Imagine a lost canyon in the heart of Alabama, where lush ferns, giant hardwoods, and rare wildflowers found shelter during the last ice age...

Imagine a crystalline stream carving a steep-sided valley down to Paleozoic bedrock, studded with 300-million-year-old fossils...

Imagine prehistoric Indian tribes dwelling amid honeycombed cliffs and small caves, watching the dance of fireflies on summer nights...

This place is Hurricane Creek, one of the most scenic natural areas in central Alabama. Squeezed between two of the state's fastest growing cities, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, the creek is thousands of years old. Yet threatened with polluted runoff and urban sprawl, it may not survive the next decade.

That's why the Friends of Hurricane Creek, a growing group of citizens-- canoeists, scientists, neighbors, landowners, retirees, college students, business people and politicians, is dedicated to the resurrection of Hurricane Creek. We are working with local partners to find creative solutions to the creek's problems. In the process we are pioneering new ways to extract toxic metals from streams, revive fish populations, protect watersheds, minimize the negative impacts of development, and educate Alabamians about what clean water and free-flowing streams symbolize: quality of life.

The Friends of Hurricane Creek sponsors creek cleanups, provides speakers to civic, social, and church groups, advocates for responsible development, organizes recreational opportunities, and supports programs to increase the quality of life along the creek.

The Friends of Hurricane Creek relies on volunteer efforts, individual donations, and membership fees to accomplish our goals along Hurricane Creek. We need your help! Please join us today to protect and restore Hurricane Creek.

Envision the kind of natural world you want for your grandchildren. What do we have that makes us unique? Parking lots? Shopping malls? Fast food restaurants? What do we have that enriches us all? What do we have that we need to keep?

Join the Friends of Hurricane Creek in the fight to save a crystalline stream, in a lost canyon, millions of years old-- before time runs out.

Request a Speaker for Your Group

The Friends of Hurricane Creek would like to provide a speaker for your group's next meeting. to request an FOHC speaker and slide show, contact John Wathen at (205)507-0867 or creekkeeper@hurricanecreek.org

"I've known rivers; I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers." -- Langston Hughes

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