Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

Overview

Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is managed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is located near Fairhope, Alabama. Weeks Bay Reserve encompasses more than 6,000 acres of tidal and forested wetlands within the greater Mobile Bay estuarine system along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Weeks Bay is a small estuary fringed with a variety of wetland habitats receiving freshwater from the Fish and Magnolia Rivers. Located along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay between the major metropolitan areas of Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL, the Reserve's land (1,645 acres) and water (4,880 acres) habitats support numerous rare and endangered species including the brown pelican, eastern indigo snake and the Alabama red-bellied turtle. Significant efforts have been made to restore a regionally significant habitat at the Reserve. Fire dependent, pitcher plant bogs contain a myriad of rare species and are easily accessible on the Reserve's self-guiding nature trails.