Perry Lakes Park

Perry Lakes Park and the Barton's Beach Cahaba River Preserve represent wonderful and exciting nature areas that provide outstanding opportunities for recreation and education in a remote and undeveloped West Central Alabama old growth river bottom. Visitors will experience exceptional birding, hiking, nature trails, and recreational opportunities in these adjacent natural areas. The mature hardwood canopy of these ecosystems represents a rarely experienced component of nature that is well worth preservation and deserves a visit.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt commissioned the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935 to build bridges, lakes, and parks in order to provide employment during the "Great Depression." These workers used mules and wagons to create the Perry Lakes Park located five miles east of Marion, AL. Perry Lakes Park was open from the mid-1930s until it was closed in 1974 when fish were stolen from the Fish Cultural Laboratory. The Fish Cultural Laboratory was closed in 1994 due to reorganization of state research projects. Closure of the Southeastern Fish Cultural Laboratory in Marion in 1994 dealt a severe blow to the Marion community. However, it opened the door for the restoration of the old Perry Lakes Park. The groundbreaking ceremony that began the revival of Perry Lakes Park was held on June 25, 2001. The Park officially opened in May 2002 and to this day continues to be a beautiful recreational and educational area for families, research students, and nature lovers of all kinds.