The finale: the dramatic tidal inlet where the back bays meet the Gulf, crossed by the high Perdido Pass Bridge. Jetties, boat traffic, and the end of the road.
And here's your reward — the road climbs the high bridge and the whole coast opens up beneath you. This is Perdido Pass, the dramatic inlet where all that hidden back-bay water — Perdido Bay, Cotton Bayou, the whole system — pours out through a narrow cut to meet the open Gulf. Perdido is Spanish for 'lost,' and there's your name: the Lost Pass.
Look down as you cross. Two long rock jetties reach out into the Gulf to hold the channel open, and through that gap runs a constant parade of boats — shrimpers coming home, charter fleets heading out to the snapper grounds, dolphins working the current, and anglers lining the rocks. On one side, the calm emerald back-water; on the other, the open sea stretching clear to the horizon. It is, hands down, one of the most beautiful views on the Alabama coast, and a fine place to end our drive.
Because look at everything this little park holds. Two miles of the whitest sand in America. A record-setting pier and a Lodge that rose twice from the wreckage of hurricanes. Freshwater lakes behind the dunes. Seven ecosystems in a morning's walk. Turtles in the dark and a mouse that lives nowhere else on earth. A coast knocked flat again and again — by Ivan, by the oil, by Sally — and every single time, brought back.
That's Gulf State Park. Thank you for riding along with Boone and me. This has been Ranger Quinn, and Ranger Boone Merrick — take your time at the pass, and come back and see us on the Alabama Gulf Coast. And one last thing before you go: if you enjoyed riding along with Boone and me today, we'd be mighty grateful if you'd leave us a review — it helps other folks find these tours, and helps us keep making them. Thanks for spending your day on the Alabama Gulf Coast with us.
Photo: The original uploader was Joey Eads at English Wikipedia. · Public domain
