United States · US

Bon Secour River

The Bon Secour River is one of Alabama's Gulf Coast secrets: a short, brackish tidal stream of less than ten miles that winds through southern Baldwin County before spilling into Bon Secour Bay and, beyond that, Mobile Bay. Quiet enough to hear dolphins breathing, busy enough with shrimp boats to feel like a real working waterfront, it delivers kayaking, fishing and birding in a single lazy half-day paddle. What makes it special is variety packed into a small space. Tannin-colored water carries redfish, speckled trout and flounder from the bay on a moving tide, while the upper river narrows into shaded freshwater bends where turtles bask on fallen logs. Its name, from early French settlers, means "good anchorage," and the river has lived up to it for centuries.