Enjoy Ruffner's fall foliage on this hike, best suitable for advanced hikers, with Tom Spencer as your guide. Tom covers it all—geology, history, and ecology. The route will be the Ridge and Valley loop, a vigorous 3.5 mile hike from the base of Ruffner Mountain to its highest elevation at Sloss Peak. A great hike for fall colors, with mining ruins and mountaintop views to boot. This hike will depart from and end at the Irondale Trailhead. Parking is available across the street at the Ruffner Ballfields: 301 Ruffner Road, Irondale, AL 35210

Please leave pets at home for our guided hikes.

Registration is required:

Thomas Spencer is the author of Five Star Trails: Birmingham, a guide to hiking in Birmingham and the surrounding region. Born in Birmingham, Thomas Spencer grew up hiking and camping in his native state, and for almost two decades he crisscrossed Alabama as a reporter for the Anniston Star, The Birmingham Weekly, and The Birmingham News, specializing in coverage of the outdoors and the environment. A graduate of the University of Virginia, Spencer is now the senior research associate at the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama based at Samford University.

As a nonprofit nature preserve, many of Ruffner Mountain's free public programs have limited capacity. For this reason, we ask that you give advanced notice if your plans change and you are unable to attend this program. We will make your space available for another participant.