Black Warrior-Phillip Parker Memorial Trail Runs

Bankhead National Forest

Training Runs
Text Box: Training Run Schedule: Black Warrior Trading Post at the Intersection of 33/36 Distance: Usually 10-16 miles depending on who is there. Dec 24 @ 7:00 Saturday at Black Warrior Trading Post Dec 31 @ 7:00 Saturday at Black Warrior Trading Post Jan 7 @ 7:00 Saturday at Black Warrior Trading Post The meeting places: 1. A service station at the intersection of Hwy 33 and Hwy 36 in Wren, AL just south of Moulton. The station is on the left heading south and is called the Black Warrior Trading Post (nothing to do with the race). 2. Mount Hope High School. We meet here to run the Thompson Creek Trail. The School is about 3 miles off the New Highway 24 between Moulton and Russellville. If no one is there by the meeting time, assume you are the only one and head to the trails by yourself. The number of runners on any given day may vary from just you to a dozen or more. To get to the horse trails, follow AL 33 south through the forest until you see the sign pointing left to the Pine Torch trailhead. This is a paved road. Drive past the Pine Torch trailhead until you read the Pine Torch Church. Turn left here onto a gravel road. Travel about a mile until you reach a bridge. You can enter the yellow loop (11 miles) here on either side of the bridge. There is a point where you can take a spur back to the trailhead (about 2 miles), but that spur is not part of the race course. If you travel a mile past the bridge, you will see the blue trail. If you follow the blue trail to the right of the gravel road, you will hit the orange loop after about 2 miles (all down hill). You will have to cross the creek to get to the orange loop. The orange loop is about 10-11 miles. You will cross another gravel road twice on the orange loop. The blue loop is 6 miles and to run the blue loop veer back up the hill just before you hit the orange loop. The last 2 miles of the blue loop is in conjunction with the yellow trail. The blue loop crosses the same gravel road where you start about 4 miles into the loop (or about a mile on down the gravel road). Remember the course consists of the 3 trail loops (orange, blue and yellow) plus some gravel road at the start and finish. If you have any questions about directions or training runs email Keith Hallmark at keith@blackwarrior50k.com. Shoal Creek Nature preserve -Turn right on 47 by Martin's (off Cox Creek Blvd. in Florence—street mall is on) then go 2.7 miles and turn left on 61, go 2.1 miles and turn right on the gravel road and then 1/2 mile to the trail head.