Wild Wednesday Episode 6 – Brushy Lake Recreation Area

This Wild Wednesday adventure is dedicated with great love to the memory of our friend Dave Hollaway – Camp McDowell’s Big Dave – who inspired us, entertained us and taught us with open-hearted enthusiasm that was as big and wild as the sky.

This week’s Wild Wednesday adventure is an exploration of the bluff trail at Brushy Lake Recreation Area in the Bankhead National Forest, where Janice Barrett is joined by Andrew Shea from Camp McDowell and his sons Anthony and Carlos.  This is Part 1.  Join us again next Wednesday for Part 2 when we explore Brushy Creek below the dam.   Brushy Lake Recreation Area is a great place to take kids to hike, fish, camp (in the campground), canoe or picnic.  The flatness of the picnic area and the paved trail through the recreation area all the way to the dam makes it accessible for wheelchair users.  Brushy is a short hike through Eastern hemlocks and cove hardwood forest that showcases many of the iconic characteristics of the Bankhead National Forest.  It was developed as a recreation site in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corp.  

And now…to the bluffs!