Nature on the Bay - Bays & Rivers
With its strategic location on the northeastern shore of the Mobile Bay, the Hampton Inn® Mobile-East Bay/Daphne hotel sits in close proximity to several beautiful coastal rivers and bays—each offering a unique experience for nature lovers. In fact, the hotel sits on D’Olive Bay, a lush marsh created by D’Olive Creek as it flows into the greater Mobile Bay. Framed by Cypress and Tupelo Gums, the bay view from the hotel is breathtaking—especially at sunset.
To the north, the Mobile, Spanish, Tensaw, Apalachee and Blakeley Rivers converge and flow into the Mobile Bay to form the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, the second largest wetland in the nation. Several smaller rivers—such as the Styx, Escatawpa and Magnolia—along with numerous creeks also flow into the basin. As a result
the area features over 250,000 acres of scenic waterways, woods and wetlands—all teeming with a variety of coastal wildlife and plant life. The Bartram Canoe Trail system provides wilderness opportunities for paddlers to enjoy the rivers, creeks, lakes, islands and bayous of the Delta including: Black, Hurricane and Big Briar Creeks; French’s, Tensaw and Briar Lakes; Gravine and Mound Islands; Bayou Heron, Bayou Sara, and the Bay Minette Basin.
The possibilities for exploration are endless—river and creek trails with white sand beaches and meandering bends along wetland habitats composed of marsh grasses and Cypress and Gum forests; open water back bay areas with marshes bordering beautiful sand hill bluffs of Longleaf Pine, Maple, Oak and Hickory; quiet backwater bayous and deep Southern swamp forests; or, blackwater seepage streams with tidal creeks and open salt marshes.
While enjoying the natural beauty of the Delta, you’re sure to see alligators, river otters, deer, feral hogs, black bears, turkey, wading birds, water fowl, various woodland birds (some quite rare), water snakes, numerous frog species and aquatic turtles—maybe even the only brackish water turtle in the world, the Diamondback Terrapin.
South of Daphne along the Eastern Shore is another area teeming with wildlife—Weeks Bay, fed by the Fish and Magnolia Rivers. With 6,000 acres of coastal wetlands, the Weeks Bay Reserve is made up of marshes and swamplands, upland and bottomland hardwood forests, submerged aquatic vegetation, and unique bog habitats. The area is home to a rich and diverse variety of fish, crustaceans and shellfish, as well as many unique and rare plants. Self-guided nature trails, including boardwalk trails, wind through its wetlands, marshes, bogs and forests. As part of the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail, the Weeks Bay is a prime birding site—particularly at nearby Mullet Point Park.
Weeks Bay is a critical nursery for shrimp, bay anchovy and blue crab. These and other fish, crustaceans and shellfish support Alabama’s commercial fishing industry.
Further south is the sizeable Bon Secour Bay, fed by the Bon Secour River, and on the western side, the Dog, Deer and Fowl Rivers also empty into the Mobile Bay.
