Hays Nature Preserve's Best Sights Are on the Dirt Paths. Here's When to Bring the Dog.

The road into Hays Nature Preserve from U.S. 431 is paved for about half a mile. It passes the education center, a playground and a fishing pond. A 2016 trail write-up on the Woodlands and Waters blog describes the point deeper in the preserve where the pavement turns to gravel and a right turn keeps you on the paved road into a parking area. That parking lot is where the preserve's two kinds of walking meet.

One kind is the city greenway, which keeps going well past the preserve's edge. The other is dirt footpath along the Flint River and Big Cove Creek. The dirt paths lead to two Alabama state champion trees, a beaver dam and a small limestone cave. If you live in Highland Lakes and walk a dog at Hays through the winter, the surface you choose shapes the outing more than the trail name does, and the weather from the past few days usually makes that choice for you.

The Greenway Miles Run Well Beyond the Preserve

The City of Huntsville says Hays has more than 10 miles of trails and greenways following the Flint River and its oxbow lakes. The longest stretches belong to two named greenways that meet inside the preserve.

The Big Cove Creek Greenway runs 2.86 miles from Cranfield Road to the Flint River Greenway at Hays. Its trailhead parking is on Old Highway 431 and at the preserve. The Flint River Greenway picks up from there for 1.87 miles and ends at the pedestrian bridge over the Flint River. It also has parking at Hays and off Old Highway 431. Together that's about 4.7 miles of connected greenway. A dog that wants a longer outing can walk out and back on it, and the Old Highway 431 trailheads let you start outside the main entrance.

The Flint River Greenway also leads to Cherokee Landing, which the city lists as a kayak launch on the Flint River. The 2016 write-up describes the landing as a set of concrete steps reached by a narrower sidewalk off the main paved walk. That makes it a short paved side trip to the water.

The Champion Trees Are Out on the Dirt

The city's trail map labels the Flint Trail, Bar Trail, Tupelo Tree Path, Animal Track ID Trail and an Orienteering Trail. The most detailed walk-through of how those paths connect is the 2016 Woodlands and Waters account of a 1.4-mile loop its authors called the "Walk of Champions." It starts at the kiosk on the east side of that interior parking lot. The route as they described it:

1. Start on the wide paved walkway, pass the turn to Cherokee Landing, and cross a wooden bridge over Big Cove Creek. From there the Flint Trail becomes a dirt footpath along the river, with a few picnic tables under the trees.
2. Where the path forks after about a tenth of a mile, turn left onto Beaver Dam Run. A sign points out the beaver dam in a small creek, and the Alabama state champion shellbark hickory stands just past it on the left.
3. About 0.4 mile in, you reach Glass Lake, a quiet pool lined with trees.
4. Around the half-mile mark, Beaver Dam Run becomes the Tupelo Tree Path at a fork with an old kiosk. The authors took the right fork. A gravel road branching off to the left is the preserve's entrance road, and it leads back about 0.4 mile to the parking area if your dog is done.
5. Past a small hill and a small limestone cave, the trail runs beside a tupelo swamp and the Alabama state champion water tupelo.
6. About 0.75 mile in, a boardwalk crosses a wet area. Just beyond it is a pond that started as a meander of Big Cove Creek and was cut off when the creek was widened and straightened in the 1960s.
7. Cross Big Cove Creek on a second wooden bridge, follow the Tupelo Tree Path to the Big Cove Creek Greenway, and take the pavement south back to the parking area.

Back then, the numbered posts along the path didn't match the descriptions on the trail map. Ten years later, plan to read the ground as well as the map.

The Weather Decides Which Half You Walk

Both halves link up in one walk, so the choice is about the ground, not the map. The Woodlands and Waters authors hiked the loop the day after a heavy rain. They found it passable with a few muddy patches and pointed out that most of the preserve sits in the floodplain of the Flint River and Big Cove Creek. Their advice was to give it a day or two to dry out after a heavy rain. They added that the boardwalk keeps your feet dry unless you're there right after a heavy rain. A dog coming off those paths after a wet week will need a towel before it gets back in the car.

The city's Hays rules set the rest of the routine:

• Dogs must be on a leash six feet long or shorter, and owners must pick up after them.
• The preserve is open from sunrise to sunset unless otherwise posted, and it can close because of flooding.
• Motorized vehicles aren't allowed on sidewalks, trails or greenways.
• Fishing in Bar Lake doesn't require a permit and follows posted limits. Fishing in the Flint River requires a permit.

Sunset is the closing time, so an after-work walk gets shorter as the days do. This time of year, an out-and-back on the greenway is easier to time so you finish before dark.

The Front of the Preserve Stays Open When the Back Floods

The city's closure notice from March 18, 2021 shows how the preserve divides when the water is up. That day most of Hays was closed. The main entrance on U.S. 431, the Natural Playground and the Bar Lake area were the parts still open.

That front area offers more than a short loop. The city's trail description puts the Education Center beside Bar Lake near the entrance, along with a native-plant pollinator garden and the Animal Track ID Trail. In July 2024, Mayor Tommy Battle and city leaders opened an ADA-compliant fishing pier at Bar Lake. The city also lists picnic areas, restrooms and a viewing area among the preserve's amenities. On a week when the dirt paths are underwater, you can still give the dog a slow loop past the lake and the garden while the kids use the playground.

Hays Was Picked for the First Stop of a New Shelter Dog Walk Series

Huntsville Animal Services and Healthy Huntsville picked Hays for the first event in their new Paws in the Park series. It was scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, from 8 to 11 a.m. on a one-mile round-trip route. Participants could bring their own dogs or walk a shelter dog, and every group needed at least one adult age 19 or older. All dogs had to be leashed.

The second stop is this Saturday, Nov. 14, from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Indian Creek Greenway, 134 Farrow Rd. in Madison. The city says the walks also give families a neutral place to introduce their current dog to a shelter dog before deciding on an adoption. Huntsville Animal Services posts its current adoptable animals list online.

Coffee or Lunch on 431 on the Way Home

The drive home along U.S. 431 passes several places to stop:

• 7 Brew, 6486 Hwy 431 S in Owens Cross Roads, is a drive-through coffee stand that opened in July, according to Huntsville.org's October 2026 restaurant roundup. With a drive-through, a muddy dog can stay in the car.
• Amélie Coffee, 6727 US-431 in Owens Cross Roads, is a "sip and stay" coffee house in the former Amélie Wine Bar space. Hville Blast reported it open in June 2025.
• Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe, 6407 Highway 431 S, Suite E, in Hampton Cove, was listed as open by Hville Blast in September 2025. Its location page takes online orders, so you can order before you leave the parking lot and pick it up on the way home.

If a short drive to Hays is part of what you love about your Highland Lakes home, that's the kind of everyday detail I make sure buyers understand when it's time to sell. To see where your home stands this season, start with Amanda Wasenius and get your instant home valuation.