromatic asters begin to flower.

Online Fall Plant Sale is LIVE!

Fall is here and the ideal time to plant!

Starting today, you can order native plants through our website and schedule your pick-up date between Tuesday, October 5th -  Saturday, October 9th after ordering.

Here's how it works:

Step 1: Select your plants, enter payment information, and checkout. You will be required to enter a shipping address; however, pickup is the only available option.

Step 2: Schedule your pick-up. Once your payment is complete, you will receive a confirmation email that includes a link to SignUp Genius in order to schedule your pick-up time (Don't forget to complete the form!)

Step 3: Pick up your plants during your selected pick-up time (See Step 2 above) at 1214 81st Street South, Birmingham, AL 35206  (Ruffner Mountain greenhouse near the Nature Center, don't worry - we'll have directional signage!)

Click the link below to start shopping!