A small, well-tread portion of Birmingham Park’s Green Trail is getting some rest and relaxation … to allow for habitat restoration.

The map accompanying this post shows the marked-off-red segment along the Little River along the park’s northern edge. This area is popular with wildlife – including box turtles, snakes, deer, even armadillo (not native to Georgia, though some have made it home) – and, as a result, popular with wildlife-watching people.

That’s contributed to the trail’s deterioration, even in spite of years of impressive caretaking efforts by diligent mother-son tandems from the Young Men's Service League (YMSL). Thanks, too, to the YMSL Milton Chapter volunteers shown here who installed the "TRAIL CLOSED" sign.

Temporarily closing this portion of trail should be a boon for those animals and the surrounding plants. It can also help a now-small patch of river cane – which is a rare find, great for wildlife and a native stream stabilizer – thrive. Plus, there’s no harm in giving nature a little space to grow on its own (without the threat of things being stepped on).

There are still miles and miles of other beautiful, natural trail left to explore around Birmingham Park (including still-opened components of the Green Trail). So while a small slice is now off-limits, don’t let this stop you from exploring other parts of this 200-some acre park.