Politicians, state game officials and media were on hand this week at Oak Mountain State Park, located just south of Birmingham, Alabama, for the grand opening of Alabama’s 11th archery park.
The spacious and beautiful new facility sits beneath the canopy of towering pines and oaks and boasts targets from five to 50 yards. The archery park will be open year-round during daylight hours for recreational shooting, competitive tournaments and outdoor educational programming. The facility includes an eight-target adult range from 15 to 50 yards, an eight-target youth range of 5 to 20 yards and a four-target range of 10 to 40 yards. The park also features a 12-foot shooting platform for bowhunters to practice shooting from an elevated position.
Chuck Sykes, ADCNR Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Director, made mention during the opening ceremony that Alabama leads the nation in archery parks available to the public.
Oak Mountain State Park is a 10,000-acre recreational park located in Alabama’s largest metropolitan area — Birmingham. This makes the new archery park available to a large population that might not have access to archery opportunities.
The new archery park is free to kids under 16 and adults over 65. All other shooters will need a valid state hunting license or a Wildlife Heritage License ($10.65 annually). Park-entrance fees still apply.
Oak Mountain joins 10 other community archery parks currently in operation throughout the state including Athens, Cullman, Dothan, Demopolis, Decatur, Foley, Heflin, Lincoln, Tuscaloosa and Ozark. These facilities are one component of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) effort to increase awareness and participation in the life skill of archery. Alabama’s 12th archery park is scheduled to open later this month in Elba, which is located in Coffee County.
The Oak Mountain archery park was made possible by the following sponsors: Shelby County, ADCNR’s Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Alabama State Parks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Archery Trade Association.
