Coastal, Eastern Shore-Mobile Bay Causeway & Blakely Island Loop | Baldwin | Best Seasons: Fall | Spring
At approximately 70 acres, Village Point Park is the largest park in the city of Daphne. A parking lot with bathrooms and a picnic pavilion marks the beginning of a 3,000- foot main trail that takes visitors westward toward Mobile Bay. Along the bay are a pier and an extensive boardwalk where visitors can walk north towards Bayfront Park, another Daphne city park. Mixed pine and hardwoods dominate the property. Yancey Branch flows along the southern boundary of the park and a small marsh is found near the bay.
Common residents include Red-bellied Woodpecker and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.On occasion, Great Horned and Barred Owl might be encountered. Great Blue Heron, Great Egret and Tricolored Heron can be seen along the shores of the bay and marsh. Birds seen year around over water include Brown Pelican, Laughing Gull and Caspian Tern. In winter, Double-crested Cormorant, American White Pelican, Ring-billed Gull and Forster’s Tern are common. Gadwall is the dominant winter duck, although Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup and Bufflehead can be common at times. Bald Eagle is not uncommon from this vantage point as well.
Within Village Point Park is D’Olive Cemetery, a burial site of early Daphne settlers. This burial site dates back to the early 1800s, making the D’Olives the oldest family in Daphne and one of the oldest in Baldwin County. There are several graves remaining in the cemetery dating back to the 1800s with headstone inscriptions in French. Jackson’s Oak, a massive Live Oak, is the site where General Andrew Jackson is said to have once bivouacked his troops.
GPS: N30.62872 W-87.91215
Village Point Park Foundation
If following directions provided in the Coastal Birding Trail booklet, from Fairhope Municipal Park, follow Fairhope Avenue east to the center of Fairhope and turn left (north) onto US 98A (N. Section Street) [0.5]. Follow US 98A through Montrose to Daphne, turning left (west) at Village Point Park [7.9].
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