A Visit to the Grand Bay Savanna Wildlife Management Area in Bayou La Batre, Alabama

Jenny October 18, 2022April 28, 2023 adventure, autumn, Bayou La Batre, clouds, explore, forest, green exercise, gulf coast, Hike, hiker, hiking, hiking adventures, landscape, landscape photography, meditative walk, natural environment, Nature, nature lover, nature photography, nature trail, outdoor photography, outdoors, photo of the day, photography, pic of the day, pine savanna, Trail, trees, trekking, wetland, wilderness, wilderness therapy, wildlife photography

Tucked away in Bayou La Batre is a secret that few know about, an untamed place full of wonderful, mysterious, and potentially dangerous things. Here you’ll find carnivorous plants, wild animals with ferocious appetites, and tiny insects that have the ability to make you want to claw your face off.

My adventure buddy, Amanda, and I spent several hours early Saturday morning, October 15, 2022 visiting a small area of this 5,442.5-acre complex that is managed by the State Lands Division as a Nature Preserve. It is adjacent to the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge accessed in Mississippi which straddles the Mississippi/Alabama state line. We took a short walk from the parking area near Portersville Bay across a boardwalk to a viewing platform that overlooks Grand Bay facing west toward Pascagoula, Mississippi.

An early morning October walk on the boardwalk deep in the Grand Bay Savanna WMA in Bayou La Batre, AL.

With the exception of one tiny bird and several insects, the animals in the area chose to remain hidden despite leaving plenty of evidence of their existence. Animal footprints and rutted out patches of grass indicated a heavy presence of feral pigs, deer, coyote, raccoons and rabbits. There was even a set of prints that looked like a large hand and barefoot print that leads me to wonder if a bear was in the area.

What kind of animal prints do you think these are?

Amanda is a fan of bigfoot videos, so for fun, I added a few images of a bigfoot cutout to this week’s YouTube video just to give viewers something to hunt. Although we did hear a hog rooting around in the nearby shrubs, we had no scary encounters with wildlife on this adventure, unless you count the millions of gnats that attacked us on the dock.

Checkout My Photo Video of Our Visit

For More Information about the Grand Bay Savanna Wildlife Management Area visit the websites below:

Grand Bay Savanna Complex | Forever Wild

Dauphin Island – Bayou La Batre Loop of the Coas tal Alabama Birding Trail

Rustic Visitor’s Guide to Alabama’s Forever Wild Land Trust Properties page 33 site 21

Grand Bay Savanna Comp lex Spotlight | Forever Wild

Grand Bay S avanna Project Habitat Watch | Forever Wild

Bird s of Grand Bay Savanna | Forever Wild

Dauphi n Island – Bayou La Batre Loop of the Coastal Alabama Birding Trail

Henders on Camp Road – Grand Bay Savanna Forever Wild Tract